Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / OneLegUpAlex News Welcomes Back 9-11 Justice President Brett Eagleson To Discuss MAJOR LEGAL WIN for Families of Those Killed on 9/11

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OneLegUpAlex News Welcomes Back 9-11 Justice President Brett Eagleson To Discuss MAJOR LEGAL WIN for Families of Those Killed on 9/11 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Speaker 1: All right, Well we're gonna have a very special follow
0:04
Speaker 1: up now because there is some good news for families
0:08
Speaker 1: of nine to eleven victims, and to report on it
0:10
Speaker 1: from you know, justice from the nine eleven families is
0:13
Speaker 1: Brett Eagleson. Brett, welcome back to the show. And first
0:16
Speaker 1: of all, incredible. We ran into each other on September
0:19
Speaker 1: eleventh last year at O'Hara's as they were honoring you know,
0:23
Speaker 1: the fallen that last year.
0:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was pretty neat. I couldn't believe it. We
0:28
Speaker 2: were walking out and I almost I almost bumped right
0:30
Speaker 2: into you crossing the street. So very very serendipitous moment.
0:37
Speaker 1: And now we come about a year or so later,
0:40
Speaker 1: a year so later and give some good news. So
0:42
Speaker 1: tell us what this judgment means that yes, Saudi you
0:46
Speaker 1: Abia could face culpability and lawsuits from the nine eleven families.
0:51
Speaker 2: Yeah right, I mean, this is an incredible development for
0:54
Speaker 2: the families. This is what we've been waiting for. This
0:57
Speaker 2: is what we've been spending so much time shouting about,
1:02
Speaker 2: and our legal team and the former agents, the former
1:05
Speaker 2: FBI agents, all those that have come forward. This is
1:08
Speaker 2: everything that we've been building towards and working towards the
1:12
Speaker 2: end of the day, all we want is our day
1:14
Speaker 2: of justice and our day in court. And the Saudi
1:17
Speaker 2: Kingdom has fought us tooth and nail. This is a
1:20
Speaker 2: truly David versus Goliath story. Saudi Arabia has what seems
1:25
Speaker 2: to be limitless amounts of resources and money. Their their
1:30
Speaker 2: tentacles reached deep within every branch of our government that
1:33
Speaker 2: they outfund us probably a million dollars to every one
1:36
Speaker 2: of our dollars, and that is no exaggeration. So they
1:40
Speaker 2: have fought tooth and nail to prevent this day from happening.
1:45
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, this is a win,
1:47
Speaker 2: not just for the nine to eleven families, not just
1:49
Speaker 2: for everyone in New York. But this is truly a
1:53
Speaker 2: win for America and a win for justice because what
1:56
Speaker 2: it does is a federal judge has said, we have
2:00
Speaker 2: produced enough evidence that we can actually proceed and sue
2:06
Speaker 2: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its role in the
2:08
Speaker 2: nine to eleven attacks. Now, the judge stops short of
2:12
Speaker 2: saying that, yeah, Saudi Arabia is guilty based on what
2:14
Speaker 2: he has seen, because this decision wasn't about that. This
2:18
Speaker 2: decision was about is there enough credible evidence to actually
2:22
Speaker 2: warrant a trial and warrant this lawsuit. And the answer
2:26
Speaker 2: is overwhelmingly yes there is.
2:30
Speaker 1: And you know, I was just thinking here you were
2:32
Speaker 1: up in the podium on July second, talking about, hey,
2:35
Speaker 1: you know, whoever gets elected needs to do more. And
2:38
Speaker 1: it seems like now, if this administration is going to
2:41
Speaker 1: keep dealing with Saudi Arabia, it is up to the
2:43
Speaker 1: families to take action themselves.
2:46
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean this is We've been taking action ourselves
2:50
Speaker 2: for twenty years. It seems like I joined this fight
2:53
Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen when we passed the law in Congress
2:57
Speaker 2: called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. It's abbreviated
3:01
Speaker 2: as just a JASTA And it's because of that law
3:05
Speaker 2: that we passed. That's why we're even able to hold
3:08
Speaker 2: a foreign sovereign accountable in US courts. But we did
3:11
Speaker 2: that again against the lobbying of Saudi Arabia. We did
3:14
Speaker 2: it with no help from our government. In fact, President
3:17
Speaker 2: Obama at the time vetoed the bill. So we delivered
3:21
Speaker 2: to Obama his one and only veto override of his
3:24
Speaker 2: entire eight years as president. So that's sort of a
3:29
Speaker 2: feather in our cap for us to do that, and
3:32
Speaker 2: we did it with ninety seven senators, even senators from
3:35
Speaker 2: his own party voting against him. So clearly the intent
3:38
Speaker 2: of Congress was to allow the nine to eleven families
3:41
Speaker 2: a day in court, and that's what this is all about.
3:44
Speaker 2: We've had no help from the Trump administration. We had
3:47
Speaker 2: a little bit of help from Biden in the sense
3:49
Speaker 2: that he did give us an executive order which declassified
3:53
Speaker 2: certain nine to eleven documents. However, when it comes to Trump,
3:57
Speaker 2: I mean his record to sporting transparency and helping the
4:02
Speaker 2: families has not been great. He invoked the State secrets
4:05
Speaker 2: principle on us two times when when when we were
4:09
Speaker 2: starting to really dig into some of the FBI nine
4:12
Speaker 2: to eleven documents, his administration invoked what's known as the
4:15
Speaker 2: State Secrets Principle, making it nearly imposter us to obtain
4:19
Speaker 2: the documents that we needed. So, you know what, the
4:24
Speaker 2: the families have been at it by ourselves all along.
4:28
Speaker 2: But I do have to give a shout out to
4:31
Speaker 2: there are certain members of Congress who have been by
4:33
Speaker 2: our side in a very big bipartisan way. Senator Bloomenthal,
4:39
Speaker 2: my senator from Connecticut, has been a super strong ally.
4:43
Speaker 2: Senator Cornyn from Texas, Senator Grassley, all those names have
4:48
Speaker 2: been by us our sides for a while, helping us.
4:51
Speaker 2: And then you know some of the true He can't.
4:54
Speaker 1: Forget Peter King, who was a big advocate forgetting forget.
5:00
Speaker 2: I would be remiss if I did not mention mister King,
5:04
Speaker 2: who was a huge ally of ours. It's a shame
5:07
Speaker 2: and it's unfortunate that he's no longer in Congress, but
5:09
Speaker 2: he's sorely missed by our community because he was one
5:12
Speaker 2: of our strongest allies. But also I would be remiss
5:17
Speaker 2: if I didn't mention the former Intel officials who were
5:21
Speaker 2: the ones investigating the Saudi rule in nine to eleven,
5:24
Speaker 2: the former FBI agents, those who have come forward and said,
5:27
Speaker 2: you know what, we didn't get it right. Saudi Arabia
5:30
Speaker 2: really did do it, and they're the ones that are
5:33
Speaker 2: coming forward and they've been helping these family members for
5:38
Speaker 2: probably a decade now.
