On today's show, 9-11 at 25, What We've Learned and What We've Forgotten. Keeping you informed and engaged. This is Sekulow. America Today. is on bended knee.
In prayer. For the people whose lives lost here. For the workers who work here, For the families and more, we want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. I can hear you.
I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow, Will Haines and Studio as well.
Phone lines are open for you. 1-800-684-3110. That's it, 1-800-684-3110. Of course, we cannot skip today and not talk about. The 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack as we honor those who were fallen and also Not only look back, but look forward.
And think about, sure, uh the subject of never forgetting what happened on September 11th. seems to ring very true. But on this year, it seems even heavier than usual because it does feel like we've now had a generation grow up that maybe wasn't there. You have a 25-year-old right now, you weren't even born. when September 11th happened.
And at this point. We have to have that conversation of what have we forgotten? What are those lessons we need to have learned? What lessons did we learn, and what lessons have again we forgot? Let's continue on this conversation, though, throughout the show, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on that as well.
1-800-684-3110. We got a lot of special video presentations that we're going to play for you that we have created throughout the many years. We are live, though. Doing this show right now. Later on, we're going to be joined by John Androsic from Five for Fighting.
You may remember him and his song, Superman that became a real anthem during the September 11th attacks. He's actually going to be, or following the September 11th attacks, he's going to be performing that, I believe, later this evening on a Disney special. There's a lot going on with that. We talked a little about how music played a big role in the healing of our nation. But once again, We're going to have a lot of interesting videos for you to watch to look back, but I want to talk about looking forward as well, Will, because I think we can easily look at society as a whole and see where things have fallen apart.
Well, and once again, as we talk about even the rhetoric, even we talked this week about how shocking it was that John Fetterman would have something nice to say about a colleague across the aisle, the other senator from the state of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, seems like that's our reality. And we think about what the post-9-11 world was, it was a lot less hostile to each other. It was a lot more unified. And just the ability to think back at those times, sometimes it gets lost on us as we look at how divided and vitriolic much of our politics has become. Yeah, and I think all of us who are there can easily put your mindset very quickly back.
I mean, I was 15 years old.
Now I am 40. I mean, you got to think about that. That's how. Time has moved. We talked about when the 50th rolls around.
You know, we'll be 65 years old. This is how much time is moving and how quick time is moving.
So we have to be thinking about that. I taught at a college a couple years back, three years back, none of my students. None of them. were alive. during the September eleventh attacks.
So, we have to do our job in educating it and not just it becoming a piece of something you read in a history book and you don't take as something that really did happen. Because I think we can all say that when you didn't live through something, we didn't live through Pearl Harbor. We've heard the story over and over again, but I'm sure it's a much different experience for those that were living through it. Let's talk about that. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-30110.
Again, our team has put together some great video packages for you to watch, hopefully, for you to remember, and also to inspire some hope in where we're headed. With that being said, once again, 1-800-684-31 one zero. It really was the tide turn for the ACLJ in 9-11 when, all of a sudden, we got thrust into the world of politics in a way that we had not been involved with before then. But with the George W. Bush administration really being the first time the ACLJ was invited into that room.
To be part of the White House, to be part of what was happening in that world.
So we can kind of easily mark that also as what became the even current chapter. Of the ACLJ, and with that, I ask for your support as well at aclj.org. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. Yes, we are still talking, of course, about the September 11th attacks looking back on 25 years.
Look, last year, we were talking about our kids and how my kids are in their early teens and tweens. And they do talk about it quite a bit. Last year, my son did the stair walk where they matched the floor, the flights of stairs that the towers were that the firefighters would have had to run up. Uh so there are still these things happening In society, but we even talked about how it gets a little lumped together as ancient history. That's right.
I mean, I was driving my daughter to school this morning and we were talking through our days, and I brought up the fact that it is the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And there's a series of books that are very popular with kids, and it's of historic events, and it's called the I Survive series. And she's read quite a few of these, gets these at the library at school. But in her mind... The 9-11 terror attacks are kind of on the same playing field as the sinking of the Titanic.
Because that's what this series is. There's a book, I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic. There's a I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001. That in a child's mind, they're ancient history to some degree. And talking through that, I'm like, you've read that one book.
I was alive and lived through that experience with everyone else in this country. And you think of. Just the generational change of now this event that's 25 years ago. There are adults that are in the workforce that are policymakers working on this show that were not born when these terror attacks happened. Yeah, and look, there's going to be a lot of people talking.
