What Happened on September 11 (Documentary)

[Music] while [Music] oh after all that's pass all we have [Music] left good morning 64° at 8:00 it's Tuesday  September 11th I'm Lee Harris here's what's   happening it's primary day and the polls are open  in New York City sunshine today the high 80 going   down to 60 tonight Z100 852 something weird is  going on we the World Trade Center is on fire the   World Trade Center has experienced an explosion  that smoked billing out of the building in the   Upper Floor we got reports that it was a plane  that struck the World Trade Center this whole   area is being shut down there pieces of I heard  the plane very close to the top of the buildings   I looked outside and I saw a hit horrific disaster  I'm staring at this in in total disbelief right   now oh my God had another plane just hit  the World Trade Center there is now another   explosion occurring right at this moment in the  other building clearly we're in the middle of the   worst ever Act of terrorism directed at the United  States on domestic soil and it may not be over [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]   I was like seven or 8 years old when  I started learning about September 11th cuz when I was younger I didn't know anything  I didn't know what the Twin Towers [Music] were when I was at home my brother and my sister   there was once in a while just say  911 and I didn't know what it was [Music] about personally I don't know who did it  but I know was a group of terrorists and   I think they had a leader I read  a book about it and I forget the name I wonder like why they would do  that like why would they want to hurt people I was very fascinated about the story  so I've always been interested in the topic   I think all kids should learn about this  because history is not only what's in the   past it brings you to what America is today and  how people live today on 9/11 of 2001 I happen   to be working on the 62nd floor of the North  Tower it's right about at this level and we   were in the Southeast corner of the buildings  and at 8:46 suddenly there was a loud bang   and a Roar and the building started shaking  violently what was your first reaction when you   heard the first bang with with your colleagues  well trying to steady myself and hold keep my   footing and and shock like your first reaction  is what is happening and in fact we didn't see   the plane coming because the plane came and hit  this part of the building and we were over here [Music] I yelled to everybody to get out  into the hallway and go down one of the   three staircases that goes from the top of each  Tower down to the bottom so we're walking down   the stairs and a few minutes go by and somebody  gets a text message saying that a plane hit the   building and the people in the stairs were  kind of murmuring and asking questions well   that's kind of weird if you're a plane  how do you miss something this big and   then somebody got a text message saying  that a second plane hit the other building   and now the reaction in the stairwell was very  different because now people realized that this   was not an accident and that we were under  attack finally got down to the ground floor   and I looked out on the Plaza now the plaza  before 9/11 used to look like this now the   police headquarters was one level below ground  right where my finger is but I was there for   about 10 minutes and at 9:59 there was suddenly  a loud roar the South Tower was collapsing that's   110 story building and each story is 1 acre  in size it took 11 seconds for that building   to come down I started walking Northeast of that  site towards City Hall and now I heard that Roar again this time I knew it was happening  this was my tower coming down what I saw   when I looked six blocks south towards the  site I saw the end of the North Tower coming   down and I saw hundreds and hundreds of  people running toward me being chased by   this giant multi-storied Cloud that because  of the canyon effect in New York City with   all the big buildings it was being pushed  through the streets as if it were alive yes did you ever find out whether your nine  colleague survived oh thank you for that   question we lost 84 people in the port authority  and we lost four people from my department but   we didn't lose anybody from my group which I am so  thankful for how do you feel when you retail these   stories I don't feel bad talking about it but  there are times certain times in your life where   you know one piece of that story comes back to you  and kind of gets you right here I think it's very   important to be educated about these things  because 9/11 to you may seem like this big   huge thing cuz you weren't here then so I think it  helps maybe to hear a personal story from somebody   who was there and then you kind of maybe easier  to get your head wrapped around the enormity of   it I feel like September 11th was a day where  the US was caught off guard and devastated they   never maybe they never thought that this would  ever happen to them sometimes I see videos of   uh 9/11 and then I can see like the terror in  people's eyes and looking at the building just   crashing down I think the situation of 9911 has a  big impact on the way that my generation grows up   now it's way more different from how our parents'  Generations have grown up there's um a lot more   danger in this world than there has been and  just to know about it I think that's that's [Music] important this is New York New York is a great  Center of Transportation industry and trade a   fascinating City an incredible City one may catch  a glimpse of the great Statue of Liberty Brooklyn   Bridge is the oldest and the most best known  is Central Park in the bur of the Museum of   Natural History the Metropolitan Museum of  Arts at the Centennial arch in Washington   Square New York is also the financial center  of our nation immigration Gateway Ellis Island   is nearby this Metropolis has been called a  melting Po and it is the city's people that   make it great but the greatness of New  York is perhaps most spectacularly seen   in its buildings many of these are called  called Skyscraper The Amazing Empire State   Building the Chrysler Building Rockefeller  Center for New York is both a big city and   a great City a fabulous City