5:40
Speaker 1: All Right. You know, I've been done about federal judges
5:42
Speaker 1: a bit this week because there's been other rulings that
5:44
Speaker 1: I find maybe federal judges are not being activists here,
5:49
Speaker 1: do you follow the rule of law in the sense of,
5:51
Speaker 1: we got to make sure all these judges are not
5:53
Speaker 1: doing activist rulings. And clearly this one's for America. It's
5:56
Speaker 1: not an activist ruling. It's kind of refreshing when you
5:59
Speaker 1: think about it, dealing on what we've seen around other
6:01
Speaker 1: federal judges this year.
6:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't see how this could be portrayed in
6:06
Speaker 2: any way as activist. You know, the will of.
6:08
Speaker 1: Common activist, which is a breath of fresh air, you know.
6:11
Speaker 2: No, no, no, yeah, yeah no, And and I am
6:13
Speaker 2: agreeing with you, Yeah, yeah. There is no part of
6:16
Speaker 2: this that is activist whatsoever. So it's nice, it's nice
6:20
Speaker 2: that this is you know, by the way, this is
6:23
Speaker 2: an apolitical story. I'm shocked that there isn't more coverage
6:27
Speaker 2: of this that you know, Fox News, for example, isn't
6:30
Speaker 2: running with this and picking this up. You know, it
6:34
Speaker 2: just seems like this is such a feel good story.
6:37
Speaker 2: There's really not a political edge to it. This is
6:39
Speaker 2: this is truly an American story. And you know, the
6:43
Speaker 2: twenty fourth anniversary of nine to eleven is less than
6:47
Speaker 2: ten days away, and and you know what a gift
6:49
Speaker 2: from from the judge or from what whoever you want
6:52
Speaker 2: to call it. But you know, this ruling comes within
6:55
Speaker 2: two weeks of nine to eleven. Is just is just
6:57
Speaker 2: such a such a great shot in the arm.
7:02
Speaker 1: We need more judges who get it, That's what I'm saying.
7:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, more judge, Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Alutely.
7:06
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, because it is about to
7:08
Speaker 1: be nine to eleven a week in a few days
7:10
Speaker 1: from now, could we see just nine to eleven Justice
7:14
Speaker 1: roll out the first lawsuit to commemorate and like sort
7:17
Speaker 1: of say yes, twenty four years later we can get
7:20
Speaker 1: justice for our families.
7:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, well, I'm not sure what you mean
7:26
Speaker 2: by that question.
7:27
Speaker 1: Would you guys actually file us lawsuit in honor of
7:31
Speaker 1: the victims around nine to eleven? It's saying yes, twenty
7:34
Speaker 1: four years later, we are getting closure now.
7:38
Speaker 2: So we actually did file that lawsuit. That's what this
7:40
Speaker 2: entire argument was about. We filed the lawsuit in twenty seventeen.
7:46
Speaker 2: The Kingdom initially tried to have us dismissed in twenty seventeen.
7:51
Speaker 2: At that point, they failed and the judge allowed us
7:54
Speaker 2: limited discovery. So for the past seven years we've had
7:57
Speaker 2: discovery on the Southern California cell about Hata. We've had
8:01
Speaker 2: to fight our government tooth and nail for basically a
8:07
Speaker 2: bunch of nothing worth of documents for the purposes of
8:11
Speaker 2: our discovery. Then fast forward to about two years ago,
8:16
Speaker 2: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia tried again for the second
8:19
Speaker 2: time to have our case dismissed. That is what this
8:22
Speaker 2: ruling is on. So so he was ruling on that
8:24
Speaker 2: second attempt to have our lawsuit dismissed. They again have
8:27
Speaker 2: been denied. So now the lawsuit moves forward to the
8:31
Speaker 2: next phase, which is full blown discovery, and we're talking
8:35
Speaker 2: about a trial you know, sometime between now in the
8:37
Speaker 2: twenty fifth year anniversary of nine to eleven, as long
8:40
Speaker 2: as he expedites this, this this Saudi appeal. So we
8:44
Speaker 2: expect the Saudi government is going to appeal this latest decision.
8:48
Speaker 2: Hopefully it gets expedited in the interest of time. You know,
8:52
Speaker 2: these families have been at it for a long time.
8:54
Speaker 2: I hope it doesn't get dragged out, but it's gonna
8:56
Speaker 2: run a parallel track with the twenty fifth anniversary of
9:00
Speaker 2: nine to eleven.
9:01
Speaker 1: Brett. I feel like these efforts never make you tired.
9:04
Speaker 1: In fact, They energize you every step of the way,
9:06
Speaker 1: don't they.
9:07
Speaker 2: They absolutely do. I mean, as I was saying before,
9:11
Speaker 2: that this is a shot in the arm to all
9:14
Speaker 2: of us and we desperately needed it because we were
9:17
Speaker 2: waiting for the judge to make this ruling for thirteen
9:19
Speaker 2: months and finally, two weeks before nine to eleven, this
9:22
Speaker 2: ruling comes. And I got to tell you, I've spoken
9:25
Speaker 2: to hundreds of nine to eleven family members and they've
9:28
Speaker 2: all never been more determined to seek justice. And no
9:33
Speaker 2: one's going away. This lawsuit isn't going away. People are
9:37
Speaker 2: going to pursue it. Whether I do it or whether
9:39
Speaker 2: I don't do it, people are still going to pursue it.
9:41
Speaker 2: This community is hell bent on getting justice and getting accountability.
9:47
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Okay. I know we talked a little because of
9:50
Speaker 1: the around this time Live and PGA were emerging, and
9:54
Speaker 1: I know you were disgusted by that, But could this
9:57
Speaker 1: open up the door for other agreements is to be
9:58
Speaker 1: finally against? Sorry Rabel, Like, is this is this landmark
10:01
Speaker 1: what you're doing that other things could be challenged a
10:05
Speaker 1: little more easier?
10:06
Speaker 2: Now? Yeah? I mean I think that the judge had
10:09
Speaker 2: to be really, really careful in his decision, which is
10:12
Speaker 2: why it took him thirteen months, because it sets a precedent.
10:16
Speaker 2: Right now, under the law a jasta, you can sue
10:19
Speaker 2: a foreign sovereign. So I think that if you have
10:22
Speaker 2: enough evidence and enough credibility, and if there is suspicion
10:27
Speaker 2: backed up by real evidence, I think that it opens
10:30
Speaker 2: up the door for a lot of other grievances.
10:34
Speaker 1: When this first came down, were you around family members
10:36
Speaker 1: and was there a lot of tears in that room?
10:40
Speaker 2: I was, actually I was actually stuck in traffic, believe
10:44
Speaker 2: it or not, when the decision came, and I couldn't
10:46
Speaker 2: wait to get out of traffic so I could hop
10:48
Speaker 2: on my phone and read the decision. And then before
10:53
Speaker 2: I even had a chance to read through the decision,
10:55
Speaker 2: I must have had twenty text messages and another ten
10:58
Speaker 2: phone calls, So I don't it took me about five
11:01
Speaker 2: hours to get through the actual reading of the physical
11:03
Speaker 2: decision because of how elated the family members were, and
11:07
Speaker 2: we were just celebrating, and we were all just reminiscing
11:11
Speaker 2: on how long it's been to get to this point
11:14
Speaker 2: and how at times it looked really tough, and we
11:17
Speaker 2: didn't know that we would get there, but you know,
11:19
Speaker 2: it was just a moment of pure relief and pure determination.
