9/11 first responders – running into the flames. How the day that “changed everything” transformed policing and counter terror tactics forever. Reflecting Absence - the battle to build New York’s 9/11 memorial. Interfaith panel – promoting unity between people of different creeds.
9/11 first responders: Running into the flames
They’ve been called the heroes of 9/11. But most first responders shrug off that moniker. “We were just doing our jobs,” they say. “We’re hardwired to help.” But for us mere civilians, it’s nearly impossible to imagine how firefighters, cops and other rescue workers selflessly ran into the burning buildings as so many desperately tried to get out.
Over 400 first responders were killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. And as the weeks turned into months, months into years, the emergency response mission turned to one of recovery. Despite toxic and heart-wrenching conditions, first responders wouldn’t leave the site for fear of leaving their people behind. In the years since, many have gotten sick from their time at ground zero.
New York firefighter Jim Riches was one of the first rescuers on the scene. He pulled the remains of his own son, also a firefighter, “out of the hole.” In 2005, Riches lost 25% of his lung capacity and lay in a coma for 16 days. He had to learn to walk and talk again. Now, he has lots of sharp words about all the things that went wrong down there.
Why were there so many breakdowns in communications? Has enough been done to prevent that from happening again? Have we done enough to honor these brave men and women? Listen to these questions as more as Larry Mantle talks with Riches and two other first responders.
Guests:
Jim Riches, retired Deputy Chief, Fire Department City of New York (FDNY), who lost his firefighter son Jimmy Riches on 9/11
Kenneth Honig, recently retired Inspector and Commanding Officer for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport; former Port Authority Emergency Manager for 8 weeks after 9/11; Senior Program Coordinator for Critical Incident Management and Training Inc. (CIMAT)
Jay Kopstein, former Deputy Chief for the New York Police Department (NYPD) who retired in 2010 after 37 years of police service; for the last 12 years of his police career he was assigned to Operations Division and was involved in the planning and coordination of most large special events and significant incidents in New York City
From left to right, William Bratton, Jay Kopstein, Kenneth Honig and Jim Riches in studio.
Post 9/11, NYPD's counterterrorism efforts draw praise, fire
After the attacks of Sept. 11, the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism tactics have raised concerns about civil rights and unchecked power. If you ask NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, his record speaks for itself. Since Sept. 11, 2001 there have been no successful attacks in New York. That, he says, is thanks to the NYPD' efforts.
Kelly created the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau, the first of its kind in the nation, in 2002. But the agency's investigative techniques and alleged demographic profiling have resulted in criticism over the NYPD's focus on the Muslim community.
"Get real. We live in a very dangerous world," said William Bratton, former LAPD chief, on AirTalk Friday. "We're doing it within the law. Cameras in public spaces are allowed."
Bratton said that New York remains the number one terrorist target in the world and, he says, the most significant threats are coming from within the Muslim community.
New York's proactive policing is a welcome change to a common law enforcement mentality, Bratton said. "We very frequently talk about it's not a matter of if an attack is going to occur, it's just a matter of when."
The effort to protect New York’s 8.2 million residents has vastly transformed the role of local cops since the attacks in 2001. The Department’s Intelligence Division was overhauled and given both the tools and the people to analyze and detect threats, as well as the authority to thwart them.
The city's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) oversees the operational control of the Counterterrorism Bureau. Detectives partner with FBI and CIA agents on terror investigations in New York and around the world. The Department recently came under fire for also using undercover officers of Arab and Muslim descent to gather information on potential homegrown threats.
Jay Kopstein, former deputy chief for the NYPD, told AirTalk's Larry Mantle that everything the police did was lawful and in the public's best interest.
"The gathering of the information is available to police," Kopstein said, just as "it's available to journalists."
These counterterror efforts have cost tens of millions in federal grants and city funding, but Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of the RAND Corporation, told KPCC's Larry Mantle that the money spent on counterterrorism is appropriate and effective.
Since 9/11, the United States has thwarted 32 terrorist plots created by individuals associated with or inspired by al-Qaida.
"Their capacity to carry out another attack on the scale of 9/11 has been largely removed," Jenkins said. "We still worry about truck bombs and individual shooters, but that's a vast improvement."
NYPD’s approach to counterterrorism has been largely lauded as successful. When a car bomb nearly went off in Times Square in May 2010, President Barack Obama thanked Kelly for his work defending the city.
"There's a considerable amount of resources dedicated to the protection of the citizens that the citizens don't see," Kopstein said.