Obviously, today they're still reading the list. They're going through that. President Trump spoke this morning from Washington, D.C. We have seen a lot of different tributes tonight, as I said. Later on in the show, we're going to have on John Andrasik from Five for Fighting tonight on Disney Plus.
They're doing a big hour-long special. He'll perform with Lainey Wilson, the song Superman, I believe. Uh at the base of where the beams are for the for the September 11th um memorial. We're going to chat about that. And you're not going to want to miss that conversation with him a little bit later.
But our team did put together a video. If it does feel fuzzy in your mind, or maybe you weren't there, maybe you're one of the younger people watching. Even if you were under 10 years old, let's say when it happened, it may have been something you've been you were shielded from. in some ways. I think we need to look back.
This is something our team put together, a special video presentation. The entire building has just collapsed. Listen to these old buildings. It closed it down on itself and it is not there anymore. 25 years ago, the world stopped.
Terrible, terrible situation. It began as an ordinary Tuesday morning. By day's end, Our nation would never be the same. 2,970 innocent lives were lost. Thousands more were left bearing the scars.
Families were forever changed. Oh my god. Firefighters climbed the towers. Police officers ran towards danger. First responders answered the call.
knowing they might never come home. It does not appear that there's any kind of a second plane. Over 4,000 first responders and survivors have since perished from toxic exposure at ground zero. Yet even in our darkest hour, America stood together. No.
That a man. Yeah. Who's America today? He is on bended knee. We prayed together.
We grieve together. We stood as one nation. I can hear you. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you.
And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. Though 25 years has passed, the memory remains. The gratitude endures. We remember those we lost. We honor those who answered the call.
And we give thanks for the heroes who showed the world the strength of the American spirit. 25 years later, We still remember. We still honor. And we will never forget. All right, again, incredible work from our team putting these video packages together.
Even in the next segment, you're going to see a portion of the film we did what we thought was, again, at the tenth anniversary. Of the September 11th attack.
So that's even now 15 years ago.
So we'll have some clips on that where we look back on the 10 years that. came beyond the September 11th attacks and what the world looked like. 15 years ago, and I think you'll even see there's some major differences today, and whether that's in New York City, Washington, D.C., or anywhere in this country. But of course, the changes that we saw. Were drastic and they were changes that a lot of them became ingrained in us.
And we look at the way airports run, everything like that. Those daily changes. A lot of them stuck and they have been in this process for the last 25 years. We don't even think about them anymore. That this is really that moment.
Like I said earlier with the ACLJ, you could even easily look at the work that we were doing pre-9-11 and right after 9-11 and how that shifted dramatically from not just our work that was a traditional religious freedom, but then how that shifted to being something much, much larger worldwide. And again, our involvement where we were welcomed into. The room that would be the Oval Office into the White House. Under the Bush administration, George W. Bush.
And then later on, obviously, how that would then bleed into. the Trump administration as well.
So To say that it changed everyone's lives, I think we can look at even little simple things, like again, like how you go about travel and how you go about. Almost every part of your life shifted in that moment, and some of them have not returned to what they were before. That's right. And even thinking back, and I know we have a caller that's calling in about where she was on that day. You think back, I remember exactly where I was, I was in geometry class.
I was in high school and I remember. There being an announcement over the intercom that was cryptic, and our teacher went and locked the door. Our school was in a lockdown at that point. She immediately called the front office. And then, shortly after, we found out what was going on.
But this was in Orlando, Florida. You know, this wasn't in New York. It wasn't in Washington, D.C. But there's our school under lockdown, not knowing what was going on. That fear that was a collective fear across the country.
And even the days after. You know, the anomalies that were seen across the country as people lived in this fear of what's coming next? Could our town, could our little community be affected by this in a different way? There was that uncertainty, but everyone knew they were in it together as well.
So should we take, let's take Diane's call here on line one from Maryland. Diane, you're on Sekulow. Hello? I just wanted to know that. I'm 9-11.
I'm a school teacher in PG Hen. And I was teaching fourth grade Yeah. I was on second floor. In the school building, that we can look out across and see the synagogue. And um We got a notice from the office.
Um Cheap yeah. Moment of final flight. And so I told the shower and I said, You know, there's some scary things that are happening out there, but you're okay. They're going to be okay. And what we're going to do is take our principal suggestion that we go to Prior.
They said she said one more one moment of silence, right? And the kids said, But that's not long enough. And instead I said. Much guys had a case. Little boy said, Can we get on those knees?