11:24
Speaker 1: I urge others to listen to our podcast from actually
11:27
Speaker 1: July second, when you had that press conference. But I
11:29
Speaker 1: want to refresh people's memories that they haven't listened back
11:33
Speaker 1: that far yet. Who did you lose a nine to eleven?
11:35
Speaker 1: Why did this? Who wasn't that fired up to get
11:39
Speaker 1: justice for them? For your family?
11:41
Speaker 2: I lost my dad when I was fifteen years old.
11:45
Speaker 2: I was a sophomore in high school in Connecticut, and
11:50
Speaker 2: he was working at the Westfield World Trade Center retail space,
11:54
Speaker 2: which is the subterranean mall that sat between the two towers,
12:00
Speaker 2: and he was commuting into New York on a temporary basis,
12:04
Speaker 2: and he was there that day. He actually survived the
12:07
Speaker 2: impact of both planes. We my older brother was able
12:11
Speaker 2: to talk to him on the phone. He said that
12:13
Speaker 2: he was okay, but that he was helping with the
12:15
Speaker 2: evacuation process, and my older brother urged him to get
12:19
Speaker 2: out of the building. He said that he would, and
12:22
Speaker 2: that was the end of the conversation. And then later
12:26
Speaker 2: we found out that he was in the lobby of
12:29
Speaker 2: the South Tower and he had recognized that there was
12:33
Speaker 2: a lot of pandemonium, and that the FDNY and the
12:36
Speaker 2: NYPD were having a really hard time communicating with each other.
12:41
Speaker 2: So my dad, who was working for the Westfield World
12:44
Speaker 2: Trade Center, which is the mall you know, which is
12:48
Speaker 2: the retail company, he remembered that he had a box
12:50
Speaker 2: of portable two way radios on the seventeenth floor, And
12:55
Speaker 2: we were able to piece all this together because we
12:57
Speaker 2: talked to his colleagues. So his colleague said that my
13:02
Speaker 2: dad and him were in the lobby. The colleague left
13:05
Speaker 2: the building, and my Dad said, I'm going to run
13:06
Speaker 2: back up to the seventeenth floor. I'm gonna I'm gonna
13:10
Speaker 2: grab a box of those walkie talkie kind of those
13:14
Speaker 2: portable two way radios, and I'm going to bring them
13:15
Speaker 2: back to the FDNY command post, which was set up
13:18
Speaker 2: in the lobby of the South Tower. So even the
13:21
Speaker 2: FDNY had had no idea that those towers were gonna
13:24
Speaker 2: fall because their fall because their command post was literally
13:27
Speaker 2: in the lobby of the South Tower. So his goal,
13:30
Speaker 2: according to his colleague, was to go up to the
13:32
Speaker 2: seventeenth floor, which is where their office was, grab the
13:35
Speaker 2: radios and bring it back to the FDNY command posts
13:40
Speaker 2: and then he himself was going to get out of
13:41
Speaker 2: the building, so they both parted ways. We assumed that
13:46
Speaker 2: my dad was somewhere on the way to get those
13:48
Speaker 2: radios when the South Tower fell, and then we we've
13:52
Speaker 2: never recovered him. So he's one of the I think
13:56
Speaker 2: it's forty eight or forty nine percent of the people
13:59
Speaker 2: that haven't been found or haven't been identified from that day.
14:03
Speaker 1: Oh man, that's that's got to be rough. And I
14:06
Speaker 1: believe last time we talked, you said this what he
14:08
Speaker 1: was doing was pretty heroic because he wasn't just leaving
14:11
Speaker 1: the building. He was there to get people out.
14:13
Speaker 2: If I'm not mistaken, Yeah, that's right. And that's what
14:17
Speaker 2: makes this all so bittersweet, is because on one hand,
14:20
Speaker 2: you know, you miss your dad and you wish that
14:24
Speaker 2: he was here for your life and for your milestones
14:26
Speaker 2: and whether it be you know, teaching you how to
14:29
Speaker 2: drive a car, or tie a tie, or go on
14:31
Speaker 2: your first job interview. He missed all those, you know,
14:33
Speaker 2: he missed the birth of his grandkids, He missed all
14:36
Speaker 2: of our weddings. So that's the bitter part. But then
14:40
Speaker 2: you know, the sweet part is is that you know
14:42
Speaker 2: he's going to be remembered as a hero. And he
14:45
Speaker 2: gave his life in service of others. He gave his
14:48
Speaker 2: life saving others, and and he and he died a hero.
14:51
Speaker 2: So so that's the part that we're proud of. But
14:54
Speaker 2: the part that we're bitter about is why didn't you
14:56
Speaker 2: just do what most other people did that day and
14:59
Speaker 2: and just get hell out of the building.
15:02
Speaker 1: Well, let me ask you this then, when the ruling
15:04
Speaker 1: comes down, is that one of those moments you just
15:07
Speaker 1: feel his presence with you as you're reading that, like, yes,
15:11
Speaker 1: I'm getting justice from my dad right now among the others.
15:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, there's certainly been a there's certainly been a
15:17
Speaker 2: few times along this fight, you know when you just
15:22
Speaker 2: kind of feel his and all the family members energy
15:26
Speaker 2: just kind of pushing everyone to keep going because we
15:29
Speaker 2: need that, you know, we need these wins, and we
15:32
Speaker 2: need those moments of reflection, and that moment of sort
15:35
Speaker 2: of feels like divine intervention, you know. I think when
15:38
Speaker 2: I was reading part of the decision, we were getting
15:42
Speaker 2: all kinds of media on it. I went to X
15:46
Speaker 2: or Twitter and I was gonna tweet something out and
15:51
Speaker 2: I looked I looked to see how many followers I had,
15:53
Speaker 2: because it's like, how many people actually are seeing my tweets? Right,
15:58
Speaker 2: And it was this bizarre moment where I looked and
16:01
Speaker 2: the number of followers I had was nine to eleven,
16:03
Speaker 2: nine hundred and eleven followers. And this was right in
16:05
Speaker 2: the middle of when that ruling was coming and we
16:07
Speaker 2: were getting a press statement out. So it's like, it's
16:09
Speaker 2: moments like that where you're like, geez, that's kind of awkward,
16:12
Speaker 2: or no, that's kind of weird. Rather, yeah, no, that is.
16:17
Speaker 1: That is certainly a synchronistic moment in a sense, and
16:19
Speaker 1: one of those signs I always find it where when
16:22
Speaker 1: I look at the clock and it's nine to eleven,
16:24
Speaker 1: I'm like, why it happen to look at this moment?
