Remembering 9/11 with Dr. Bill Donohue and Cardinal Egan

George W. Bush (0:00)

Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack.

SPEAKER_2 (0:06)

Send every available ambulance, everything you got to the World Trade Center, now.

George W. Bush (0:11)

In a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. You have a second plane into the other tunnel, the tunnel of the Trade Center, bring your fire. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief.

SPEAKER_2 (0:28)

Another plane has just hit another building, right into the middle of it, explosion.

George W. Bush (0:35)

Terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.

William Donohue (0:39)

United 93, United 93, do you hear it clearly?

George W. Bush (0:42)

These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed.

A great people has 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.

SPEAKER_4 (1:04)

The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio.

Drew Mariani (1:07)

That's some powerful audio. Good afternoon. I'm Drew Mariani on this, the 25th anniversary of those 9-11 attacks. Can you believe it has been 25 years since that happened? Pretty amazing. September 11th, 2001 A group of radical Muslims who had been planning for years, years, hijacked four airliners, and they slammed two of them into the World Trade Towers in New York. One of them into the Pentagon, and the fourth, of course, ended up in a field in Western Pennsylvania, Shanksfield, Pennsylvania, because the passengers revolted. I'll take you on a journey today. We'll take a look at all of this. We'll go back in time. 3,000 Americans were killed on that day, and many more would die later from illnesses that they contracted from inhaling the smoke and the soot and the debris and so much of the byproducts of those buildings. And there are people still alive today with cancers and other diseases from it. But we've been hearing a lot of people recently trying to reframe the reality of what happened on that day. They'll either soften it by calling it an incident or somehow try to blame the US for it. But the reality is, you know, this was an act carried out by Muslims.

Radical Muslims. I want to be careful about how I posit that. Radical Muslims who believe that the US is the great Satan. They hate us. They despise our alliance with Israel, which they also regard as a satanic state. And that's the reality. Can't sugarcoat that, right? Now we have what? 3,000 people dead, tens of thousands mourning their deaths. You know, the only reason why it wasn't worse is because of the bravery of some Americans on Flight 93, which would have slammed into another building. They probably would be there in Washington, DC., either the White House or the Capitol.

You know where you were on that day. Let's go back. I want to welcome to the conversation today, Dr. William Donohue, who was working away as president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties in Manhattan that day. If you want to check out a great group, one of the great champions of the Catholic faith and liberty, check out catholicleague.org, catholicleague.org.

And Bill, Dr. Donohue, it's great to have you with us today. Thanks for joining us.

William Donohue (3:31)

Well, great. And you're one of the best on Catholic Radio. I love you, buddy.

Drew Mariani (3:35)

Thank you. That's a tremendous compliment coming from you.

I know you joined some families of 9-11. I saw a video of you the other day in asking, of course, Mayor Zoran Mondami to stay away, saying, you know, here's the question. Let's talk about it, because I mentioned Muslims in this. I want to be careful about it. But whatever happened there, what went down with Mondami? How were the people that you are with? And maybe bring us back and share your own story. What was it like for you? And what does this day mean to you?

William Donohue (4:08)

Well, I'm glad you gave me the opportunity. As we're speaking right now, I'm looking on the 34th floor, on the corner of 34th and 7th. On one side is Macy's, and the other side below me is Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. I am looking as I speak to you now directly at the Freedom Tower. That's the same venue where the Twin Towers were. Now it was around 8.5 or so on that fateful morning on a Tuesday, 9-11-2001.

I'm typing away as usual, writing about whatever I don't know what I'm writing about. And next thing I know, I hear somebody scream. I look out my window and I see this enormous gash. It was near the top, not at the very top, but very much toward the top, a big hole like.