(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

- Hello, and thanks for joining us tonight.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

On this special edition of NJ Spotlight News, we mark 25 years since September 11th, 2001, a day that changed New Jersey, the nation and the world forever.

Tonight, we look at the people who responded, the lessons that followed, and what 9/11 means a generation later as we work to preserve those stories.

That's next.

- Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided in part by NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

-A quarter century later, the questions have changed, but the lessons from the tragedy of 9/11 remain, and New Jersey had a central role in that.

Former Governor Tom Kaine chaired the 9/11 Commission, tasked with investigating how the attacks happened and how the nation could better protect itself.

We spoke with him about that work as we mark this anniversary, and he reflected on both the lessons and whether the country has lived up to them.

Governor, I want to thank you first for lending us some of your time on what is a really important milestone for our country and our state.

And I wonder how you reflect now, 25 years later on the day, differently than you did in the immediate years past when you were in the thick of doing some really difficult work and if it has different meaning for you now.

It does.

Well, time, time always changes things.

I mean, when I was doing the work, there's a lot to do.

We ended up with 49 recommendations.

We looked at all the government departments who were involved in the day and it was, again, it was a lot of work.

We came up with 41 recommendations, which I think were important for the country, and we got every one but one implemented, but that was full-time.

Since then, what you reflect on now is whether we're doing enough, whether the country is still prepared, whether to be another attempt to attack us, whether or not the agencies we set up are still operating the way they should be, and if we have any vulnerabilities.

One of those findings, maybe one of the most important findings, was the fact that the government had pieces of information, but they weren't necessarily connecting the dots.

I mean, you mentioned being worried about if we're prepared.

Do you think that the federal government is better at connecting the dots?

We have a tendency of preparing for the threats you already know.

Threats look a lot different now than they did in 2001.

I think we're a lot better off, frankly, because of our 41 recommendations.

I mean, based on our recommendations, we had the largest reorganization of the federal government almost ever in its history.

And we changed the whole intelligence operation.

We made it so it operated in a way that was responsive to the needs.

We took every agency that had failed on 9/11 and revamped it in ways that would indicate it wouldn't fail again.

And the fact we haven't had an attack since that day, I think it indicates how well we did our job and how well the nation responded.

So that's the first thing.

Having said that, a lot of this depends on people.

We set up a number of agencies.

Will those agencies have the right people?

Will they have enough funding?

Will they're working together?

We mandate for every intelligence agency to meet together every week to exchange information.

If our recommendations are still being implemented the way we intended them, then I don't have many fears for the future.

But if they're not, I really worry that could be gaps up here again.

There was a report finally released in New York City about the air quality just recently that essentially found, gave way to a lot of undisclosed documents and information that the government knew the the quality of the air was not safe to breathe, but a lot of that information was withheld from the public.

You have sat across from many families, probably more families than any of us will know, who wanted to make sense of this and have answers.

What do you make of that?

And the fact that a quarter century later, we're just now confirming it?

I think that's dreadful.

I mean, we, because that was not our job.

Our job was to find out the story of the terrorists, how they attacked, what the history was, not only why they attacked, but how to prevent any attack in the future, and how our government failed.

That was in our report.

The air quality is something quite different.

And that was, that was afterwards.

And I think there was no, absolutely no excuse for the public not knowing everything the government do, did so we can protect their own say I was down to 9/11 site again and again and again.

Nobody told me the FDA was terrible.

As a matter of fact, they said the FDA was fine.

I said, don't worry about it.

So I'm appalled by that.

I was stunned this week.

I was reading that now where we're at, we have about a third of the US population who were not of age to have any personal memory of this day.

What do you think the lesson is that needs to be passed down in our responsibility to make sure that these generations not only remember the day, but their responsibility that comes with remembering it?

Well, their responsibility is a responsibility related to their families and to the public as whole.

We had agency after agency after agency of the United States government fail.

Major agencies like the FBI failed, the CIA failed, State Department failed.

Those were big failures to smaller failures.

Nobody checked in properly the people who were eventually the hijackers.

Nobody checked to find out they were carrying box cutters.

Nobody, people who, immigration let the hijackers into the country even though every one of them had some sort of phony passport.

Yet they were let into the country anyway.

There were these failures My concern now is that we are now policing these things as well as we did after 9/11, I hope, and that we're not going to let our guard down again, because there are still a lot of people in this world who would like to hurt the United States of America.