16:25
Speaker 1: You know, it just it's kind of those things, Brett.
16:29
Speaker 1: I have to say though, that this city has really rallied.
16:34
Speaker 1: And I gotta also give credit to John Stewart because
16:36
Speaker 1: he's been a big advocate for nine eleven. Did he
16:39
Speaker 1: have any you know, does he reject you at all
16:42
Speaker 1: and say and follow this lawsuit with you guys, because
16:44
Speaker 1: I know he's a big advocate for nine to eleven
16:46
Speaker 1: victims as well.
16:48
Speaker 2: Don Stewart's a great advocate. I wish he would be
16:51
Speaker 2: more involved on the Saudi Arabia angle and the government,
16:56
Speaker 2: our government's lack of cooperation. He but he deserves all
16:59
Speaker 2: the credit in the world because what John does is
17:02
Speaker 2: he focuses on which is a very much needed and
17:05
Speaker 2: very important aspect of all this. But he focuses on
17:08
Speaker 2: the benefits and healthcare and taking care of all those
17:11
Speaker 2: first responders who ran into the building to save the dying,
17:15
Speaker 2: you know, to to save all those trapped, all the
17:17
Speaker 2: fire department, all the EMS workers, all the FDNY people
17:22
Speaker 2: not only on that day but in the months after
17:25
Speaker 2: who were working on the pile and and digging and
17:28
Speaker 2: doing whatever they can to try to find anybody who
17:30
Speaker 2: who anybody who was alive that day. All those guys
17:34
Speaker 2: are super sick guys and girls, women, And it's and
17:39
Speaker 2: it's and it's a it's a it's a tragedy. What's
17:43
Speaker 2: happened to them with the way that they've been treated
17:47
Speaker 2: by our government, the lack of funding every year. It
17:49
Speaker 2: has to be a fight. Why does it have to
17:51
Speaker 2: be a fight. It shouldn't be a fight. You know,
17:53
Speaker 2: when our country hands over x amount of billion dollars
17:58
Speaker 2: for you know, foreign aid or for the Ukraine war,
18:01
Speaker 2: whatever you want to call it. And I don't mean
18:02
Speaker 2: to make this political, because there there there are democratic
18:05
Speaker 2: policies where we hand money over, and there's Republican policies
18:07
Speaker 2: where we hand money over. But you know, it's a
18:10
Speaker 2: shame when first responders and those sick with terminal illnesses
18:17
Speaker 2: have to go to Washington to beg for money for
18:21
Speaker 2: just simple basic healthcare.
18:24
Speaker 1: And some spokes are really sick when they go there.
18:27
Speaker 1: I mean they are really sick.
18:28
Speaker 2: They're they're on oxygen, they're in wheelchairs, they're really sick.
18:33
Speaker 2: And and John Stewart's been a champion for them, you know.
18:38
Speaker 2: I know he's spread thin, so I'm not trying to
18:41
Speaker 2: but it would be great if you would join this
18:42
Speaker 2: fight too, because he's so effective and he's so good.
18:46
Speaker 1: Well maybe maybe we'll tag him on this. I don't
18:48
Speaker 1: know yet, but you know, I will say this. I
18:51
Speaker 1: feel like, in a sense, we've dealt with that internal battle,
18:55
Speaker 1: right That's been the internal battle for nine to eleven
18:57
Speaker 1: victims for many, many years. But what you did, Brett
19:01
Speaker 1: was take this to the next level and say, Okay,
19:05
Speaker 1: we've been working on ourselves. Let's go after the external
19:08
Speaker 1: part of this for closure for justice.
19:11
Speaker 2: And you've done that now, yeah, no, So would you
19:14
Speaker 2: can throw.
19:15
Speaker 1: At a next step from Zadroga or is that a
19:17
Speaker 1: completely separate thing.
19:20
Speaker 2: I consider Zadroga and us sort of like two different aspects,
19:26
Speaker 2: but both pushing for the same thing. We all want justice.
19:29
Speaker 2: And by the way, a lot of those people who
19:31
Speaker 2: are who are benefiting from the Zadroga bill, they're in
19:35
Speaker 2: our lawsuits. So there are brothers and sisters in arms.
19:38
Speaker 2: They have more pressing matters to deal with, which is
19:40
Speaker 2: keeping themselves alive and getting them coverage. So I don't
19:43
Speaker 2: expect them to be fighting the Saudi government fight, right,
19:46
Speaker 2: I don't expect them to be fighting the transparency fight.
19:49
Speaker 2: They have their own fish to fry, for lack of
19:52
Speaker 2: a better term. So I'm totally with them, you know,
19:57
Speaker 2: I'm totally with them in spirit and and and I'm
19:59
Speaker 2: put for them to get their benefits. I stay focused
20:03
Speaker 2: on the government keeping information from us. I'm stay focused
20:08
Speaker 2: on us pursuing justice against all the bad actors and
20:11
Speaker 2: holding those people accountable that actually did this to us.
20:14
Speaker 1: And Bray, you have a legal background as well, right,
20:16
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken or.
20:17
Speaker 2: You No, No, I don't. I'm not a lawyer. Thank
20:22
Speaker 2: god I'm not one, because I see I see the
20:25
Speaker 2: way they're treated, I see what they have to go through.
20:29
Speaker 2: And I actually have a background in banking, so I'm
20:33
Speaker 2: a I work for a small bank up in Connecticut.
20:37
Speaker 2: But but but yeah, so I kind of see this
20:40
Speaker 2: as like to two tracks going to the same destination,
20:47
Speaker 2: and that's closure and that's accountability. All right.
20:50
Speaker 1: I gotta ask you this. When you're when the first
20:52
Speaker 1: family joined to side you in this fight, I got
20:55
Speaker 1: to imagine that was about fifteen twenty years ago. What
20:58
Speaker 1: was your reaction? Do you think more would you know,
21:02
Speaker 1: join this fight? Or are you almost humbled or surprise
21:06
Speaker 1: every time another family says yes, I want to be
21:08
Speaker 1: part of this now.
21:10
Speaker 2: Families all the time read about a decision or they
21:14
Speaker 2: read about an update, and they come and they reach
21:16
Speaker 2: out and they want to be part of our group,
21:18
Speaker 2: and they want to be a part of nine to
21:19
Speaker 2: eleven Injustice, and we welcome them with open arms. But
21:22
Speaker 2: I can't take all the credit. I wasn't the first
21:24
Speaker 2: one to start this fight, you know, I joined the
21:26
Speaker 2: fight in twenty sixteen, just as as one of these
21:31
Speaker 2: other family members, and I went to the lawyers who
21:34
Speaker 2: were fighting our case, and I said, what can I
21:35
Speaker 2: do to help? And that was when we were trying
21:37
Speaker 2: to get our law Jasta past. And you know, I
21:41
Speaker 2: started working with Congress, and I worked with my own
21:44
Speaker 2: House representative, and then one thing led to another, and
21:47
Speaker 2: I developed the relationship with all of our House reps,
21:50
Speaker 2: and then I got introduced to our senators and then
21:52
Speaker 2: the next and it kind of just built from there.