Can we get on our knees and pray? I said, of course you can. And Prince Moe came back on and she said, okay, the time is up. And I said in a funny little voice, I'm not done. And I said, well, I tell you what, I think it's okay that we let you continue.
So I looked at all of them and I said, oh, they continue. Do it again and week again and week. Diane, I think your students were blessed to have you. In that moment, as no one knew what to do, right? But being able to pray, being able to seek wisdom, to seek comfort in the Lord in that moment is what many of us knew that was the only thing we knew to do.
And having a teacher that could be there for fourth graders, as you said, is a remarkable thing. And once again, your students were. Fortunate and blessed to have you as someone to lead them in that moment. And again, we're going to continue on these tributes throughout this edition of Sekulow. Again, we're live, though.
If you do want to call in, 1-800-684-3110, I know a lot of you are tuning into a lot of the other coverage, but if you are watching us live right now, be a part of the conversation. Give me a call at 1-800-684-3110. I'll take a call coming up in the next segment. We also have a special video package put together. Again, we've been talking about the September 11th tactics, everyone has every year.
For twenty-five years now. It feels like this year is particularly heavy. Obviously, it marks a big milestone. It also. It's very easy to look around.
in society. And see not only the changes that occurred. It brought us together. But the ones that also feel like have crumbled. Let's talk about that when we get back as well.
1-800-684-3110. In the second half of the show, getting joined by John Androssic from Five for Fighting. He'll be performing tonight all over the world on Disney Plus and a lot of other things happening. We'll chat about that. how music really helped heal our country as well at the time.
All right, when we get back, we're going to take your calls: 1-800-684-3110. If you do want to support the work that we do here at the ACLJ, you know what to do. Go to ACLJ.org, you can become a champion if you'd like. And we appreciate it. Thanks.
Right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. We do have a few lines still open at 1-800-684-3110. I didn't want to waste any time. And when we get back from this clip, I'm able to take some calls because some of you are calling in right now.
But this is from a special video presentation we made, I mean, almost 15 years ago now, but this is just some highlights from it. Again, this was marking the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks from a film the ACLJ team put together called Forever Changed. And it was, again, marking 10 years. And here we are, marking 15 years since then.
So, how the world has shifted, how the world has even moved since then.
So, this gives you even a look back to the. You know, 2011. Uh when things were still pretty fresh. Take a look. Yeah.
He was working in the World Trade Center. He was working on the 105th floor. I was working on the 77th floor. and we went into work together like we did every day. And I got down to the train.
Depot. And the first train we took And I said to him, Todd, why don't we take the ferry over the Hudson. And he said, no, I'm going to take the train. I said, Todd, it's a beautiful day. It's a beautiful Tuesday.
Come with daddy, you know, we'll take no no no Um It's too cold. He just was lazy, I said to him. He didn't want to take the ferry because it's a little longer walk. But in any event I said to him, have a great day, sweetheart. Christopher saw the world in a very simple way and he wanted to be a firefighter from the time he was a little boy.
Al was in the fire department for over 40 years and I know that that had something to do with it. He was the spark in our family. My son used to, you know, he was only on a job for a short time and he would constantly say, oh we didn't catch any work yet, we haven't had a good job and I said, you know, relax, you'll get a... Yeah, you'll get some work, don't worry. I was a firefighter detailed into the mayor's office of emergency management.
So basically, I wasn't really wearing the helmet anymore, I was wearing a tie. And helping represent Mayor Giuliani at the scene of major emergencies in New York City. Everybody remembers how beautiful the day was. Beautiful fall day. and just spectacular.
I went to work at Seven World Trade Center, which was my office, just like a normal day. I was Having breakfast around uh eight. A. M. 8.30.
in our cafeteria. And I was just sitting there reading the paper. I was 19 years old. I was at George Washington University. I was a student and had an early morning class.
I was in our political science building at GW, and for people that don't know, it's right in the middle of the city. It's actually right next to the State Department and just across the bridge from the Pentagon. On September 10th, 2001, I started interning at the Department of Justice.
So, in their public affairs.
So, Ashcroft is the Attorney General. I was destined for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, again, dispatched by the President, as other cabinet members were. To be reading with students that day. I basically worked for NYPD Emergency Service Unit. We did heavy rescue and SWAT.
We came in, we got our equipment for the day, our assignments for the day. I was doing a sector in Queen's. Uh We were going to get ready to get something to eat. That day I was taking my daughter to the bus stop. To pick up the bus to go to school.
