Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Highlights for Curtis and Larry

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Highlights for Curtis and Larry · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: New York changed. The country changed. The world changed. We
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: all changed on this day 25 years ago, September 11th, 2001.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: We all have our memories. It's just as important that
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: we gather as a community, much like we did right
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: after 9-11. There was a unity in this country that
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: hasn't existed since. But in memory of that day, we
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: should unify once again And so we're going to dedicate
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: this show not only to what's going on down at
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Ground Zero, but to the memory of those who died
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: and those who have died since. But also, remembering that
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: day is a very personal experience, isn't it? We all
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: have our stories. Some are tragic. Some are wonderful. I mean,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: people coming from all over the country to respond to this.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: And there's unity and there's heroes and there's devils. And
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: there are so many stories to share. We want to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: hear yours. You can leave us a talk back at
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: any point this morning, anytime you want to share a story.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Remember a loved one or just let us know how
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: you're feeling today. Because for many of us, the feelings
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: of that day are rushing back today. You can do
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: that by going to 710WOR. org. on the iHeartRadio app. Once again,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: 710WOR on the iHeartRadio app. And today, by the way,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: we're giving out the caller of the week, the C-Crane radio,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: radios that work when it matters most. And I'm sure
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: it's going to be a call from today. So please,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: we want to hear from you. But I think it's important, Curtis,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: on this day, especially from you and Natalie, since you
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: were both here on that day, I can talk about
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: my experience, but it's much different than yours. Curtis, why
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: don't you start? What was it like on 9-11, 2001?
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Clear day. There was a Democratic primary taking place because
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Rudy Giuliani had been term-limited out. The Democrats were way
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: ahead in the polls, whether it was Mark Green or
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Fernando Ferrer, were running against one another. They want to
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: beat the billionaire Michael Bloomberg. The polls were overwhelming. So
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: people were going out to vote. I was at WABC
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: at the time. I had just come back from Florida
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: where I spoke the night before. And we were going
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: through the assignments of what are we going to cover?
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: What are we going to do? And nobody obviously had
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: any idea what was awaiting us. With the smashing of
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: that plane into Tower One, eventually its implosion, followed quickly
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: by the smashing of a plane into Tower 2 and
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: its implosion. And I think from a radio perspective, remember,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: we didn't have the internet to rely on for news
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: and information. And when the towers went down, by the
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: time that catastrophe took place, there was no TV.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: That's it.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: All the towers were where the big antenna were up
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: on the World Trade Center. They had been moved from
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: the Empire State Building. And there was no streaming.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: No.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Now people were so dependent on radio, like they are
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: during blackouts or other major disasters.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: So we had to hold it down. There was no breaks.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: There were no advertisements. It was just whatever we could
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: get our hands on to inform the general public that
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: everybody was shocked.
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  Speaker 1: We were getting calls coming in.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: People were basically being deputized to tell us what was
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: going on in their area. And the shock of it all,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: being on the air for 12 straight hours before we
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: were relieved. And then eventually I worked my way down
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: to the World Trade Center site. You could see the
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: plume in the distance. And it was easy access in
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: and out. But it's something that all the pictures, all
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: the video, all the commemorations don't do justice to. It
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: was a catastrophe. It was, I would say, like Dante's Inferno.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: If there was anything that could possibly equate to Dante's Inferno,
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: it was that.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to talk to Joe Bartlett, who is retired now,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: but he was the newsman at WOR on that day.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: And he saw the second plane hit the tower, which
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: is amazing. So we're going to be talking to him
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: coming up. But Natalie Vaca was also here that day.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: And you were here for many days after. I think
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: you slept at the station. So can you share what
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: you went through on that day?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I was still pretty young in my career.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: And I was producing the morning show. It was with
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: Ed Walsh at that time. John Gambling had just left
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: a year earlier. And it started off like, you know,
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Curtis was saying, it was a beautiful morning. We were
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: kind of wrapping up the show at that point. And
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: we have a line. It was called Star 710 where
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: people could call with traffic. And I saw it ringing
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: and I said, we only have one more report, but
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: I guess I'll pick it up. I picked it up
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: and it was a regular call. It was a truck
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: driver from the Jersey Turnpike. And he said to me,
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: he's like, Natalie, he goes, the Twin Towers, it's on fire.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: I was like, what is he talking about? Because I'm
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: staring at television. They got the Today Show on. They
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: didn't have anything on. I'm looking at the AP news.