There was a lot of bipartisanship that had to go into that work.

You had to build consensus around very difficult findings.

Do you think that type of bipartisan cooperation still exists at the national security level and can still exist?

Some people have said that that was the catalyst, this day was the catalyst for much of the polarization.

I think that could be debated.

But can that still exist as someone who has led with civility?

It can exist.

A couple of things that we had going for us.

First of all, every member of the commission was a former politician.

None of us were planning to run for election of any kind.

So that we didn't have the kind of partisan drive that exists now.

So it was difficult though.

When I first got onto the commission and I met Lee Hamilton, who was a wonderful man, who was my vice chairman, I went to Lee and I said, "Look, Lee, there's got to be barred partisan.

I'm going to make no decisions unless you're involved and make no appointments unless you approve the appointments.

He said after after that he said he was flabbergasted.

He said I've been in Congress for 30 years and he said the chairman of every committee is all-powerful.

The vice-chairman is nothing.

So when I told him he was gonna have an equal voice he said he didn't believe it.

But we did everything together.

And we made sure that no Republican sat next to a Republican, no Democrat sat next to a Democrat.

We had bipartisan hearings.

Not only getting together a measure and a report, but making that report unanimous and then going together to the United States Congress and say you've got to be bipartisan, pass our recommendations.

We didn't know how significant at the time that bipartisanship would be in the years to come, but Governor Kaine, we thank you.

It will be, it is one in a long list of crucial work that you've done.

Thank you for your time and for your perspective.

Thank you for having me.

Well, countless first responders from New Jersey rushed in to the city to aid in recovery efforts, which eventually led to cleanup efforts.

Valerie Velasquez-Stetz was working as a Jersey City police officer at the time and recalls what it was like that day and how it led to a new career fighting for all those impacted by the 9/11 attacks.

She shared that story with our Joanna Gagis.

Valerie, thank you so much for being with us.

I know this is a hard time for all of us as we reflect 25 years later, but can you take us back to the morning of 9/11, 2001?

You had just dropped your son off at preschool.

Thank you very much for having me on your show.

Yes, I went to work.

I started at 7 a.m.

that day and I dropped my son at three-year-old preschool he just started in Jersey City and that was a downtown area by the waterfront and that's where he went to school and then I drove back up the heights to the North District Police Department and by 8 o'clock, a little after 8, our radio started going off to come back to the precinct, 4th with, for riot gear and like we were under attack and just hearing those words, you're like, what is happening?

Like we had no idea.

And when I looked, I saw the towers being hit from Jersey city.

You could see that I grew up in Jersey city and I saw the towers every day of my life.

All I could think about was like, Oh no, I can't, I have to go get my son.

So, um, I drove, you know, really fast to get Johnny and bring him to my mom's house in Jersey city and my mom and dad and said, you know, mom, don't go to work.

Just stay with Johnny.

I know you went over to the Twin Towers at that point.

Can you describe the feeling and the scene that you arrived to?

So we didn't know.

We thought we were going to help people and triage people that were injured.

We really didn't know the extent of it.

And the towers came down.

And we were sent over for aid and to bring over supplies.

So we brought over supplies.

We were walking down to Ground Zero from the boat and it just was surreal.

It was like a movie.

It was basically like a black and white movie and because everything was black and white and you were stepping on, you didn't know, like a blizzard, when you're walking through a blizzard, you don't know what you're stepping on.

And you didn't know what to expect.

You didn't know what you had to do.

You didn't know what you were going to do.

They started setting up buckets for bucket brigade.

They start, you know, looking for bodies, looking for people to try to help.

And it was just, mostly everybody was just quiet 'cause we didn't know what to say.

And I'm sure we were all feeling the same thing, but you don't want to share that.

You don't wanna share your fears of not coming home to your families.

Like, are we going to make it?

Is this where I'm going to die?

So I didn't know.

And all we knew is we were trying to look for bodies.

And basically what we did find was body parts instead of live bodies.

Yeah, you worked on what's called the bucket brigade, right?

The bucket brigade is correct.

Yes.

Explain that work.

That work was very difficult.

You're standing and you're passing buckets down.

You have no idea what is in it, what's going to be in it.

And everybody's just in a line to go down into the pit.

And most of us were digging also in the pile.

But it was like we all came together as first responders.

We didn't care what department you were from, as long as you could help.

Firemen were putting out fires still.