She was in middle school at the time. I remember sitting in a three-seater behind my bus driver and saying to myself, Today feels like this is going to be a day I'm never, ever going to forget. And I didn't understand why I felt that. For me, it was my first day of retirement. I had decided to retire in July of 2001 and this was the first day of school.
So it was my first day of real retirement and I expected the day to play out very differently. Good morning, America. I'm Charles Gibson. I'm Diane Surya, and it's Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. Former Presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole is ready to hit the campaign trail.
I can tell you what's the news down here in Washington, and it is Michael Jordan, probably the news all over the nation. Take a look at the highlights for today, New York City, beautiful day here, 80 degrees today. It is beautiful outside, perfect September day with lots of sunshine. It is lunchtime in London, 5 a.m. in Los Angeles, and 8 a.m.
here in New York, live from the CNN Financial News Headquarters. Nice as it can be across the Northeast. Rough seas still from the chop from that hurricane. But other than that, it's kind of quiet around the country. We like quiet.
It's quiet. It's too quiet. At about 8.46 on that morning, I was in my office. I was on the phone. And the building shook.
Boom! And it moved. And a glass case in my office exploded. It's 8:52 here in New York. I'm Brian Dumbel.
We understand that there has been a plane crash on the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade Center. We understand that a plane Has crashed into the World Trade Center. We don't know anything more than that. I remember the lights went out.
Now, this is a newer high-rise building, so for the power to go out is pretty unusual.
So it went out. and uh seven seconds later it just came back on. And I knew from my experience that that meant that we lost a feeder cable.
Something major happened, we lost a feeder cable. And the power came back on through another feeder cable.
So I knew something. fairly serious had occurred. And then the people that were sitting on the windows that looked at Tower One. all got up and started running, screaming toward me. And the radio started going off that a plane had crashed into one of the towers downtown.
This, Justin, you were looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Clearly, something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is, once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Cynthia ran into my office, one of the women that works there.
Mr. Owita, what are we going to do? We were fortunate not that many people were there yet, before nine o'clock. And I said, Cynthia, follow me.
Now the World Trade Center at that time, if you know it, It was broken up into express and local floors. just like any building. but they call them sky lobbies. There was the first floor when you walked in, then there was the 44th floor, which was the first sky lobby, and then there was the 78th floor, which is the second sky lobby. There's where Express you can go right to 78 you can go right to 44 I had been in the building on February 26, 1993, when the truck exploded.
So when this happened, I knew. Leave. Don't hesitate. Leave. Unfortunately, many people didn't follow that advice.
Are there any people hurt, do you know? Ran and everyone in the past train just ran. I don't know if anyone was hurt, but I assume they were because the windows were all blown out. Again, we're about to head to break, but that was a special video presentation from our film Forever Change that again came out the 10th anniversary of September 11th. That's what we were talking about in 2011.
And now here we are in 2026. Discussing the 25th anniversary. With that, I do want to take some phone calls coming up in the next segment if possible.
So, if you do want to call in, you can. That's at 1-800-684-3110. Again, 1-800-684-3110. Then, just a little bit later, the second half hour of this show that's about to start, we'll be joined by John Androsic from Five for Fighting, talking about his song Superman, which became one of the many songs, but really one of the highlight songs that helped us get through that era. And he'll be performing tonight, I believe, on Disney Plus with Lainey Wilson, Where the Towers.
uh the beams of light. Towers are being shown.
So that's going to be airing, I believe, this evening on, I think, ABC also, but then also through that.
So we're going to talk to him. And I want to hear from you though. What do you feel like? And of course, he had a big connection to what's been going on in Israel as well. That's at 1-800-684-3110.
That's 1-800-684-3110 to have your voice heard on the air today. If you don't get us on your local station, you can find us broadcasting live, 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Wherever you get your podcast live, that's on YouTube, Rumble, and just go to aclj.org. We'll be right back.
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome back to Sekulow, of course, covering the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Right now, you are still hearing people read names or seeing these conversations that they just wrapped.
We are having a lot of discussion about what we've learned, what we've forgotten, and so on. I want to take some calls, though. Let's go to Martin in North Carolina. Martin, the ACLJ champion. I appreciate you calling and holding on there for a minute, Martin.
Go ahead. Thank you, sir. I appreciate what you've done. I have a little bit more on what I had called into the screener. First of all, I remember that day and what I was doing.