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  Speaker 4: Nothing is coming up.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: So I said, well, I could see the Twin Towers
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  Speaker 3: from our newsroom. I'll walk over. Joe Bartlett's doing the news.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: And he has his back to the window and he's
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: typing away for the 9 o'clock news. I was like, Joe,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: turn around. From that moment on when I told him
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: to turn around, everything changed. And I, as, you know,
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: Curtis was saying, I spent the morning with the listeners,
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: these WOR listeners. And I meet them a lot. still
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: 25 years later, and they'll talk about that day and
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: how they stayed with us because they had no other
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: place to go. And they felt like we were the
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: family that they needed at that moment. And I didn't
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: feel it for a very long time, the heaviness of
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: that moment.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been here for a couple 9-11 anniversaries, and
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I've heard some of your coverage, and it was stellar.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: It was amazing. It was it was, you did a
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: great public service on that day. And it was so
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: important that you were on the air and that Joe
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Bartlett was on the air because my God, my God,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: his coverage was amazing because it was appropriately enough information
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: mixed with raw emotion.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Raw emotion.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Because you were feeling it. You were feeling it in
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  Speaker 1: real time as it was happening outside the window. I'll
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: share my story just very quickly because it's much different
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: than than the people that were here, but it is
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: an American experience. I was sound asleep and I was
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: anchoring the evening news and my wife was on the
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: air at CBS at the time. And my wife called
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: me and said, wake up, do you see what's going on?
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  Speaker 1: Do you see? And I turned the television on and
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: I said, well, planes fly into buildings that's happened before
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: in New York. And she said, yeah, but this is,
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: this looked like an airliner. And I said, really? And
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: then as we're talking on the phone, the second plane
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: hit the building. And I said, is that a replay?
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: And she goes, no, that's another plane. And I said
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: to her, we're under attack. I got to go. And
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I hung up the phone and I listened to the
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: radio and they were still talking sports. And I called
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: in and I said, do you understand what's going on?
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: And they said, we can't get this one guy to
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: shut up. I said, well, shut him up, shut him off.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And she goes, can you go on? And from that moment,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: as I'm getting dressed, as I'm driving in, I was
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: on the air talking about what was happening and I
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: get into the newsroom and everybody's crying. And I couldn't
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  Speaker 1: understand it. I've never been in a newsroom where everybody
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: was crying. That's the first time ever I've seen that.
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  Speaker 1: And because I've covered so many stories, I was wondering
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  Speaker 1: why I wasn't feeling that. But you're hyped up with
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: an emotion of covering a story. I was on the
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  Speaker 1: air straight for four weeks covering the story.
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  Speaker 2: And I think our role became... Trying to cut through
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  Speaker 2: all the misinformation that was coming out, the rumors, the innuendos. Again,
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  Speaker 2: there was no internet. It's not like you could take
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  Speaker 2: your flip phone and you could see what was going on.
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  Speaker 1: It was nothing.
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  Speaker 2: People were completely dependent on whatever information we could get
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  Speaker 2: our hands on. We had the responsibilities. not to put misinformation.
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  Speaker 5: On the air.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a big one. I remember being so
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  Speaker 3: worried about what we were saying because I knew how
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  Speaker 3: it was affecting people. And we were extremely lucky to
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  Speaker 3: have George Meade in the studio with us, who is
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: our traffic reporter, but had been a helicopter pilot. He
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: probably did more miles around the city in a helicopter
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  Speaker 3: than anyone. And he initially looked at us and said,
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  Speaker 3: I cannot understand how a plane could be misguided. into
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  Speaker 3: that building on this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. It was so obvious when it was the second
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  Speaker 1: plane what was happening. I will tell you this. I
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: was on the air too, not at the time, but
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: in the days afterwards. And things were happening so fast
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: and so quickly. And we had so many different news sources.