It was still burning on the ground, and the ground was hot.

You know, and I had boots on, but the ground was very hot.

I remember that.

And I tried to make calls to my family because I knew my mom would be worried and my dad.

So I but the phones didn't work.

So so so they had no idea what was going on with me, which was really scary.

I'm curious how you've processed, how you handle these anniversaries as they come in this 25 year anniversary.

How do you reflect back?

- Prior to this advocacy that I do for the 9/11 first responders with Varish and McGarry Law Firm, I would just basically stay home and watch TV all day and just be quiet and stay to myself.

And basically I didn't talk about it much.

People would ask me questions and I didn't like talking about it at all.

And until I started, you know, realizing so many people are sick.

And then I realized that I had illnesses from 9/11.

And I felt that New Jersey was neglected in this whole process.

And that New York was taking care of their first responders.

They had so many benefits.

They had, you know, the health program, even though we did have it, but New Jersey, we really didn't know much about it.

And so I brought Michael Barish, the owner of the law firm, over to Jersey City.

I said, "Please speak to our members of the retirees at a Christmas party."

So there was probably 350 cops there from Jersey City.

And he spoke to them.

And at that point I realized like, "Wow, I'm right.

All these guys here, none of them was signed up for the health program or the victim's compensation.

And a lot of them were sick.

And some of them have died already from cancers, 9/11 related and did not know and did not receive any benefits at that time.

So I felt like, you know what, I need to be a voice for the voiceless.

I need to do something.

I need to help out.

I need to, you know, do this.

And all of a sudden I just said, okay, I'm going to, you know, help this law firm as a volunteer.

I didn't want to get peed or anything like that.

So I was like, I just want to be a volunteer.

And then all of a sudden I didn't realize it was going to turn into a seven day a week job, you know, 16 hours a day, basically.

And I didn't realize the extent of it.

Like it wasn't just Jersey City.

It was Newark.

It was Wall Township.

It was Monmouth County.

Huge.

So many responders died from Monmouth County and civilians that worked in New York.

And I was able to help so many different people from all walks of life.

You now work as an outreach consultant.

Like you said, it's a seven-day-a-week job, never-ending.

We want to thank you for your service immediately after, 25 years ago, after the attacks, and your continued service now helping so many in need.

Valerie Velasquez-Stetz, thank you.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Well, Valerie's story of courage and sacrifice is one of many that emerged in the year since 9/11, and a new documentary looks at those extraordinary acts in all different forms.

The heroism and resiliency of 9/11 from tragedy to triumph features inspiring stories from first responders, survivors, and others whose lives were changed forever, including national leaders like former CIA Director and U.S.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

I recently spoke with the film's director Michael Geyer and Secretary Panetta about what they hope people will learn Secretary Panetta, Michael Geyer, thank you both and welcome to you.

Michael, there are, as you note, so many documentaries about 9/11, and yet you spent four years, which is a massive undertaking, making another one.

What did you believe was missing from the story?

Well, I think it's important that we all remember the tragedy and the attack.

Chris Meek is the executive producer and he contacted me in late 2021 asking if I'd be interested in producing this film for him.

He felt like the 20th commemoration came and went.

There wasn't much attention brought to 9/11 and he did not want that to happen for the 25th.

And so he said, what do you think about producing a film for the 25th?

And after thinking about it, I came back to him and as you just said, I said, there's a lot of films about 9/11.

So let's focus on the positive things that came from 9/11 despite the tragedy.

Nobody has done that.

There are so many stories of heroism and resiliency and let's make an inspirational film.

And he loved the idea.

And so, yeah, early 2022, I started on the project and this film is very inspirational.

And it surprises a lot of people.

They expect it to be depressing, but it's very inspirational, uplifting, and people hear stories they've never heard before.

- Yeah, I mean, it's obviously important for so many reasons that we recount the events of that day, but to focus on the events that happened in the hours and weeks and obviously years after, was there a story that you came across, you know, as you were searching for some of those untold anecdotes that, Michael, fundamentally changed your perspective of 9/11?

Well, you know, I was on the West Coast when 9/11 took place and so, yeah, I think learning so much about 9/11 during doing my research, meeting so many amazing people that were there on 9/11, whether it be first responders, whether it be civilians, and hearing what they experienced and just learning about the heroism, learning about these first responders that ran toward danger as everyone's running away.