21:55
Speaker 2: And it wasn't until twenty twenty two that a group
21:59
Speaker 2: of us became organized and they asked me to be
22:02
Speaker 2: the president, and we formed a group called nine to
22:03
Speaker 2: eleven Justice, which is what now we're known as because
22:07
Speaker 2: prior to that, we were just going around shouting and
22:09
Speaker 2: throwing anything at the wall that would stick. Now we
22:11
Speaker 2: actually have a five to one C four and you know,
22:14
Speaker 2: we have a media arm, and you know we're a
22:18
Speaker 2: well oiled machine at this point.
22:21
Speaker 1: All right, well, I gotta ask you this because, as
22:23
Speaker 1: you know, we talk a bit of sports, and I
22:25
Speaker 1: see they're gonna have the Yankees and Mets again on
22:27
Speaker 1: September eleventh. I'm sure you know family members that love
22:32
Speaker 1: these these teams. Were you emotional when you saw that
22:35
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, and will you be as emotional
22:38
Speaker 1: when you see them connect again in twenty twenty five?
22:41
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty six.
22:43
Speaker 2: Are you talking about the Yankees Mets game?
22:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that that's gonna be a special night.
22:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really is. It's always I mean, it's hard
22:50
Speaker 2: to not get emotional. Yeah, definitely. I wish I could
22:54
Speaker 2: say I was a Yankees fan, but I'm actually a
22:59
Speaker 2: Red Sox fan. Believe it or not. You got to
23:00
Speaker 2: keep in mind that I'm about two and a half
23:02
Speaker 2: hours away from the city, so uh yeah, I'm sure.
23:05
Speaker 2: I'm sure your listeners don't want to hear that. But no,
23:08
Speaker 2: but all joking aside. Uh, it's just it's just great
23:11
Speaker 2: when they do it. It's emotional, especially when the stadium
23:14
Speaker 2: starts to do their chance. I mean, I mean, how
23:17
Speaker 2: could you not get uh you know, like like a
23:21
Speaker 2: little teary eyed there.
23:22
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I got to tell you. Sorry. I
23:24
Speaker 1: was there when President Bush throughout the first pitch in
23:27
Speaker 1: now that first game and the World Series, the helicopters
23:31
Speaker 1: flying all around. It was I'm getting a bit of goose.
23:34
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking about that, but that's yeah, what there,
23:36
Speaker 1: And of course Piazza's home run. We can never forget
23:39
Speaker 1: that either.
23:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, or how about when you know I was
23:43
Speaker 2: sleeping when it happened. I went to bed early that night,
23:46
Speaker 2: but it was a late night game. I forget who
23:48
Speaker 2: was playing, but uh, the stadium chart started chanting US
23:52
Speaker 2: A USA when when news was breaking that Osama bin laden. Yeah,
23:57
Speaker 2: that's another one of each other. That was I knew
23:59
Speaker 2: the Mets were, but it's an other one of those
24:00
Speaker 2: kind of like goosebump moments.
24:03
Speaker 1: Right, it's where's up by the way, because I want
24:05
Speaker 1: to focus on that. You know, nine to eleven families
24:08
Speaker 1: have their grief, but they're also living in real time.
24:10
Speaker 1: You guys are living in real time and you know,
24:13
Speaker 1: just trying to enjoy life the best you can all
24:15
Speaker 1: at the same time here.
24:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And that's that's sometimes harder, it's sometimes not
24:23
Speaker 2: as not an easy thing to do. And there's moments
24:25
Speaker 2: when I should be you know, present, like at uh,
24:31
Speaker 2: you know, my kids preschool, graduation or a soccer game,
24:36
Speaker 2: and as I can't be because I have, you know,
24:39
Speaker 2: pressing questions from a news reporter or there's some breaking
24:42
Speaker 2: news on what's happening with the case. So so it's
24:45
Speaker 2: it's it's hard, but it's important to keep that balance
24:48
Speaker 2: and keep perspective because we all know too well that
24:51
Speaker 2: we can't take you know, we can't take a single
24:53
Speaker 2: day for granted. So you know, I just want to
24:56
Speaker 2: I guess I just want to say, I just want
24:58
Speaker 2: to be done with all this, right. I want to
25:00
Speaker 2: to be done with fighting. I want to be able
25:02
Speaker 2: to be a like a very present father and just
25:07
Speaker 2: be present with the with my family. And and that's
25:10
Speaker 2: that's nearly impossible to do as much as I want
25:13
Speaker 2: to do it because of all the time that this
25:16
Speaker 2: takes and I still have, you know, I still have
25:17
Speaker 2: to keep the lights on. I have a full time job,
25:19
Speaker 2: and and it's just you know, all of my spare
25:22
Speaker 2: time outside of work and family goes goes to waging
25:26
Speaker 2: this battle.
25:27
Speaker 1: All right, Before you join this, were you always you know,
25:34
Speaker 1: vocal about how you lost your dad or did this
25:36
Speaker 1: sort of bring you that community that you can be
25:39
Speaker 1: open and can bring out that emotional side of losing
25:42
Speaker 1: your dad. I mean, you sound like a tough guy, man,
25:44
Speaker 1: and I feel like it must have been really sort
25:48
Speaker 1: of leieving to find these families as well, you know
25:50
Speaker 1: that we're grieving all at the same time.
25:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it took a while for me to
25:58
Speaker 2: even want to raise these issues and fight this fight.
26:01
Speaker 2: It took a while for me to come out of
26:02
Speaker 2: my shell. You know what happened in two thousand and one.
26:06
Speaker 2: I was fifteen years old at the time. I was
26:09
Speaker 2: focused on just graduating high school. Then I was focused
26:12
Speaker 2: on going to college and getting a degree so I
26:15
Speaker 2: could live a normal life. And you know, you focus
26:17
Speaker 2: on all the things that are right in front of
26:19
Speaker 2: your nose, right and it's like, all right, well, I
26:21
Speaker 2: need I need to graduate, and you need to take
26:23
Speaker 2: it one day at a time. And you know, it
26:26
Speaker 2: wasn't until twenty sixteen when I was you know, settled in.
26:30
Speaker 2: I had graduated college, I had my degree, I had
26:34
Speaker 2: my you know, I kind of had my career in
26:37
Speaker 2: a good spot. I was, you know, working at a bank,
26:40
Speaker 2: I was engaged to be married, so kind of things
26:43
Speaker 2: were starting to settle down in my life. And I've
26:46
Speaker 2: always had this kind of uneasiness about what we've been
26:51
Speaker 2: told about nine to eleven and I'm I'm not one
26:54
Speaker 2: of these conspiracy nuts that is ever going to tell
26:56
Speaker 2: you that, oh, you know, an alien ship with a
26:59
Speaker 2: light energy beam, you know, destroyed the towers of the
27:02
Speaker 2: Plans or holograms. But you know, I mean not that
27:04
Speaker 2: kind of bullshit, crazy stuff. But I never believe and.