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  Speaker 1: And let me tell you that that was an amazing
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  Speaker 1: day for the media. They did an incredible job. Don't
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: you wish they could go back to that, to being...
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  Speaker 1: All together, just focusing on one story and making sure
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  Speaker 1: the correct information comes through. So it was a day
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  Speaker 1: that changed everything. And it certainly changed all of us individually,
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  Speaker 1: but it changed the media. But then again, we've all
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: slipped back.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I remember on that day, more so than the
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  Speaker 2: heroic news people who ran down to the attack site,
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  Speaker 2: many of them who would have nightmares for the rest
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: of their lives for what they saw, because they were
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: down in the area when the implosion took place, was
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  Speaker 2: the fact That everybody understood what their responsibilities were. Because
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: then later on, we learned about the attack on the Pentagon.
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: And then the one that nobody pays attention to now
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: with everything leading up to the 25th anniversary, Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 2: Then realizing later that it was the Flight 93 that
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: went down there that was on its way to crash
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: into our nation's capital. And all of that, we had
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: to sort through. And we had to depend on a
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: lot of callers to be our eyes and ears out
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  Speaker 2: there in all these surrounding areas.
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  Speaker 1: But remember when the other planes crashed. There was this
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: feeling around the country, oh, my God, what's next? Nobody
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: had any idea of how many planes could be up there.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: And every city was on high alert because they could
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: be next. It was a frightening time after that happened
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: for several days that, oh my God, we are vulnerable.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: What's next? But we want to hear from you. You
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: can leave us a talk back again at any time
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: during this morning to share your stories, remember a loved one,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: or just... Let us know how you're feeling today. You
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: can do that by going to 710WOR on the iHeartRadio app.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back with your thoughts. And on that day,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: a lot of the media that responded to the first.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: Plane hitting a World Trade Center tower.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Got to see the second plane in real time and
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: report on it live. And one of those people is
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: the legendary former WOR news director, Joe Bartlett. And in
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: the old WOR studios, you could see the towers from
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the windows. Joe looked out his window and reported live.
• 12:26
  Speaker 7: Oh my God, Ed, another plane just hit the World
• 12:29
  Speaker 7: Trade Center. Another plane. It was a medium-sized plane.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Unbelievable.
• 12:34
  Speaker 7: It looked like, oh my God, this is a deliberate act, Ed.
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: This plane flew directly into the second World Trade Center.
• 12:44
  Speaker 7: A huge flame and conflagration just broke out.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: And we have Joe Bartlett on the phone live, former
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: WOR news director. Joe, that was an incredible job that day.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: And just that what we played for you was an
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: incredible combination of journalistic skills and human emotion, exactly what
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: that moment called for. Can you tell us, walk us
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: through that moment?
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: You know, it was good morning, Larry and Curtis. It
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: was just an ordinary day. And then we got the
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: call that there was a plane had hit the first
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: tower and we're trying to figure out what happened. And
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: as you said, I could look directly south to the
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: World Trade Center. And I'm watching that as I see
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: this other plane come down the Hudson. Really, it was
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: surreal because it was at a low level and I'm
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: trying to figure out what's going on with the tower.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: And I see this small, not small, but a large plane.
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: going directly toward the scene. And I'm thinking to myself
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: in the back of my mind, why is he there?
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: And then bang, it hit the building. And right away,
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: you knew something awful had occurred. In fact, I remember
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: as I was describing this, I said something sinister has
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: just happened. And I think what struck me about all
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: of this is the enormity of what was happening. But
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: beyond that, Just the rapid succession of unbelievable events. Just
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: think about it. 846, the first plane hits the North Tower. 903,
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: the second plane hits the South Tower. Then a plane
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: hits the Pentagon. And it's unbelievable. All these things are
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: happening every 10 minutes or so. Then the tower collapsed.
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: The South Tower collapsed.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Unbelievable.