a fascinating  city that is the story of New York [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the Twin Towers well I learned in school that  it was a symbol for America and that it meant   um a lot to us and um it and it meant  so much that if somebody destroyed it   everyone in America would be heartbroken well  we were learning it about in school a lot and   we were really curious to see the footage  so we like typed in 911 text and stuff like   what happened that day and we saw like the  first plane crash and me and my friend were   just thinking that's probably just an accident  nobody would do that and then we saw the second   plane crash and we were like oh my God that was  definitely not an accident who would do that I   learned it when I was about in first grade but  I thought oh it was a mistake it'll never happen   again and then once you come into the higher  grades fourth grade fifth grade and you learn   more about it and you learn wow this is serious  I think I still need to learn a little bit more [Music] I draw like shoes over here and Eyeglasses  and here's dust and the sunlight is going   from there this is the Eyes Crying I'm  trying to make the Twin Towers like right   here and all the surrounding buildings  watching this would normally get thrown   out but I put it here on the bottom  like like this see that it's already talking art can express feelings like a painting  of 9911 it could express sorrow or anger or it   could uh Express hope even doesn't have to be sad  that's beautiful exactly you see how you're using   materials you're using materials like words you're  saying things it's exactly what it was there   was no logic to that day there was just Madness  it's an art class we've told them many different   stories of 9/11 we basically ask them problem  finding questions they make poetry and then they   illustrate that poetry what we wanted to do was  have them make some kind of emotional connection   to history learning isn't just an activity  of the mind it's an activity of the heart and soul in an instant my world was forever altered  before my eyes the birds seemed to choke on their   song of notes as the towers fell to their death  and the star staring night of aspirations was   dim a nightmare becom BEC a reality a fireball of  hate and loss no hope to be seen until discovered   she said the Golden Triangle outshines the  combined dark and hate of the worlds the   analogies the combinations the courage to create  and do something new with language isn't that the   idea the two buildings divided by one plane I  could see all the lives of devastated families   all the power that used to be it became the  undenying sorrow that impacts the world today I thought that it was really sad that someone  would want to hurt that many people on purpose   and it was just like I was wondering why they  would want to do that and how much it changed   America and the whole [Music] world I think  it's a difficult lesson to teach um and then   I talked to my daughter about this because we're  Muslim and I think that one thing that's really   important is that this is not a part of Islam  and that it's condemned by Muslims we can try   to understand what were some of the things that  motivated them but it never justifies you know   in explaining it's no justification no motive for  that but um to understand you know what what was   it that made them so [Music] angry in the 1970s  the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and we know   your family from daddy's side comes from that  region it's probably 98% Muslim and the United   States and other powers saw this as a huge threat  to us they invade Afghanistan what's next maybe   they'll try to get Pakistan for example the United  States wasn't going to intervene directly because   we don't want to fight directly the so the Soviet  Union so we helped indirectly by funneling money   and weapons to people fighting the Soviets Ronald  Reagan called them Freedom Fighters the mahuad   they were called well one of the people that  joined to help fight was Osama bin Laden who's   from Saudi Arabia so he was able to meet other  like-minded people to fight against the Soviets   and they actually were successful expelling the  Soviets they withdrew eventually from Afghanistan   but the war was really devastating and so the  country was very very destabilized Osama Bin Laden   stayed there and began to create what becomes  known as Al-Qaeda he had this idea that the West   Was to blame for all of these problems he was very  angry about it and you know the only way to really   stop the west from the ways that had harmed in his  view Muslim people was to use Terror there were   other incidents where the World Trade Center was  attacked in 1993 those that that was like a small   attack or it was a truck that was pulled into  the parking garage and a bomb was detonated and   in 1998 he actually was responsible for  bombing two American embassies in Africa   in Kenya and Tanzania the FBI and the CIA knew  that Bin Laden was planning to attack the United   States he talked about it but um nobody I think in  their could ever imagine what actually transpired [Music] [Music] my story starts with me growing up and thinking  to myself that I lived with the Superman and   that Superman was my father firefighter Robert J  Crawford who was murdered on September 11th in the   South Tower which is this building here growing  up having a father who was a firefighter I got to   experience a lot of things that most people don't  get to experience I got to go to work with my dad   and I would get to go sit at the table with them  and they make all of this food this really good   food and I get to hang out with the guys and hear  them tell stories about going into these burning   buildings and saving these people and I just sit  there widey amaze and listen to all these cool stories so on September 11th 2001 I was  24 years old I woke up at about 10:30   that day and I knew nothing and I saw on  the news that all the airports were shut   down no planes were allowed in the airspace  all the bridges and tunnels were closed and   as I was sitting there I saw what I  didn't know at the time was a video   it had already happened I saw a plane  fly into the South Tower of the Trade Center I then saw the South