I think of Scott Strauss, you know, he's one of the rescuers who went down to rescue Will Jimeno, Port Authority police officer and his sergeant, Sergeant McLaughlin.

They were 30 feet down below the towers and they were there for over 10 hours before they were even discovered being down there.

And they, these three rescuers made the decision to go down this tiny little hole, crawl down in amongst the smoke, the fire, the heat, the steel beams that were, you know, incredibly hot and risk their lives.

Scott didn't think he was going to come back up.

He wasn't going to survive.

He literally on his way down, taking off his gun belt and everything else to get down this little cubby hole.

He was apologizing to his boys in tears saying, "Take care of your mom, you know, make me proud."

And just did not expect to survive, but he wanted to go down and do everything he could to rescue Will Jimeno.

And they did.

They all four made it out and then another team went in and rescued Sergeant McLaughlin.

So the heroism, you know, and the bravery of these people that chose to act, not even thinking they would possibly survive.

They were thinking they would possibly die.

That was very heroic.

And so meeting those types of people, yeah, very inspirational and amazing.

And then all the other stories I found that are heroic and inspirational and how they impacted people's lives to where they made a change in their life that brought them, you know, in a whole new direction of giving back and helping others because they saw so many helping others on 9/11.

- Yeah, I mean, for me, one that stuck out was the young girl, Caitlin, who lost her father and then devoted her life's work now to working with youth who have experienced trauma in different forms and how that changed the trajectory of her life.

Secretary Panetta, you worked in the highest levels of government, you were absorbing the enormity of that morning.

25 years later, when you watch or hear these personal stories of courage, what takes you back to that day?

Well, you know, in many ways, it was a, from a national security point of view, it was a wake up call.

We were just not aware of the threat of terrorism in the world.

And that, that attack was truly a wake up call for our country.

I was in Washington.

That day I was briefing members on another issue, on an oceans issue.

And I can remember a member of that commission leaning over to me and saying that a plane had hit one of the trade towers.

And we both thought it was an accident, a terrible accident.

And then And soon after within a few minutes said another plane had gone into the other tower.

And we knew at that point that this was a terrorist attack.

And the news was confirming that.

And I remember saying to the members of Congress, I think you better get out of here.

We were on Capitol Hill, because this could very well be another target for the terrorists.

And as I left and I was driving down from Capitol Hill, the second plane hit the Pentagon.

The second attack hit the Pentagon.

And I could see the fire from the Pentagon coming up.

And it just, for me, it told me that the United States obviously was under attack.

I can remember having to drive home because I couldn't fly home.

I was living in California.

And as I drove across the country, I saw this country kind of coming together and unifying.

There were signs up, God bless America.

There were signs up the USA.

And I could sense across this country, a building patriotism that was so important for the United States to bring us together, to recognize the threat we faced, and to come together to try to make sure that it never happened again.

Little did I know, eight years later, I would be appointed by President Obama to be director of the CIA, and then in charge of the operation to go after bin Laden.

But I came full circle, recognizing the events of 9/11, but ultimately bringing justice really to the victims of 9/11.

That was for me a particularly proud moment.

AMNA NAWAZ Yeah, as you recount, President Obama said that was your number one priority to find Osama bin Laden.

But I want to ask you both in the time that we have left, you know, it's estimated that there are about 100 million Americans alive today who are not old enough to remember September 11th.

Do you believe that may be one of our most important roles, not just to preserve the story of what happened, but what Americans did for one another after and since then, and what it means for a generation that never experienced it?

Secretary, I'll just start with you quickly.

I think without question that the most important thing is that we never forget what happened on 9/11.

And not just never forget the tragedy of 9/11, but never forget the hope that it created, the unity it created.

The fact, and Mike really points this out in the film, the way it changed our lives for the future.

And that's something that really is important to present generations, is to understand what happened on 9/11.

Don't forget it, but more importantly, recognize the hope that it represents, that ultimately the United States can unify and come together in order to make us a better country.

- The heroism and resiliency of 9/11 from tragedy to triumph is available to screen now.

It tells the story of courage and resilience while still paying homage, of course, to the lives lost.

Michael, Secretary Panetta, thank you both for joining us on this most important week.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you.

- That's going to do it for us tonight.

I'm Briana Vannozzi for the entire team at NJ Spotlight News.

Thanks for being with us on this 25th anniversary.

May we never forget and always remember.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Learn more at rwjbh.org.

[ Music ]