US marks 20th anniversary of 9/11

By Fernando Alfonso III, Adrienne Vogt and Melissa Macaya, CNN

Updated 4:23 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021
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2:05 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

CNN will air 9/11 special "Shine A Light" tonight

The Tribute In Light shines into the sky from Lower Manhattan during a test on September 07, 2021 as seen from the Brooklyn borough of New York City. 
The Tribute In Light shines into the sky from Lower Manhattan during a test on September 07, 2021 as seen from the Brooklyn borough of New York City.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As part of the 20-year remembrance of 9/11, CNN will air "Shine A Light," hosted by anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper.

The one-hour event will pay tribute to the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the 9/11 attacks, their families, survivors, rescue and recovery workers and volunteers, and those in the military. 

The program will feature discussions with young adults who were affected by the events of 9/11 and its aftermath.

The event will also include musical performances by Brad Paisley, Common, H.E.R., and Maroon 5 and appearances by Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Eli Manning. 

"Shine A Light" will air on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español at 8 p.m. ET.

3:01 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

Trump visits NYPD precinct in midtown Manhattan

From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph

Former President Donald Trump visited the NYPD's 17th police precinct in New York on Saturday Sept. 11, 2021.
Former President Donald Trump visited the NYPD's 17th police precinct in New York on Saturday Sept. 11, 2021. (Jill Colvin/AP)

On the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, former President Trump visited the New York City Police Department’s 17th precinct in Manhattan’s Midtown East neighborhood.

“It’s a sad day, a very sad day for a lot of reasons, and we just added to that reason last week,” he said, referencing the current administration’s “disappointing” pullout of US troops Afghanistan.

Trump issued multiple statements attacking President Biden Saturday, and unlike Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Trump was not in attendance at the National September 11th Memorial in Manhattan.

2:13 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

Biden defends withdrawal from Afghanistan during remarks at fire station in Shanksville

From CNN's DJ Judd

President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media as he visits the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11.
President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media as he visits the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11. (Evan Vucci/AP)

President Biden defended his administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan in brief remarks to the press pool in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Saturday.

"Seventy percent of the American people think it was time to get Afghanistan, spending all that money, but the flip of it is, they didn’t like the way we got out. But it’s hard to explain to anybody, how else could you get out?” Biden said.

Biden, who was visiting the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department where first responders were among the first on the scene at the United Flight 93 crash in a nearby field in 2001, asked reporters traveling with him, “If you had told anybody that we were going to spend $300 million a day for twenty years to try to unite the country after we got bin Laden, after Al Qaeda was wiped out there—could Al Qaeda come back? Yeah, but guess what, it’s already back other places.”

“What’s the strategy? Every place where Al Qaeda is, we’re going to invade and have troops stay in? Come on,” Biden said.

Some context: In an interview earlier Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended America’s capabilities to address threats in Afghanistan, telling CNN it is more “difficult, but not impossible” to address threats in Afghanistan without the presence of US troops on the ground.

Biden has already made stops today at the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan and the United Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville—he’s expected to make one final stop at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, though he is not scheduled to give remarks there.

1:30 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

Bidens make unannounced stop at Shanksville fire department

From CNN's DJ Judd

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced stop at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department after participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the United 93 memorial.

There were some cheers as the President stepped out of the motorcade. The President met with dozens of people at the firehouse, which was set up to serve hot dogs and hamburgers.

1:18 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

New York governor signs new laws to support 9/11 first responders

From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul attends a 9/11 security briefing at One Police Plaza in New York on September 10.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul attends a 9/11 security briefing at One Police Plaza in New York on September 10. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

To mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed three pieces of legislation aimed at helping World Trade Center first responders apply for benefits, her office said in a news statement Saturday afternoon.

“The bills make it easier for WTC first responders to apply for WTC benefits, by both expanding the criteria for defining WTC first responders and allowing online submissions of notice that members of a retirement system participated in WTC rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations,” according to the statement.

In addition to first responders who were at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, the new laws will also include emergency dispatchers and communications personnel.

“We will ensure they receive the support and benefits they deserve," Hochul said in the statement.

12:57 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

President of Flight 93 families organization calls for 9/11 information to be declassified 

From CNN's Melissa Alonso 

Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93, speaks at a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11.
Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93, speaks at a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11. (Pool)

The "ripple effect of Sept. 11 is unfathomable," said Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93 at an observance ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks.

"We must never forget that there are thousands ... gravely injured or that have lost their lives while serving, or as a result of their service during these past 20 years," Felt said. 

Felt's brother, Edward, was among the passengers who died in the crash of Flight 93. 

"To date, an additional 2,000 first responders that took part in [the] immediate rescue and continued recovery efforts have died from related illnesses, and with every month, we continue to lose more," Felt said. 

Felt echoed the calls of fellow victims' families urging government officials to release classified information related to the attack. 

"There are still many questions to be answered about the day, facts to be declassified and released, and justice to be served," Felt said. 

Some context: Last week, President Biden ordered a new declassification review of documents related to the attacks, including the previously classified documents related to Saudi Arabia’s involvement. 

"The real question that we must all ask ourselves is: Have we as a society moved on and left the hard-earned lessons of Sept. 11 behind?" Felt said. "Have we become desensitized to what really happened that fateful morning?"

"Let us remember who we became on Sept. 12," he said. 

"In the aftermath of Sept. 11, we saw beyond our differences, so that in unity we could survive the devastation of the day," Felt said. "E pluribus unum — out of many, we became one."

12:48 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

Bidens participate in wreath-laying ceremony in Shanksville

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lay a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lay a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11. (Evan Vucci/AP)

President Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the United 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He was joined by first lady Jill Biden and was seen speaking with Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93.

Biden gathered with families of the United 93 victims in a rural Pennsylvania field. Forty passengers and crew died on that day in 2001.

The President is not expected to give public remarks today. He will next travel to the Pentagon to attend a wreath-laying ceremony there.

1:12 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

9/11 victim’s daughter: "The body parts came annually"

From CNN's Christina Zdanowicz and Deblina Chakraborty

Angela Mistrulli’s father, Joseph, and her mom were set to go on their first real vacation together on 9/11, but he got called into work first. He was a carpenter working at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

Seventeen years old at the time of his death, she said the unexpected fallout she continues to deal with after his loss has made it difficult to heal. 

Listen to Mistrulli’s story, in her own words:

CNN asked readers to share how their lives have changed in the past 20 years. Listen to more of their stories here. 

12:21 p.m. ET, September 11, 2021

Actor Robert De Niro says 9/11 memorials serve as a reminder to the next generation

(CNN)
(CNN)

Actor Robert De Niro said he hopes the 9/11 memorials will teach the next generation that a similar attack could happen again.

"No one wants that kind of thing to happen again. Kids have to be reminded in school, what happens historically can happen again very easily. It happens in another form, but it's the same disease. That, to me, is the most important thing of 9/11: a reminder. Because 20 years is really not much time in the grand scheme of things," he told CNN.

De Niro lived just blocks from Ground Zero on Sept. 11 and called himself "a New Yorker through and through." He helped found the Tribeca Film Festival to assist with the recovery of downtown Manhattan.

"The neighborhood, downtown, Tribeca, has come back. Now we have the pandemic. That's another horrible situation. But we'll get through that, too. It's just all the loss of life and sadness and unhappiness in between," he said.