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: And I'm thinking to myself, how many people were in
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: that tower? How many people have just died? And it
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: was hard to get a grasp on what was happening.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: And obviously, you're just shocked. You're sad. You're scared. And
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: all those emotions are going through your mind. And I
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: just keep talking about what's happening, describe the events, and
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: We'll figure out the rest later. That's my thought.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: And Joe, later on, when the towers have completely gone down,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: there's no TV coverage. Everyone is dependent on radio. People
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: down in the lower Manhattan area had no cell phone contact.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: So as the go-to news guy, how did you handle
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: trying to sort of sort through the rumors, the innuendos?
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: There was no internet at the time. How did you
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: handle that to make sure you were putting out the
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: right information as opposed to maybe even stoking more fear
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: and more concerns that people had who were in shock?
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: Well, we relied mainly on people. callers who would call
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: us and tell us firsthand what they have seen we
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: i remember we have one of our reporters down there
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: mara rubin and we were extremely concerned when the towers
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: fell because we thought she was right she had been
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: reporting from the the scene so she we thought that
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: she was right there fortunately she was with mayor giuliani
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: and was safe but uh I don't know, Curtis, you
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: just keep going. You just keep going and you try
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: to be as accurate as possible. There were probably some
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: moments where we were maybe a little inaccurate, but you
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: just do the best you can. And you're thrown into
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: this situation and as your natural instincts as a reporter
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: come out, just describe the scene and insert a little
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: bit of your personal opinion from time to time. and
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: figure it out later. And it's just, but it was
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: hour after hour after hour. And the uncertainty, you didn't
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: know what was going on. That's another factor that's in
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: your head. But again, you just plod forward with your job.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: You talked about Mara. I want to play something you
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: said about Mara on that day.
• 17:03
  Speaker 6: Oh my gosh, this is terrible. And as we heard
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: earlier from Mara Rubin, I certainly hope she's all right.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you were concerned about her. I know a lot
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: of news organizations that were concerned about their people at
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: the scene.
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: Oh, absolutely. I mean, we didn't think that the tower
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: was going to collapse. Okay, it got hit by a plane.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: That's terrible. But to collapse, and you're watching it. I
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: remember watching the scene, and I'm looking, and then all
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: of a sudden— like the tower disappeared. It's like you
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: can't even think of that. You could never really think
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: of that kind of scenario because I thought those buildings
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: were pretty sturdy.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's very important that people realize the
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: importance that radio played because no other forms of communication
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: and explanation were taking place. Now, in radio, we have
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: an emergency broadcast system. So if there is a national emergency,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: the president could be heard from wherever he happened to
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: be at that moment. We didn't know where the president was.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: We didn't know where the vice president was. It wasn't
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: until later on the day we heard from the mayor, Rudy,
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: to give us updates. So people had to. Many people
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: hadn't listened to radio in years. Now we're forced to
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: rediscover radio because it was their only way to know
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: what was going on.
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: The other thing about that moment, Curtis, is we really
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: didn't know what was going on. We were under attack.
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: And for Americans, it's never a thought. We thought we
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: were very well protected. We have two oceans protecting us.
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: We have the massive military of the United States of America.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: So we don't get attacked. And it was hard to
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: figure out what was happening. Although I do remember in
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: our discussion, that we did kind of quickly surmise that
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: it may have been Osama bin Laden because he had
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: been behind the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: and claimed responsibility for that. So we thought it could
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: be Osama bin Laden. Keep in mind, too, we did
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: have a previous attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: I want to play something for you because you mentioned
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: a moment ago, I think I even said on the air,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: this is sinister. We have a clip of that, and
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: then I have a question afterwards. There's no doubt about this.
• 19:35
  Speaker 6: If you have two eyes, you know what happened here.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: This is absolutely sinister.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: And you were correct, and you were correct about Osama
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: bin Laden. You did a wonderful job. As a matter
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: of fact, I thought journalism, that day and the days after,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: was amazing. I wish we could get back to that,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: but it's moments like this where we all rise to
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: our best, and you certainly did. After that, how long
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: were you on this story, and were you able to
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: go home?