Post 9/11, the U.S. has developed a sophisticated system of collecting intelligence regarding threats. Organizations pool intelligence in a national counterterrorism center that can help authorities find clues and develop leads on possible attacks.
According to Jenkins, the center receives 8,000 to 10,000 pieces of information every day, which must be sorted and properly disseminated to local authorities.
"The problem they face," Jenkins said, "is the volume of information."
This weekend's 10th anniversary of 9/11 has prompted a "credible but unconfirmed" report of a possible terrorist attack on New York and Washington.
Jenkins told AirTalk that three individuals were mentioned in the report and that authorities can now use the federal database of terrorism intelligence to search for the suspects' recent communications, travel records and other clues that may confirm the report.
Guests:
William Bratton, Chairman of Kroll, a risk consulting company; former Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (2002–2009); he was also Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner and New York City Police Commissioner
Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of the RAND Corporation; he started RAND’s terrorism research in 1972 and is the Co-Editor of the recent RAND study “The Long Shadow of 9/11: America's Response to Terrorism”
Jay Kopstein, former Deputy Chief for the New York Police Department (NYPD) who retired in 2010 after 37 years of police service; for the last 12 years of his police career he was assigned to Operations Division and was involved in the planning and coordination of most large special events and significant incidents in New York City
Brian Michael Jenkins and William Bratton in-studio following their AirTalk interview in New York.
Reflecting Absence - the battle to build New York’s 9/11 memorial
How do we best commemorate those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001? In imagining a memorial to the fallen towers, young architect Michael Arad envisioned holes in the Hudson River, with water flowing into them. That design evolved into his finished memorial, “Reflecting Absence,” which features waterfalls cascading into twin reflecting pools where the towers stood, ringed by the names of the dead etched in bronze. Arad’s submission was chosen out of over 5,200 entries by a jury which included Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer Maya Lin and a member of one of the victims’ families. Construction began in 2004, and along with the adjoining museum complex, cost around $700 million. But its journey to completion has not been without controversy. Perhaps most contentious has been the argument over how to list the names of the victims, and those of the earlier World Trade Center attack on February 26, 1993. Should first responders be listed together? Should people be grouped by where they worked, where they died? Some feared that any listing other than alphabetical would establish a “hierarchy of loss,” that a random listing would be haphazard and insensitive. In the end, the names were carefully worked out so that family members, co-workers, firefighting units and other meaningful relationships were honored together. The memorial will be unveiled on Sunday and open to the public starting the next day. Is this a fitting memorial, providing solace to survivors, honor for the dead, a place to reflect on our nation’s loss?
Guests:
Michael Arad, Partner, Handel Architects; his design for the World Trade Center Site Memorial, "Reflecting Absence," was chosen by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in January 2004
Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-winning Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine’s “Sky Line” column; author of several books, including Why Architecture Matters (Yale University Press 2009) and UP FROM ZERO: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York
Michael Arad (left) and Paul Goldberger (right) in studio.
Interfaith panel – promoting unity between people of different creeds
Since the 9/11 terror attacks, Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders have been working together to try to calm anti-Muslim rhetoric down and redirect the conversation. But after the killing of 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, nearly one in three respondents to a recent survey agreed that “Muslims are mostly responsible for creating the religious tension that exists in the United States today.” This, according to a new national poll from Ohio State University. Imam Rauf, the New Yorker who sparked controversy over plans to build a mosque near ground zero, said he believed bin Laden’s death might ease tensions that still exist. Rauf has since curtailed his involvement in the Manhattan project known as Park51. Now, he’s contemplating the creation of an interfaith community center in the same area in an effort to promote unity between people of all faiths. Today we’ll talk with three religious leaders about these efforts. Has tolerance of other faiths grown or dissipated post 9/11? How do these religious leaders tend to their congregations when faced with such tragedy? And how does religion speak to the randomness of innocent lives lost?
Guests:
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, an Orthodox rabbi; President of CLAL—The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York City; author of You Don't Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism (Harmony, Jan. 2008); Ranked two years in a row in the "Top 50 Rabbis in America" in Newsweek
Reverend James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, the culture editor of America, the national Catholic magazine, and author of several books including Searching for God at Ground Zero (Sheed & Ward, 2002), which contains Martin's reflections on God, evil, love and hope as he ministered to rescue workers at ground zero in the days following the 9/11 attacks
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder and CEO of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA Society); former Imam of Masjid Al-Farah, a mosque in New York City, twelve blocks from ground zero