And today, I didn't think it would, but it just seems a little different. But earlier that they They were talking, y'all were talking about we didn't know, or people didn't realize how much they it affected people and just throughout America. And I remember, and I was telling your screener, first of all, more liar side, I was a season ticket holder for the Panthers. They postponed that game to January, and there were no flyovers that whole year. But on a more personal, my father was a World War II veteran.
He was not over in Europe, but he Really wanted a veteran's funeral with all the regalia and everything. And I could not do that because President had canceled all the active duty honor guards, and all we could get was the DFW to do it. And it was it was A downlift 'cause I've been to a full Military, and it's something it touches you when you've actually seen the full honor guard and everything. But it touched a lot of lives that people didn't ever realize. Yeah, and we're still dealing with that, Martin, now to this day.
There's still little, they're remnants of all of what happened September 11th. Not only remnants, there are real changes throughout the world.
Well, Eric Sean, reporter on Fox News, I heard him reporting this morning. He was doing 12-hour days at ground zero reporting and then would get some rest, have someone else go report, and then come right back. Um he went through the health issues he's having. Uh cancer issues. All traced back to 9/11.
And he's not the only one. We know there are hundreds of thousands that have died from illnesses. And he pointed out one. He said they're officially labeled as 9-11-related illnesses. He said, but in reality, we need to not forget these are al-Qaeda-related illnesses.
These are still attacks on the American people from that day where Americans are losing their lives because of the attacks. But as Will said, we got to remember, we also put in, you know, a big support even for New York. I moved to New York two years later. My brother was living in Washington, D.C. We went up there.
We supported our country. We only have two minutes here, real quick. I want to play a very quick clip. This is our next guest, John Andrasic. This was on the 4th of July, celebrating America's 250th Independence Day, playing his song Superman, alongside what became an anthem.
It was an anthem for September 11th, survivors and heroes. And it also became an anthem then for October 7th Survivors. Uh, in Israel, and he really has taken that on. This is playing. On the USS limits, With A load awe who was A hostage in Gaza.
That's all. I can't stand the flood I'm nothing I need. I'm just out of fight Better fall. I'm more than a fool. More than That's so pretty.
Praise. It's not easy.
So be here. Your sounds pretty good. Uh All right, again, that was just a short clip, but we're gonna discuss that with John: how this song is more from a song that was never intended. Uh, for this kind of situation, it was then embraced and became during the concert for New York a big moment, and now has been re-embraced. or people who are in support.
Of Israel and the hostages. We're going to discuss all of that when we get back with John. Again, our friend John Andrasic, he's been on the show for years. But we never really looked back with John.
Now we're able to do that today. And we get back from that. Calls and comments: 1-800-684-3110. Call him now. Today, we got a special guest.
Of course, this week we are honoring and remembering the September 11th attacks. And look, music played a Huge portion. If you were there, you remember. And if you weren't there, it's something we need to be rounded up: how much music played just at a massive. A massive part of the healing process.
Shortly after the September 11th attacks. And I was thinking of my friends who have had a song that really contributed to that process, even if it didn't start that way. And we'll get into that a little bit. That's my friend John Andrasig, who you may know as Five for Fighting. His song Superman became just um a call that a lot of us needed at that time.
But John is joining me, and John and I have been friends for a number of years now. But let's take it back. We usually don't talk that much. We talk about what's going on with current events. We don't always throw it back here.
But now we're talking about 25 years. uh since not only the attacks, but this song becoming again that anthem. I was actually in London on nine eleven. I had gone to Europe to start promoting Superman over there. The song was starting to become a global hit.
And Of course. when the first plane hit, I got calls turn on the T V. And then like everybody else, when the second plane hit, I just started calling everybody I knew in New York City and was in shock and took ten days to get back to the States. People forget, airlines were shut down for almost two weeks. And I didn't really realize until I got back how many news organizations had been using Superman to recognize those heroes that ran into those buildings.
And it was, for a young guy who just got used to hearing a song on the radio, pretty overwhelming. And then, of course, the concert for New York, which will be the most significant thing I ever do. And to this day, you know, Logan, it's hard to wrap my head around it. You know, here's this little song I wrote that kind of became that anthem. But, you know, music, as you mentioned, was very critical at that time.
And songs have a way of providing solace Recognizing amazing people who do heroic things, something we can all sing together. And it wasn't just Superman. There were a few other songs as well at that time that provided that for folks. And a lot of songs that then came after it. And obviously, you had many hits after Superman, but you bring up the concert for New York and maybe people that, again, we're talking to a generation, it's crazy to think about.
