Since its beginning in 2007, Morning Joe has marked the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks by talking to the people who were there in lower Manhattan, either as firefighters helping in the cleanup or to former Gov. George Pataki, or to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who took office in 2002 after Rudy Giuliani.
We’ve compiled some of the clips available in our archives, and you can view them below:
2007
Morning Joe talks to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mayor Bloomberg says we must look to the past and then we must focus on the future. Bloomberg tells Joe Scarborough that you can’t relive the past continuously, and you can’t change the past. What you can do is make sure you have a better future and not repeat the mistakes of the past.
2008
Morning Joe talks with journalist Ron Suskind on whether or not America is safer seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“How do we protect our values? That is the true source of power,” Suskind tells Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
2009
Willie Geist talks with former New York Gov. George Pataki. Pataki shares his memories of the day. Pataki tells Willie he called President Bush to urge him to shut down the airspace over New York. “We were very uncertain as to whether or not there might be more attacks,” Pataki says.
2010
September 11 fell on a Saturday in 2010, and around the time of the anniversary, the country was embroiled in the unfortunate back-and-forth debates about the proposed Park51 Islamic center as well as Florida pastor Terry Jones and his threats to burn a Quran. Jones threatened to burn a Quran on the 9th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, but later canceled his plans (but later did burn a Quran in 2011).
The Morning Joe panel addressed the Jones controversy by talking to him directly and offering him a message of peace through Jon Meacham.
2011
The tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks fell on a Sunday in 2011. Willie Geist joined FDNY member Lenny Sieli at Ground Zero on Sept. 9, 2011 to talk about his memories of the day. On the tenth anniversary, a “specific, credible” threat emerged in the country, and the Morning Joe panel talked with the Council on Foreign Relations’ Richard Haass, who said “…you can’t defeat terrorism in the sense of eliminating it. It is now part of our lives…Ten years after 9/11, terrorism is part of the fabric.” Joe Scarborough performs his original song “Reason to Believe” in the 30 Rock studio. Scarborough says about the song: “This is my way of remembering those who were lost on 9/11.” The song is also Scarborough’s dedication to the troops who have served in the military.
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