With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks approaching, TVNewser reached out to anchors, reporters, producers and executives for their thoughts on that day, and what they believe has changed in the last 10 years.
HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell:
I was in Los Angeles, asleep, when the phone rang. My mom, who lives in midtown Manhattan, said simply “Turn on the TV.” Trying to process the unthinkable, I raced to my TV station, based at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. The contrast was surreal. Here I was, in the very heart of make believe, while a real horror that defied all imagination, unfolded on the other side of the nation. We were preempted by CNN but put on “standby.” I sat at the anchor desk, feeling helpless and frantic over the fate of relatives, friends and total strangers. I will never forget that sickening feeling of being unable to do a thing as I silently observed people plummeting from high floors to their deaths.
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CNBC “Squawk Box” co-anchor Joe Kernen and “Power Lunch” co-anchor Sue Herera:
Kernen: CNBC is a business network, but it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t a business story. Like all Americans we first had to deal with the shock, disbelief, anger, and sorrow at the savagery of the day’s events.
Herera: The events of September 11th forever changed the way we look at the world and our place in it. Covering the events that day as they unfolded live on our air, I knew that people were relying on CNBC to get them vital information, but I also knew that in all likelihood I had lost some very dear friends on that awful day. I keep their memories alive in my heart.