27:07
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, Brett, those conspiracies must drive you
27:10
Speaker 1: absolutely insane. It must actually be very offensive when you
27:14
Speaker 1: hear that kind of stuff.
27:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you got to ignore it. And that's the
27:18
Speaker 2: only way I deal with it. I just shut it out.
27:19
Speaker 2: I don't engage. I just kind of chuckle at it
27:22
Speaker 2: to be like, I can't believe that people actually think this.
27:25
Speaker 2: You know, I guess you can convince anybody anything these days.
27:28
Speaker 2: But so so you shut that well.
27:31
Speaker 1: And to your point that they're they're starting to teach
27:33
Speaker 1: this kind of if I can say, shit, they're starting
27:35
Speaker 1: to teach this kind of shit in the schools and
27:38
Speaker 1: take away from really what happened. It's sort of becoming
27:40
Speaker 1: a whitewashing in the schools.
27:42
Speaker 2: Now, yeah, well that's gonna be phase two with this.
27:46
Speaker 2: It's gonna be phase two is once we could take
27:48
Speaker 2: a deep breath and get accountability enclosure from the Kingdom
27:52
Speaker 2: of Saudi Arabia. I think Phase two is going to
27:54
Speaker 2: be about education, and you know, it should be taught
27:57
Speaker 2: publicly in in every school. Quite sure yet at what
28:01
Speaker 2: grade level, But but I think it should be a
28:03
Speaker 2: mandatory class at least at some point in high school.
28:06
Speaker 2: You know, maybe if not in high school, you know,
28:08
Speaker 2: seventh or eighth grade. But but yeah, it needs to
28:12
Speaker 2: be done, and it needs to happen, and it needs
28:15
Speaker 2: to be taught the right way.
28:17
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you this was the first real day
28:18
Speaker 1: I felt that fall air again. And every time I
28:21
Speaker 1: think of early September and working downtown as you know,
28:25
Speaker 1: I work right near you know, the tragedy site in
28:28
Speaker 1: nine to eleven, it just it gives you that chill
28:31
Speaker 1: every time you're in the area and it feels cooler,
28:33
Speaker 1: it feels like fall. It feels like September again. You know,
28:36
Speaker 1: it's like we're here already.
28:37
Speaker 2: You can feel it coming, Yeah, you can feel it coming.
28:40
Speaker 2: The humidity goes away, the sun is just a little
28:44
Speaker 2: bit less powerful. You get those clean, crisp, beautiful, beautiful days, right,
28:48
Speaker 2: It's just like they're all gorgeous days and it but
28:52
Speaker 2: you know, you want to enjoy the weather, but there's
28:56
Speaker 2: that just overarching sense of what's you know, nine eleven
28:59
Speaker 2: is right around the corner, you know, it's this time
29:01
Speaker 2: of year, it's right around Labor Day. It's like the
29:04
Speaker 2: stories are gonna come, the media is gonna be calling,
29:06
Speaker 2: and it's you know, it's it's really not a it's
29:09
Speaker 2: not a pleasant time of year for a lot of us.
29:12
Speaker 1: All Right, I gotta ask you this. And I know
29:14
Speaker 1: Swedish house Mafia lost people in nine to eleven as well,
29:18
Speaker 1: but my first gut reaction to them throwing a concert,
29:21
Speaker 1: it just always feels like a sacred day not to
29:24
Speaker 1: throw a concert. And I don't know if you've seen
29:26
Speaker 1: any of that, and and that they're doing a concert
29:28
Speaker 1: nine to eleven, it just it never felt right. But
29:31
Speaker 1: because I lost family members, I understand it. Also have
29:34
Speaker 1: you have you seen any of that?
29:37
Speaker 2: No, I haven't followed. I haven't been following that story.
29:43
Speaker 2: But what was there? Like there was something last year
29:47
Speaker 2: on the day I forget maybe I think it was
29:49
Speaker 2: another concert maybe or there was a.
29:54
Speaker 1: Do you think that's a way to heal or should
29:56
Speaker 1: nine to eleven be a sacred day? I guess this
29:57
Speaker 1: is my question.
30:00
Speaker 2: I've never been big on telling people how they should
30:02
Speaker 2: deal with stuff, right, I don't know. I mean, that's
30:04
Speaker 2: a difficult question to answer because I can you know,
30:07
Speaker 2: you can convince me that, you know what, moving on
30:10
Speaker 2: living a normal life and going to a concert or
30:13
Speaker 2: going to the movies or doing whatever. You know, it's
30:16
Speaker 2: it's it's helpful to people, and especially the family members.
30:19
Speaker 2: So I think every family member is gonna have a
30:22
Speaker 2: different perspective on that, and they're gonna have a different
30:24
Speaker 2: view on that. There's no right or wrong answer me personally,
30:29
Speaker 2: I don't think I would choose to do anything on
30:31
Speaker 2: that day, like a concert or anything like that. I
30:33
Speaker 2: might I might choose to go in a ten something,
30:37
Speaker 2: So like, I don't know, I guess it's I guess
30:39
Speaker 2: I'm not really answering the questions.
30:40
Speaker 1: Well, and that's why they side. Ohias is such a
30:43
Speaker 1: very ritualistic special with the bagpipes, that's how you honor.
30:48
Speaker 2: Because yeah, that's a cool that's that's actually when I
30:52
Speaker 2: saw you last year, that was the first time that
30:54
Speaker 2: I ever went to O'Hara's because one of my fellow
30:57
Speaker 2: nine to eleven family members said that they go every year,
30:59
Speaker 2: and he wanted me to go and be a part
31:00
Speaker 2: of that tradition. So me and one of the lawyers.
31:03
Speaker 2: Actually that's who I was with when you bumped into me. Uh,
31:07
Speaker 2: we were we were just leaving that and it's it's
31:09
Speaker 2: a really it's a really remarkable, kind of very powerful
31:14
Speaker 2: thing that they do. So stuff like that. Absolutely, that
31:18
Speaker 2: we have.
31:18
Speaker 1: The firefighters honor their fallen brethren, it's just it's emotional
31:21
Speaker 1: because the fire has is right there ladder ten. I mean,
31:24
Speaker 1: it's just it's wow. Which reason another point. I don't
31:28
Speaker 1: know if you know what's going on in Staten Island
31:29
Speaker 1: if you heard about this, but they're gonna put more
31:32
Speaker 1: names on a memorial wall in Staten Island thanks to
31:36
Speaker 1: the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. I actually connect you with
31:39
Speaker 1: them because they're going to do a big ceremony on
31:42
Speaker 1: October eighteenth and Staten Island to continue honoring the memory.
31:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, it's great, I say. They putting the
31:49
Speaker 2: names on those who have passed.
31:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, with with nine to eleven illnesses, now, I mean yeah,
31:54
Speaker 1: to include those with the illnesses is a big step forward.
31:56
Speaker 2: I think I think that's appropriate. Every one of those
32:01
Speaker 2: uh emergency workers, whether they be ems or construction workers
32:06
Speaker 2: or whoever it may be that that that worked the
32:10
Speaker 2: pile or worked there that day, I think absolutely should
32:13
Speaker 2: should should be honored.