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: You know, I don't even remember. I probably did go
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: home because I didn't live that far away. But I
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: was on the air almost through the afternoon, I think.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: And then, you know, right back the next day. And
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: then I think it was like maybe two days later
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: that I went down to Lower Manhattan, as far as
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: they would let you go. I think it was a
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: little bit south of Canal Street. But I think Curtis
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: mentioned it earlier. When you went down there, you smelled death.
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: I mean, he said it smelled like a crematorium. There
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: was an awful, awful smell in the air. And it
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: was pungent. You really knew it. And it was the
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: smell of death. And it was just a horrific scene
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: down there.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: And I think the other thing to you, Joe, and
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: so many others who are down there reporting to all
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: of us, you didn't stoke the fear, fright, and hysteria
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: that nowadays, because there's so many forms of communication. would
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: have existed. Conspiracies, everything would have surfaced. You guys and
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: gals were cool, calm, and collected in the most perilous
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: of times that we would ever experience in our lifetime.
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, because you really didn't know. This was a very
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: historic moment. I thought the irony, too, was 9-11, 9-1-1.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: It was hard to know You knew this was a
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: historic moment, but you didn't know the context. You didn't
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: know what it was all about for a while. And
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: it was just America was under attack. We were afraid.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: And the one thing that I tried to do in
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: all of the reporting was just to be calm and
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: not overly frighten people. And just basically described the scene
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: as we saw it.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Well, you did that. I will say this. In my career,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: I've seen some awful, awful things. And it stays with you.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: And sometimes it haunts you when you don't even think
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: about it. Is this still haunting you? Have you been
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: able to forget certain moments?
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: Well, look, I haven't been affected as much. severely as
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: people who lost loved ones or people who were on
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: the pile and eventually got cancer. But yes, there's a
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: couple of things. On 9-11, there's an anxiousness that I
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: go through. And when I see a clear blue sky
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: any day, and I see a lot of blue skies
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: down here in South Carolina, when you look at the
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: clear blue sky, I think of 9-11. It was a
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: beautiful day, spectacular morning. And The sights of those planes
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: flying through the clear blue sky to the World Trade
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: Center and what happened after that, it's in my mind.
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: It will always be there. And that's what I think
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: about when I see the blue skies. And sadly, all
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: the people that died on that day, people that just
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: went to work, they got caught up in this horrific moment.
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: And sadly, it cost them their lives.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Joe Bartlett, former WOR news director. Thank you so much, Joe.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Thanks for spending some time with us this morning.
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: You're welcome, Larry. You too, Curtis. Take care.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: On this 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: Trade Center in New York.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: There were several people that saw it happen, including the
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: legendary sportscaster, our own Warner Wolf, who was on the
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: air at the time with Don Imus.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: MSNBC has just flashed on my screen.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: It looks like there is a.
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center?
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: We got Warner on the phone.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: He's looking at it right now.
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: Warner?
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Hi, man.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: What's the deal?
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: Something hit the World Trade Center.
• 24:10
  Speaker 7: I think it was a plane.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: I heard it right over my head, and the explosion.
• 24:15
  Speaker 7: Rocked the building.
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: Really?
• 24:16
  Speaker 7: And I'm looking at it right now. The smoke is
• 24:18
  Speaker 7: just bellowing out of the World Trade Center.
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: I mean, it's horrible.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: The great Warner Wolf is on the air with us now. Warner,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: can you... further describe that moment in retrospect?
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll tell you what, Larry, the plane, we lived
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: on the top floor on North Moore Street in Tribeca.
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: And that plane, I thought it was going to hit
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: our roof. I've never heard a plane closer in my life.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: My wife and I were getting up. I wasn't working
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: that day. And, man, that plane, I tell you, it
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: was unbelievable. The sound was incredible. I can still hear it. And,
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: you know, you can see all the movies and TV, films, everything.
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: There's nothing like when it happened. There's nothing like seeing
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: it live. It's still with me. We were about 10
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: blocks from the World Trade Center. We could see it.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: lit up every night right out of a window. When
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: that first plane hit, we said, man, what is it,
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: a misguided pilot? It was like the bomber pilot. You
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: remember the bomber hit the Empire State Building in 1945?
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: I said, man, look at this. Oh, but wait a minute. Uh-oh.