We're talking to a generation that maybe wasn't there. You know, they were adults then that had no idea. But this concert, you know, it's in New York City. It is everyone you've probably grown up listening to in this room. Walk us through that experience and that emotion of maybe what it was like to be on the other side of the piano.
Uh and the other side of the television screen even for a lot of us that were watching it at home.
Okay. It was surreal. As you said, if it was any other day to be on the same stage at Madison Square Garden with. Virtually every one of my living icons would have been Beyond a Dream come true. Of course, that wasn't what it was about.
I remember getting to Marison Square Garden, and we had these little kind of trailers, and mine was next to the Who, which just freaked me out. And I started going through the itinerary. And as you remember, it was a very long show. It was like three hours or a ton of artists. And I started going through, and I figured, you know, I'm the new guy.
I'll be early on in the show. And I kept turning the pages and I didn't see my name. And I'm like, oh, good, they forgot me because I'm so nervous. And I turned to the last page, and it's like, you know, Mellen Camp, Billy Joel, Eldon John. Fight for fighting, you know, Janet Jackson, Paul McCartney.
And um. And yeah, it was uh it was um Again, just incredibly surreal and humbling. But you know, when you meet the families who lost loved ones, when you stood with the firefighters, I really kind of immersed myself in that. And then to go on that stage and to sing that song for those folks, virtually all of them had been down at ground zero digging through rubble, you know, for 30 days, again, gave me, I think, a unique perspective. And I think it changed, frankly, kind of the rest of my career because I saw how music truly matters.
You know, I saw how how music can really um Change the world and do things nothing else can. And to be a small part of that night was a true honor. And I think for me, this is the question of this moment on the 25th anniversary. Have we forgotten the lessons of 9-11? I know both you and I would agree we have forgotten many of those.
So I'm hoping this moment will remind America. That evil does exist. And if we bury our heads in the sand, it's a catastrophe. And I think we're seeing that in our elections. We're seeing that in the culture.
So hopefully, this is a shot in the arm of sanity to not just America, but the world. Yeah, it needs to be a big wake-up call and a reminder. And I think you've been able to do that. And this song has evolved also. Uh, this year you have taken it to a very different stage.
Last few years, obviously, you have used it. A lot of people started using it as a rallying cry after the attacks. And really, as people were captured in Israel at a music festival, again, music finds a way to break its way through. And you had a very unique experience over the last few years. And for those that don't know, you've obviously been on Talking about this before on many different projects we've worked on together.
But I don't know if we've spoken really since. You got to have this big 250th celebration of America. give our audience a little bit of insight of what happened in this. Because again, if we're going to talk about how a song can even evolve 25 years later, we know it wasn't written for 9/11. We know that it was embraced as something that we could all connect with.
And now it has found a new life and you've been able to utilize it in a way That was really a remarkable emotional. I'm sure we can find a clip to show here, too, of what went on at. at the USS Nimitz. Yeah. Well, as you know, Logan, we did a new version of Superman that was initiated actually by Edit Oel, the mother of Alone Oel, who'd been hostage over 700 days.
And she asked me, can we do something musically to put the spotlight back on the hostages? And I thought Superman would be a good important version uh to to remind folks that Look, for our Jewish friends, October 7th is their 9-11. And with the connection of Superman. We did that. We made a video, it resonated globally.
And uh you know Adit was in it with Alone's brother, and it was for all the hostages and their families. And I would play that video in my shows, and at the end of every show, I would say, you know, I hope and pray for the day when I can sit down and play Superman. with Alone, who's a fantastic piano player. And we would say that every night and people would clap and we would all kinda nod our head, but I think You know, if you would have asked me what are the odds of that, I would have said very, very few. But but you're right.
You know, flash forward, if you would have told me that Um One day I would be playing on the USS Nimitz With a low noel on piano. On The 250th birthday of America, I would have said, You are crazy. That is not, but that happened, you know, and It was it was a miracle. And uh And I can't say anything more. You know, miracles do exist, and that was a miracle, and a lot of people.
Had a lot to do with that, including America. Alone would not be alive without America.
So I thought having him sitting on that Of the historic Nimitz playing for me spoke to a lot of people. Um and was very significant. It was a beautiful moment. Again, I'll make sure we at least show a clip here that people can see, or I'll link it in the description. If those are watching on YouTube, you can find the link and go watch it on through John's channels and everything that we have because I really think you should watch it.