32:16
Speaker 1: All right, Well, I'm the Yankee fans, so I'm still
32:17
Speaker 1: a little bummed out about two thousand and four. But
32:19
Speaker 1: I have to ask you. You're seventeen years old, I
32:22
Speaker 1: have guessed, or was eighteen at the time, and you
32:26
Speaker 1: lust you down nine to eleven, But didn't you feel
32:28
Speaker 1: him when they won the world when they did that
32:30
Speaker 1: comeback and that World Series? It just must have felt so.
32:34
Speaker 2: Oh because he was a Red Sox fan too. I
32:37
Speaker 2: remember those that was that was a wild series and
32:41
Speaker 2: everybody thought the Red Sox were down and out. It was.
32:44
Speaker 2: It was three games to one, I remember it very vividly.
32:47
Speaker 2: And then there was the stolen base right and and
32:49
Speaker 2: allowed the Red Sox to to three. It was three
32:52
Speaker 2: games to nothing.
32:53
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts would also be the World Series and a manager.
32:56
Speaker 2: Right, right, it was three to nothing, and and and
32:59
Speaker 2: and I remember the signs at college were all the
33:02
Speaker 2: Red Sox fans were saying, we're down but not out,
33:05
Speaker 2: We're down but not out and oftentimes. I felt that
33:08
Speaker 2: way about the nine to eleven as it's like we're down,
33:11
Speaker 2: but we're not out. We're still here, We're still you know,
33:13
Speaker 2: we're still fighting, you know, you know, we're still landing
33:16
Speaker 2: weak punches here and there. And yeah, that what an
33:19
Speaker 2: amazing ride that was. And I felt I felt the
33:22
Speaker 2: energy of my dad for sure, because I know he
33:26
Speaker 2: would have been laughing and smiling at the way that
33:29
Speaker 2: the Red Sox just every year they would break your heart,
33:33
Speaker 2: right And I remember watching playoff games with him, and
33:36
Speaker 2: you know, the Red Sox would be doing great all
33:37
Speaker 2: season and then come fall they would just totally bottom out,
33:40
Speaker 2: totally bottom out year after year, or they would get
33:43
Speaker 2: to the playoffs and they'd win the wild card and
33:44
Speaker 2: then they would just get swept, or they would go nowhere.
33:47
Speaker 1: You were, I'm doing the math here. You were born
33:48
Speaker 1: in eighty six, is that right or what you're Yeah?
33:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was born in eighty six. Yep, yeah, and.
33:54
Speaker 1: We all know that year too. I mean, there's just
33:56
Speaker 1: been wild moment after a wild moment for the Boston
33:59
Speaker 1: but then that moment happened, and uh, and it is
34:03
Speaker 1: kind of interesting to hear your perspective as well, because
34:06
Speaker 1: now that I know you're a baseball guy, we can
34:08
Speaker 1: talk about that all day.
34:09
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. And then the
34:13
Speaker 2: other thing was is me and my dad used to
34:15
Speaker 2: watch the Patriots together. And in two thousand and one,
34:21
Speaker 2: you'll remember, you know, the Super Bowl of that year,
34:25
Speaker 2: So the Super Bowl that was actually in January of
34:27
Speaker 2: two thousand and two, right, so it was the first
34:29
Speaker 2: Super Bowl after I.
34:30
Speaker 1: Was on my apartment floor and I told my mom,
34:33
Speaker 1: order Patriot gear right now because vine Terry just kicked
34:36
Speaker 1: this team into the Super Bowl champion. And and I
34:39
Speaker 1: remember Brady.
34:40
Speaker 2: Remember Brady? Remember Brady? Yeah? Remember Brady came in mid
34:43
Speaker 2: season and we're all thinking like, oh boy, and he
34:47
Speaker 2: ended up. He ended up. I think I remember my
34:50
Speaker 2: I remember I can't remember now, oh man, but I
34:55
Speaker 2: think my dad was alive. I think it was before
34:58
Speaker 2: nine to eleven that Brady. No, it must have not
34:59
Speaker 2: have been. No, I think Bledsoe. I think Bledsoe still
35:03
Speaker 2: had with starting games. And then Brady came in probably
35:07
Speaker 2: midway through that season. But then he went and he
35:11
Speaker 2: went and won the Patriots. He won the Patriots the
35:15
Speaker 2: Super Bowl that year, and what that that was emotional
35:17
Speaker 2: for me because my dad and I had.
35:22
Speaker 1: You had the whole opening ceremonies and you had the
35:24
Speaker 1: whole honoring the troops. I think Lee Rin would did
35:28
Speaker 1: God bless the USA. I mean, it was just a whole,
35:31
Speaker 1: a whole memory that night and then the Patriots.
35:33
Speaker 2: It was less than yeah, it was less than six months.
35:35
Speaker 1: And the Rams were supposed to win that one.
35:37
Speaker 2: That the Rams were supposed to win that with the Rams,
35:39
Speaker 2: I think we're a huge, a huge favorite ah Man though.
35:44
Speaker 1: And now he's the UNC coach. I mean, it's funny
35:48
Speaker 1: just how life keeps going forward, right so here, I know, Well, Brett,
35:52
Speaker 1: you mentioned something a little while ago which I want
35:54
Speaker 1: to touch on before we go, is you feel like
35:56
Speaker 1: you're not there yet? What would be the ultimate closure?
36:01
Speaker 1: Like what's next? I mean you're able to assue now,
36:03
Speaker 1: but where do you go next?
36:06
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I think that an acknowledgment by the
36:09
Speaker 2: Saudi government. And look, we're not looking to change relations
36:14
Speaker 2: with the Kingdom. I know I'm not. You know, I'm
36:18
Speaker 2: rational enough to know that we depend on the Saudi
36:21
Speaker 2: Kingdom to stabilize the world world oil markets. They're big
36:25
Speaker 2: trading partners with US. They buy a lot of our weapons,
36:27
Speaker 2: they invest in a lot of American companies. But it's
36:32
Speaker 2: also important to keep in mind that that NBS, who's
36:35
Speaker 2: the current day to day ruler, was fifteen years old
36:38
Speaker 2: at the time. Him and I are the same age.
36:40
Speaker 2: He had nothing to do with nine to eleven, and
36:42
Speaker 2: he's done a lot of things to modernize his country,
36:47
Speaker 2: So it shouldn't be that much of a stretch for
36:50
Speaker 2: him to take accountability on behalf of his country. You know,
36:54
Speaker 2: I think it'll be such justice for this community if
36:58
Speaker 2: MBS could admit, would admit and say, you know what,
37:02
Speaker 2: twenty five years ago, there were a bunch of bad
37:04
Speaker 2: actors in our government and we should have done a
37:06
Speaker 2: better job to weed them out, and we should have
37:09
Speaker 2: been on them more, and we should have done things differently,
37:13
Speaker 2: and had we have done things differently, nine to eleven
37:16
Speaker 2: might not have happened. For Saudi Arabia to admit that,
37:18
Speaker 2: I think that's the ultimate win.