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: started watching and i thought they were people were throwing
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: tables and chairs out of the window but man it
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: was they were jumping out of the window that was
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: that was a horrible sight and then uh i guess
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: it was well 15 16 17 minutes later uh the
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: plane came around and uh hit the other tower and
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: now he said oh man this is this is no
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: accident so i i ran on the roof of my
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: building and i could see everything and um oh boy
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: the fire and just terrible things you know it's uh
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: and i saw the buildings collapse those are the worst
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: thing i've ever seen i saw them just Oh man,
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: am I really seeing this? This was horrible.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: It's gone.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: It collapsed.
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: It's gone.
• 26:54
  Speaker 7: It's not there.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: The whole tower.
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: The whole tower. It's gone. This is only one tower.
• 27:02
  Speaker 6: Oh God, this is horrible.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: It's gone.
• 27:05
  Speaker 6: It's not there.
• 27:06
  Speaker 7: It's like it disappeared.
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: And there's no way the first responders can ever get
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: enough credit for going into that burning building. The two towers.
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: And I'll tell you one more thing. We had a balcony.
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: And I'd say for at least a month, there was
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: this unusual smell coming from the tower. And they said, no,
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: it's nothing. It was a sweet, sour odor. I've never
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: smelled anything like it. It would be like a bad perfume,
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: I guess the way I'd describe it. And it was
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: the burning of the metals and the materials of the
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: World Trade Center. So that was all unhealthy down there.
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: And as we're finding out now still, I'll tell you, Larry,
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: I still can't believe it was 25 years ago today.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Warner, your eyesight on the spot, announcement on the
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: IMAS show of what it was like, even though there
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: was no Internet at that time, things didn't go viral anymore.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Your announcement of what it was like was heard across
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: the nation because people were desperately trying to get information.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: And your voice, I must say, even though I was
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: on the competing network, WABC, your voice resonated for an
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: entire nation that grew up with you.
• 28:34
  Speaker 5: Well, I never stopped to think of it that way
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: or looked at it that way. It was just what
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: I was seeing myself. It was like just... Telling the story,
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: my gosh, you know, I'm still uncomfortable talking about it
• 28:54
  Speaker 5: because it makes me think about it. I try not
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: to think about it, but I think, like I said earlier,
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: you could see all the TV and movies of it
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: years later. There's nothing, when you see something in person,
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: as you probably know, it just sticks with you. It
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: stays with you. And just, you know, oh, man, see
• 29:16
  Speaker 5: those people. God, it's poor souls.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you were there just in the neighborhood for
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: the excavation, the search for bodies, the rebuilding, all of it.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Can you talk us through some of that?
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: Oh, I was, oh, my gosh. I was still on
• 29:33
  Speaker 5: WCBS at that time, so, you know, I went down
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: there and they brought a camera and gosh, you could
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: see the weary workers and they had dogs, you know,
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: because they were sniffing out to see where people were.
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: And it was just a dreadful, just a terrible scene.
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: It If you go through it once, hopefully that's it.
• 30:03
  Speaker 5: But I remember one of the responders said, you know,
• 30:11
  Speaker 5: it's bad enough that we have close to 3,000 people dead,
• 30:16
  Speaker 5: but it's the ripple effect. All the families from 3,000 people,
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: friends and family, it's not just... I'll tell you... When
• 30:28
  Speaker 5: my wife and I moved to Tribeca, we said, oh, boy,
• 30:30
  Speaker 5: this is great. You know, nothing, you never thought that
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: we were about 10 blocks from the World Trade Center.
• 30:38
  Speaker 5: We used to, you know, I'd come home at night.
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: It was a beautiful sight, the two of them. We'd
• 30:44
  Speaker 5: look out the window. There it is. There they are.
