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Bruce Springsteen Performs ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ at the 9/11 memorial in New York City
US marks 20th anniversary of 9/11
By Fernando Alfonso III, Adrienne Vogt and Melissa Macaya, CNN
Updated 11:47 a.m. ET, September 11, 2021
What we’re covering here
- Today marks 20 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
- Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, which were orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
- President Biden is visiting all three sites to mark the anniversary.
Biden defends withdrawal from Afghanistan during remarks at fire station in Shanksville
From CNN’s DJ Judd
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.
New York governor signs new laws to support 9/11 first responders
From CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph
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.
More: https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/9-11-attacks-20th-anniversary/index.html