Tower collapse and then the North Tower collapsed and I  couldn't believe what I was seeing now at   this point in my life my father is a firefighter  my brother is a cop and my sister is a cop three   First Responders in my family all three who were  working that day it took till 2:00 the following   morning for my brother to be able to get through  to me and obviously I was very happy to hear his   voice he told me he was okay and that Rachel our  sister was fine but we can't find Dad [Music] how did you feel when you found out um when  you woke up that someone crashed into the   Twin Towers I felt very heartbroken because  almost 3,000 people murdered that day on a   simple on a simple morning just trying to go to  work and to know that there are people in the   world that would want to hurt someone like that  people that they didn't know it just hurt you [Music] so me and my brother hopped in a squad car  we came down to the site we ran to the first group   of firefighters that we could see and we asked  them Bobby Crawford 11904 safety Battalion have   you seen anything have you heard anything and they  said no but ask this group of guys and we went to   the next group of firefighters and then to the  next and then to the next so these two buildings   those were 110 stories high when they collapsed  they collapsed down to about 7 stories you could   see that dust plume from when those buildings  collapsed you could actually see that from outer   space being there I can't even believe what it  looked like and I was there a picture doesn't   do it justice because I saw it I walked through  it and it was basically like being on another planet I just realized that nobody  was going to ever come out of this   site alive ever again and one  of those people was my father so that is my September 11 story now I'd love  to hear some questions I'd love to answer some   questions yes um after your father died did you  um did it ever like come over you to become a   firefighter like him they fire department lost  343 firefighters that day that was the largest   loss of life in fire department history  also the highest ranking because they lost   a lot of their Commissioners because they were  all stationed underneath the buildings when they   collapsed so they needed firefighters and I did  think about it but my mother had just lost her   husband so my mother basically just said to  me please I can't take anymore so you have to   listen to Mom and I didn't have you ever dreamt  about your father have you ever dreamt about my   father I yeah I dream about him all the time  and usually he's doing something crazy in a   dream cuz he was always doing something crazy I  miss my father every single day I think about my   father every single day but you know what kind  of eases that pain for me is the fact that all   of these people from all over the world come to  this site and they come here to pay respects to   my father now they might not know that they  had to pay respects to my father but they are   so that kind of does my heart good to see  that people still care and still remember [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]   think about 3 billion PB of rubble 3 billion PB  of hate of Darkness of violence and destruction   you're walking through a a rain  storm of paper a a snowstorm of Ash the trees that were Ground Zero covered and  filled with Ash and rubble and concrete dust and   traces of pants and shirts and newspapers and  lunch bags and sneakers 30 days after 30 days   of searching they found nothing nothing [Music]  alive one day this woman notices that there   this Branch coming up out of the ground it  wasn't like you saw a whole trunk and there's   this Branch with a leaf on it and she calls out to  the other rescue workers and there was this frenzy   of excitement it's like they found something  alive and they start digging away slowly and   this trunk it's scorched it's burnt it's torn it's  ripped it's dead but this Branch with the leaf is   still alive and they didn't see a whole tree we  want to remind you what what they saw was this   this little blade of a of a branch this little  expression this power this gorgeous thing and   this thing still lived under all of that  after 30 days it says something about the   spirit of life and that Spirit of life  is in your teachers it's in the people   in this room it's in [Music] you what the  Survivor tree saw on the day of 9/11 was   a dark sky when everyone thought it  would never turn blue again [Music] the tree felt most of its life Swept Away  to 8 ft tall and all but a few leaves left I could see the life being sucked out of the  soil the trees expressing sadness in their [Music]   soul before the cowers crumbled to Pieces so small  I saw before me a world with so much flaw [Music]   so they carefully excavate it  and they decide they're taking   it to the nursery they're going to give it a chance it survives 10 years later it's 30 ft  it doesn't usually grow to 30 it doesn't even   usually grow to 30 ft so now they decide  it's ready to go back to Ground Zero oh my [Music]   and there are people crying waving  it's beautiful we started crying and   and it's like it's like this little wounded  thing is going he's like saying I'm going home hi everybody my name is Richie Cabo I'm I'm  the director of the Citywide nursery for New York   City Department of the parks and I'm the one who  with a staff of wonderful workers from the parks   department helped to save this tree imagine the  World Trade Center fell on top of a 30ft tree so   it was our job to try to bring it back people  will come from all over the world to see this tree this tree was the last living thing pulled  out of the ground now it's 30 ft tall it has white   flowers that grow just think about it something so  beautiful was one something that you thought would   never survive something so small became something  so [Music] big it's a miracle that this tree   actually survived like 3 billion lbs of rubble to  me I think that can mean that through bad days no   matter how bad it gets that shouldn't make you  scared to keep living your life to go [Music] on if you went to this horrible tragedy you have  to look for the Hope in it like everything good   that came out of it everything good  that came out of that Rebel [Music] [Music]