• 30:46
  Speaker 5: What a great sight. You can't see this anywhere else.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I will tell you, Warner, that was powerful to
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: hear that from you since you experienced the whole thing
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: and how it haunts you to this day. And thank
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you so much for sharing that, the great Warner Wolf.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: All right, gentlemen. Thank you.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Thank you. He certainly sounded different, didn't he? I mean,
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Warner Wolf, you remember being fast-paced and getting through sports events,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: but When he's remembering it, you could almost feel that
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: he was still seeing it.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and he was on the fan with Imus in
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: the morning. And remember the night before, Monday Night Football,
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: the Giants versus the Denver Broncos. So they're a sports station.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: That's all they're talking about at that time. And then
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: Warner was magnificent because where he lived with his wife,
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: he could almost reach out and touch the Twin Towers
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: and then to be able to experience it.
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: And relate it.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: On WFAN was magnificent because it got those guys all
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: focused on, hey, forget sports. Everything else goes to the sidelines.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: That's all anybody was talking about for days and days
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: and days thereafter.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: And we're proud to have him here now. Let's get
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: some more reflections from our listeners.
• 32:08
  Speaker 6: Dr.
• 32:08
  Speaker 8: Bob, recalling Captain Kathy Mazza, who was a cardiac surgery
• 32:12
  Speaker 8: nurse with me at St. Francis Hospital, went on to
• 32:15
  Speaker 8: become Port Authority policewoman. And after 10 years there, she
• 32:20
  Speaker 8: became the first female captain and commandant of the police
• 32:24
  Speaker 8: academy in New Jersey. She came over with new recruits
• 32:28
  Speaker 8: to the buildings, to the towers, saved many, many lives.
• 32:32
  Speaker 8: And that day, she was like a sister to me,
• 32:34
  Speaker 8: dearly missed.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: And thanks for remembering her, Kathy Mazza, Captain Kathy Nancy Mazza.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: was killed on September 11th, as he said, while attempting
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: to rescue the victims trapped in the World Trade Center.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: She was leading a group of people downstairs when the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: building started to collapse. Using her sidearm, Captain Mazza shot
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: out glass walls, enabling many to escape. Captain Mazza was
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: the first female commander of the Port Authority of New
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: York and New Jersey's Police Department. She had served with
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: for 13 years. Others survived because of her. She did
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: not survive. She has a husband and mother that live
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: on and still remember her. They're going to be there today.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: She was only 46 years old. Kathy Mazza, one of
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: the great heroes. Thanks for that talk back and getting
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: us to remember her. Kathy Mazza was one of the heroes.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: And remember, that was a Port Authority building, two buildings.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: Larry Silverstein had just purchased it, you know, private owner operator.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: So the Port Authority was embedded in that project from
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: beginning to end of the World Trade Center site and
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: all the employees of the Port Authority who valiantly stayed on.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: and did not flee as almost most people would have.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, we're trained. You don't run into the belly
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: of the beast. You run away. They stood, they ground,
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: they didn't leave, and they did everything they could to
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: help others.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: Well, how about her story? She went in and saved lives.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: She shot out a window so others could live, even
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: though she was sacrificing herself.
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: Correct.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: An amazing story. Thanks so much for that talk back
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: and getting us to remember Kathy Mazza on this day. Well,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: at Ground Zero, they're now getting ready for the ceremony.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: We're going to go back down there to talk to
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Natalie Migliore. And, of course, we will continue with your
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: remembrances when we come back. And this is a special
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: time also to talk about LifeVac because an emergency can
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: happen at any moment. Remember, that was a beautiful day
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: when that happened. But there's all kinds of emergencies. There's
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: great and there's personal. And all are just as important
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: when you're there. And choking is one of those moments.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: It can happen to anybody, a child, a parent, a grandparent,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: when it does seconds matter. That's why I'm proud to
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: tell you about LifeVac. LifeVac is the first only FDA-authorized
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: suction anti-choking device to be used for second-line treatment when
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: recommended choking protocols like the Heimlich or just patting someone
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: in the back have been followed regularly. without success. Here's
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: what's really remarkable. LifeVac has helped save over 6,000 lives worldwide.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Think about that. That's not a number. These are people,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: real families, real second chances. Preparedness matters. Having the right
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: tool nearby can make all the difference in the world.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: So learn more about LifeVac today at LifeVac.net. That's LifeVac.net.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Go ahead and visit that site, lifevac.net, and you can
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: see how you will be ready when it counts.