The Smerconish Podcast

Never Forget: Michael Smerconish Remembers 9/11

Episode Summary

For 20 years, Michael dedicated the entirety of his radio broadcast on the anniversary if the 9/11 attacks to remember that terrible day. This three-hour special looks back chronologically, with incredible interview audio from Michael's archives. Starting with the events leading up to 9/11, to the day itself, and then to the aftermath, including the hunt for, and killing of, Osama Bin Laden. This bonus podcast episode is the entirety of last year's (2021) 20th anniversary special.

Episode Notes

PART 1: THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE DAY 
Segment 1 - Intro; Jose Melendez Perez, former Inspection Officer at Orlando International Airport who didn't let the so-called 20th hijacker proceed
Segment 2 - Michael Touhey, US Air ticket agent who checked in two hijackers in Portland, ME; Clip of Nat'l Security Adviser Condi Rice testimony before the 9/11 commission
Segment 3 - Alice Hoagland, her son was on Flight 93; Lawrence Wright, author "The Looming Tower"
Segment 4 - Kevin Flynn, author "102 Minutes: The untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers" - and Richard Picciotto author of Last Man Down: The Fireman's Story: The Heroic Account of How Pitch Picciotto Survived the Collapse of the Twin Towers and Led his Men to Safety 

PART 2: THE DAY OF 
Segment 1 - Audio of Michael's first minutes on the air on 9/11 in Philadelphia
Segment 2 - Ben Sliney, was FAA's National Ops Manager that day, overseeing air traffic control in Herndon, VA. Played himself in the movie "United 93"
Segment 3 - Aaron Brown, recalls anchoring on his first day on air on 9/11 on CNN
Segment 4 - James Meigs, Popular Mechanics, debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories and CIA Commander Gary Bernsten author of Jawbreaker

PART 3: THE AFTERMATH 

Segment 1 – Then-Senator Barack Obama, March 2008 on the hunt for Osama being outsourced to Pakistan; TIME WH Correspondent Michael Scherer on the Situation Room the night Osama was killed; Peter Baker, NY Times on reporting on the hunt; Peter Bergen, author “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbotabad”

Segment 2 – Mark Owen (Matt Bissonette) author “No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy Seal – The First-hand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden”

Segment 3 – Rob O’Neill, the SEAL who shot Bin Laden and author of THE OPERATOR

Segment 4 – The Atlantic’sJennifer Senior, What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind https://bit.ly/3BuwHvE