Such a full-circle story that you've been able to tell now. And again, you go see John's shows. Of course, if you see Five for Fighting, you're going to hear all the songs you love. You may hear some fun covers. You're going to have a great time.
I don't want to act like it's this depressing sadness that we're talking about here. I mean, no, this is a sad subject to. To bring this all together, but I do want people to understand that it's such a wonderful experience and your audiences are so great. But you do obviously carry, and I can hear in your voice too, you're carrying a responsibility with these songs, maybe a responsibility you never planned on having in terms of now you take this to the USO, you take this all over the world, but you're also night after night, again. This was not the plan.
And here you are, you know, this rock and roll singer. You know, having to connect with people night after night for 25 years is a big responsibility.
Well, you're right. I mean, I always thought nothing would come close to the concert for New York, but, you know, playing Superman and my song Okay at Hostage Square in Israel, actually the night that Iran bombed for the first time. I mean, that experience, again, it's amazing where these songs take you. You know, they have a life of their own. And again, it's kind of the beauty of music that's unique, that it can cross borders.
It can. Inspire, it can shame, it can provide solace. And Superman has done all those things. And I'm just blessed that, you know, it's 61 years old, you know, after 30 years. I'm still doing it.
People are still buying a ticket, and the songs continue to resonate. And you're about to hit the road once again. And I do want to encourage people to go. I've seen your show multiple times. And it's always just a joy to be there.
And you always put together, whether it's just you or a quartet or a terrific band. But what's next for Five for Fighting? And yeah, we hit the road for our fall tour in the Northeast, watching the leaves change and six weeks of Five for Fighting with the best string quartet in the world, Tony winners, Broadway players. And as you said, we have a lot of fun. It's an intimate show, a musical show.
We'll tell these stories. We'll show these videos. We always do a song for troops. And, but I'm blessed again to do it. And my daughter Olivia is opening for me with great.
Her folk, uh, folk duo, Lacey and Lee.
So she'll be in the sprinter with us, selling merch, singing songs. They always bring the house down, so it'll be a family affair.
Well, people will love that. Yeah, bring your whole family if you're watching this to go see Five for Fighting. And that's really exciting that she's on the road with you. We'll link everything, Five for Fighting and John Androsic. Thanks again for popping on here.
And again, thank you for not only an incredible career and what you do today, but of course, the last 25 years, which has gotten us all through a lot.
So we appreciate it. My pleasure, bud. Welcome back to Sekulow. It's our last segment of the day. If you do want to call in with your 9-11 thoughts, 9-11 memories, or even what you think the world looks like now into the future, I mean, we know that there has been a lot of hostility this.
I mean, it does feel different, as someone said. Feels very different this September 11th than it did previous years. Give me a call. Last chance to do it on the air today. And for the week, 1-800-684-3110.
Let's go to Nancy, who's an ACLJ champion. Nancy, thanks for staying on hold. We had John on, so we needed to get through his interview, but I appreciate it. Go ahead. Yeah, well, thanks for taking my calls.
This is the first time I've been talking to you guys. We can hear you. Thank you so much, though, for your support. Thanks for calling. Yeah, hey, I just and you know, your caller before that, John Williams, he was he said it already before.
that all the airplanes were shut down for like two weeks or whatever. And I know earlier you talked about the changes that happened on 9-11. And I just remember looking up in the sky for days and days, a week or two, and no airplanes. Everybody was stranded where they were. Yeah, I mean, Nancy, Will and I both were living in Orlando, Florida at the time.
You can imagine one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Maybe the number one tourist destination, at least in the country, is Orlando, Florida. Tourism is what, number one, keeps the economy going, but also, sure, you saw flights coming in and out. It was gone. You know, the the theme parks were closed briefly, and all of that whole city shut down, and it became a real different world we were living in.
I mean, we were living in a world that Again, that city specifically we were in was fueled by people coming in and out and it being this tourist idea. And it took years. I mean, we talked about the the future and what things look like now. It took really years to recover. From what was 2001, not unlike what happened during COVID, where it took time.
And then it was like, you know, people were coming in droves because they just wanted to get out of the house and experience life once again. But there was a nervousness about going anywhere. Again, not unlike how it feels right now. But then there was a rebellion against that. Like I said, I moved to New York City.
You know, my brother was already living in Washington, D.C. We took upon ourselves to honestly try to. Um Get these cities back going. And when I talk about how much I love that city, I mean it. And I really do feel like it's headed in the wrong direction right now.
