To the Point
Seven Years after 9/11, How Safe Are We?
After a seven-year war on terror and the creation of the Homeland Security Department, guest host Lawrence O'Donnell looks at the somber ceremony that observed the 2001 tragedy and considers whether we're safer now than we were before September 11? Also, the surprising life and heroic death of Reverend Michael Judge, a story of 9/11.
By Lawrence O'Donnell • • 1h 0m ListenAfter a seven-year war on terror and the creation of the Homeland Security Department, guest host Lawrence O'Donnell considers whether we're safer now than we were before September 11? With al Qaeda hiding in Pakistan and the Taliban gaining strength in Afghanistan, will we have to re-fight the Afghanistan war? Are Islamic jihadists gaining or losing support in Muslim societies? Also, McCain and Obama suspend campaigning to remember the 2001 tragedy. On Reporter's Notebook, one of the enduring images of 9/11 was the scene of firefighters carrying the lifeless body of their chaplain from the world trade center rubble.
Pedestrians walk by a memorial to a victim of the September 11 terrorist attacks next to Ground Zero September 11, 2008 in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In this episode
3 storiesSomber Ceremony Marks Seventh Anniversary of 9/11
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama have officially suspended campaigning today and have agreed to make a joint appearance at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan in observance of the seventh anniversary of 9/11. In a statement issued jointly, the two presidential candidates said, "We will put aside politics and come together."
Read the story6 minSeven Years after 9/11, How Safe Are We?
Osama bin Laden still at large and al Qaeda is regaining strength. Are we safer now than we were seven years ago? Has the war on terror succeeded in keeping terrorists away from the United States? Has the Department of Homeland Security strengthened our approach to internal security or simply added layers of bureaucracy?
Read the story34 minA Death on 9/11, but What a Compelling Life
Michael Daly rushed to the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11 and was there as the North Tower fell. Right after that, a fire chief told him, "Michael Judge is dead." Of all the shocks, the New York Daily News columnist was to experience that day, this was one of the hardest to bear.
Read the story9 min