we are about to observe a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. eastern time to Mark the moment terrorists flew American Airlines flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001 it would take only seconds for New York police and fire Crews to arrive on scene and begin immediate evacuations at 903 the attackers then flew United Airlines flight 175 into the South Tower it collapsed 56 minutes later at 9:37 American Airlines flight 77 was flown into the western side of the Pentagon 189 people were killed in that attack 64 on board the plane and 125 inside the building at 10:03 after passengers and crew of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 learned what was happening on the ground they fought back crashing the plane into an open field in Shanksville pen at 10:28 102 minutes after being struck by flight 11 the North Tower collapsed you can imagine the looming sense of catastrophic loss as reporters showed up at hospitals to find nobody here now is that moment of silence right right Mar po [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we are watching ing the remembrance of 9/11 taking place right now in New York City uh the site of Ground Zero um there's a lot that happens here given that the attack uh happened in four separate places um the reading of the names though um the names of those who died 2,977 people were killed in the attacks overall thousands more were injured the reading of the names really captures the magnitude of this attack and Willie gist I talk about um the reporters showing up at local hospitals um during and right after the attack because I was one of them and I could not believe that there was just nobody there there were empty stretchers and people waiting and that's when I realized everybody was in the towers or in those planes or they had rushed in there to try and save lives losing their own yeah that was so haunting you're right to point that out which is the hospitals were on high alert across the city down in lower Manhattan in particular doctors are Round the Clock shifts the stretchers were out the ambulances were ready to move and nobody came because obviously now we know that anyone who is in that building a certain part of the building when the plane hit um and obviously everyone on the planes themselves were killed there was no no one to bring to the hospital um this is now the reading of the names a tradition where families from start to finish read the names of all of the victims and we see even in that moment of silence families lifting photographs those images that again were so haunting plastered all over Lower Manhattan people hope against the odds praying that they would be reunited with their loved ones and putting those posters the faces of their brothers and sisters and their children and their parents up all over the city if you've seen them please tell them uh we we're looking for them and those people never came home and now their names are every year in a a heartbreaking but in some ways beautiful tradition their names are spoken out loud again and we saw the faces even in that image during the moment of silence of service members as we talked about earlier the ripples of that day of the the incredible Brave First Responders who inspired us that day and continue to inspire us who rushed into danger and gave their lives all the First Responders who've died since because of the work they did on that toxic pile for months after First Responders in the fire department of New York um in the police department of course all the people who volunteered for months and months and gave their time and effort and in some cases ultimately their lives to look for survivors and clear that site and then John of course we think of the members of the military the men and women who went to Afghanistan as we were all shaken and stirred and scared the people who had the courage and the patriotism to say where are we going how soon can we leave to do something about this um we think about those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan think about the people who came home with scars seen and unseen that they carry with them today and of course the families of all the victims whose lives were changed forever and in many cases Shattered by what happened that day and so many of those military service members signed up on September 11th or September 12th because of what had happened that day and how they felt it was their Duty their patriotic duty to do something to do something to respond and certainly there are a few though Now 23 years ago a few harrowing images that feel like they were just yesterday how blue the sky was that day um those missing posters that you you mentioned that were hung up particularly in La Manhattan around the hospital there uh since closed I like mik was also at a hospital that day and the rows of empty hospital beds the rows of stretchers doctors and nurses waiting for patients who never came and then later in the day just the unending smoke the smoke that came up from ground will became known as ground zero that smoke that stayed in the air for weeks and months the smell that came with it will'll never forget that we should note here as their families names are the families are reading the names of those who were lost that day we do see President Biden we see vice president Harris there as well Donald Trump and his running mate J uh JD Vance also there politics set aside uh at least for these moments uh M and what is always every year just such a heart-wrenching uh somber and yet Noble ceremony Willie and John you bring back such vivid images of that day that are really that will stay with me forever that blue sky it was the most beautiful day first week of school for so many kids such a hopeful time such fresh air kind of a sense of renewal in the air and then this happened and I remember there were two real moments of realization as to what was going on in real time and that was down underneath the Twin Towers such a powerful representation of what Americans what what people can do when they build something and the force and the precis of that attack looking up at those towers as the first one started crumbling and rolling down toward me I remember being frozen in my spot looking straight up at it because I could not believe what was happening and a colleague Byron pittz at CBS had to grab my arm and drag me away the second was inside a school and this story is really um pertinent to the names being read right now we were hiding but also giving water to interviewing firefighters who were coming into the school getting a breath of air getting a drink of water and then marching right back into the towers before the second one fell and there was one firefighter doing an interview with us and he begged us to tell his wife that he loved her and then he turned around and marched back into the towers never to be seen again Laura Anda those were the moments I realized this was like nothing we'd ever seen before and all of those firefighters and cops walking in there we're not going to walk out Eddie toet we're listening to the live reading of the names of the victims of 911 uh the remembrance ceremony in New York City marking the moments 23 years ago today we'll be right back with more morning showe