And I'm hoping and praying that something does shift. And there are moments like today that give you that point of view and that reference point to go, oh, yeah, that's where we were living in. Maybe we can get back to a point where we could be as unified as we were post-September 11th. It feels like a fever dream that that could even happen at this point. But you know what?
It's not impossible because we saw it happen. And let's not make a global world tragedy. Be what has to get there. The closest thing you had was probably the month of the COVID-19 crisis. where there was sort of this everyone was in it together.
And then we saw how quickly that all crumbled. And I'd say it got worse than it ever had gotten for people's mental health and worse for people's physical health. And then the fights and. the political arguments and the internet and everything that exploded. Really out of that that that created even more of this cultural divide.
There's no easy answer to fixing it. But we can at least remember a time, oddly enough. Where something as horrific as September 11th, thousands of lives lost, created a moment of unity. And we talk about the October 7th crisis, the October 7th attacks in Israel. And how that created that very briefly.
Uh Maybe you could say the war in Ukraine created that kind of briefly. And then Quickly. America, the world shifts, and we are living in different Kind of society, one that's not as siloed or, you know, as it once was, or not as unified as it once was. It's the opposite of that.
Well, and I think also the juxtaposition of what we celebrated just a few months ago in July, the celebratory nature of the 250th anniversary of this country, and now we have the 25th memorial of this horrific attack on the country. There is a very palpable difference, obviously, between the celebration that we had and the mourning that we have. And in both of these kind of landmarks Anniversaries happening in the same year, I think, create some of that tension that. In many ways, though, is good for America to reflect on and to never forget, as we say. I think we should play.
This is President Trump speaking at the Pentagon today. J.D. Vance was in attendance at the ceremony in New York, as were the Obamas, the Bushes, as well as the Bidens were there. And the President spoke at the Pentagon, and he said this: this is bite two. And I think that it's just something that we can all take with us as we kind of wrap up the show here.
No one can ever prepare for a day like 9-11. But we can always choose to be the kind of nation the world saw. In those days, After We can build families like the Stackpoles. We can raise our children to know. that their country is good, that their fathers are brave.
and that our flag is a symbol of justice and freedom. And we can be a nation whose heroes are Not Fanatics. for an abstract cause. They don't even know really what they're doing. But the kind who race into buildings and give their lives on a Tuesday morning.
for strangers they've never met. And right there, the embodiment of the post-9/11 spirit that so many. Of us still remember so freshly, even, and how different it is today. I like that, we can be a nation. That the world saw in the days after 9-11.
I think that is something to strive for. That whole feeling of unity. Even if the disagreements over policy didn't go away, there wasn't a hatred amongst each other, as you see very, very much on display these days. Yeah, as we wrap up this show, I do want to say thank you for all who have listened and watched today. I know it's a very different kind of show.
We did it live for the most part. Obviously, we had special video presentations and that interview with John. I wanted to just spend time. I mean, what else could we really talk about? We discussed this this morning when we start prepping this show.
What's the news of the day? What's the ACLJ work? What's the angle we can discuss? And there are days like today where there's really no choice, unless something huge breaking news happened that we couldn't ignore. Uh this is what we have to look at and remember Again, not only, as I said at the very beginning of the show, not only what we learned, but what we have.
forgotten. And we heard that In the interview I did with John where he said, you know, I feel like some of those lessons we have forgotten. But That doesn't mean there's not time. Doesn't mean there's not time to fix and correct, and again, make sure you're educating your families. Make sure you tell your kids and your grandkids about the experiences that came after the September 11th attack.
It can get warped, it can get warped into the war on terror and the chaos that followed that. It can get warped into these experiences. Look, I mean, I, I, again. Was that went to ground zero? Within the months of September 11th.
I have not been to the memorial. I'll be honest. I haven't been to the memorial. That image of. The of Ground Zero is still very fresh in my head 24 years later, probably at this point, 24 and a half years later.
These are not ancient history, but to your children and your grandchildren, they're starting to become ancient history. As Will said, it's looped in with the Titanic, it's looped in with tragedies that happened in history. that we all think of as these big events. It could be parodied. They can be discussed.
They can be made into movies. But the reality of it can get lost in time.
So I encourage you to spend some time. in an age-appropriate way talking to your family tonight. About the experiences, not just of the day, not where were you? I think that always is the discussion. Where was I in class?
I was what? No. Talk about really what happened. and how it still impacts our lives every day. Keep it fresh on people's minds.
At least for today. With that, that's going to wrap up today's show. We appreciate you. We'll be back next week with more on Psyculo.