37:22
Speaker 1: Well, we pray we get that, and yes, if it's
37:25
Speaker 1: a monetary compensation, that would be incredible, But just the
37:29
Speaker 1: acknowledgement they had a role, because you're right, they have
37:31
Speaker 1: shirk responsibility. This whole entire twenty four year stretch here.
37:37
Speaker 2: That's right. They've denied and pushed back and fought back,
37:41
Speaker 2: and you know, it's not as if it's not if
37:44
Speaker 2: it's anything's going to change for them if they if
37:46
Speaker 2: they admit culpability twenty four years later. It's not as
37:49
Speaker 2: if we're going to stop buying oil from them, or
37:52
Speaker 2: our defense industry is going to stop selling them weapons.
37:55
Speaker 2: It's not like they're gonna lose Trump support anytime soon.
37:58
Speaker 2: But what it would do is would bring peace and
38:01
Speaker 2: justice and closure for our community. So you know, I
38:05
Speaker 2: don't think there's any downside to them doing it, and
38:08
Speaker 2: it's and it's all the upside. At least they at
38:10
Speaker 2: least we'd stop slamming them in the media and stop
38:13
Speaker 2: you know, protesting them and stop fighting them everything that
38:17
Speaker 2: they tried to do.
38:21
Speaker 1: You know, we need to have a lot of clarity
38:23
Speaker 1: and a lot of uh, you know, we need them
38:27
Speaker 1: to admit that they were part of it, and not
38:30
Speaker 1: just rely on the twenty eight pages in the commission.
38:32
Speaker 1: I mean, I still remember that to this day, twenty
38:34
Speaker 1: eight pages, and no one is like the element in
38:37
Speaker 1: the room still brett. It just it boggles my mind.
38:39
Speaker 2: But yeah, that.
38:41
Speaker 1: That being said, do come back as things progress, and
38:45
Speaker 1: I do want to say congratulations on this major step.
38:48
Speaker 1: And dare I say you are having one leg up
38:50
Speaker 1: for the victims of nine to eleven and for your
38:53
Speaker 1: dad justice for your dad as well.
38:56
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, thank you for having me, thank you for
38:58
Speaker 2: staying on the story, and we will definitely come back
39:03
Speaker 2: and give you updates as updates happen. Hopefully they happen
39:05
Speaker 2: more quickly than they have been happening. But you know,
39:08
Speaker 2: I think now between now and next year, between now
39:12
Speaker 2: and the next year's twenty fifth year anniversary, there's going
39:16
Speaker 2: to be a lot happening and a lot more attention
39:17
Speaker 2: on all of this.
39:19
Speaker 1: And I didn't want to go there, but I have
39:20
Speaker 1: to say, they did this really incredible memorial wells and
39:26
Speaker 1: the selfies that I see outside of it. I know
39:28
Speaker 1: it's a tourist thing, but do they bother you? I
39:30
Speaker 1: have to ask that before.
39:31
Speaker 2: We rap they do. Yeah, it's one of the reasons
39:35
Speaker 2: I don't like to go there. It's one of the
39:37
Speaker 2: reasons I want to stay away. But I don't know.
39:40
Speaker 2: I don't have a good reason. I don't have a
39:41
Speaker 2: good answer. I don't have a good solution on how
39:44
Speaker 2: you stop that. I mean, you see it down in
39:46
Speaker 2: Washington too, where you know, there's folks, you know, taking
39:50
Speaker 2: pictures in front of the Ewajima Memorial and the World
39:55
Speaker 2: War Two Memorial, and it's just you know, I mean,
39:59
Speaker 2: it's supposed to be a somber place, and eventually you
40:03
Speaker 2: know that, you know, that's gonna be the same. I mean,
40:05
Speaker 2: it already has started happening at the World Trade Center site.
40:11
Speaker 2: You know, we can talk about this, uh some other time,
40:13
Speaker 2: but you know, you know, one of the other things
40:16
Speaker 2: here that I think would help that is if the
40:21
Speaker 2: nine to eleven Memorial were to become like under the
40:25
Speaker 2: jurisdiction of the federal government. I don't know why the
40:28
Speaker 2: nine to eleven Memorial would be any different than say
40:31
Speaker 2: Mount Rushmore or the World War Two Memorial or the
40:34
Speaker 2: Vietnam Memorial. It almost seems that the nine to eleven
40:38
Speaker 2: site is a sacred US site. So it's it's odd
40:41
Speaker 2: to me that it's controlled by an independent board of directors.
40:45
Speaker 2: It doesn't it doesn't seem like that's the appropriate way
40:48
Speaker 2: to to to administrate that space, I know.
40:52
Speaker 1: And then and then, of course, when they close down
40:54
Speaker 1: the one on Greenitch Street. It just that was horrible too,
40:57
Speaker 1: because I felt like they were closing down a piece
40:59
Speaker 1: of remembering what happened on nine to eleven.
41:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, Well, we can go into that more
41:06
Speaker 2: and more.
41:07
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe there could be progress on that. Maybe that
41:09
Speaker 1: could be an initiative that you and I talk, you know,
41:14
Speaker 1: try and spear it with somebody. But you're right, it
41:16
Speaker 1: should be under federal you know, jurisdiction. And it just
41:20
Speaker 1: it bothers me that they monetize on it. Okay, I'm
41:22
Speaker 1: just gonna say that, right, it bothers me. Private entities
41:25
Speaker 1: have come in and monetize on this. I mean they
41:27
Speaker 1: have a gift shop, a gift shop, Brett.
41:31
Speaker 2: I know, yeah, I know. I mean I wish I
41:35
Speaker 2: had more time to fight that battle as well. But
41:38
Speaker 2: but right now, I just we're we're laser focused on
41:43
Speaker 2: accountability from the kingdom, and uh, you know, maybe that's
41:45
Speaker 2: the day two project that we all kind of put
41:48
Speaker 2: our put our thinking caps on and figure out a
41:51
Speaker 2: way to make that better. But I'll happily take your
41:54
Speaker 2: help up on that if that's something you want to go.
41:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I'm reading now the CEO of nine eleven
41:57
Speaker 1: Memorial Museum defends blow Did salaries. I mean, this is ridiculous.
42:02
Speaker 1: I just say, yeah, it's it's outrageous. But you and
42:06
Speaker 1: I could stop this, maybe get connected with other leaders
42:09
Speaker 1: and you know, see what we can do, because you're right,
42:12
Speaker 1: this should be fedilized, not privatize.
42:14
Speaker 2: It's it's time absolutely.
42:17
Speaker 1: Bredwick eagleson, Prison of nine to eleven Justice for Families,
42:20
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, and I do want to have
42:22
Speaker 1: you back as things progress for the families and justice prevails.
42:27
Speaker 1: I guess you would.
42:28
Speaker 2: Say thank you. I appreciate that. All right.
42:31
Speaker 1: I'm Alex Garrett and there has been one leg up
42:33
Speaker 1: with Alex Garrett and Brett eagleson