Podcasts about North Tower

What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint.   Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe,   Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point.   Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning.   Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines?   Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff.   Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45   Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start.   Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So   Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston.   Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South   Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie?   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand,   Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now,   Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you   Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the   Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified.   Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn.   Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the   Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good.   Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know   Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This   Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college?   Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right?   Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public?   Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool.   Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as   Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and   Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner.   Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up?   Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss.   Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor?   Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure   Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during   Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition   Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you?   Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G   Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah   Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones,   Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star.   Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was   Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family.   Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway,   Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no,   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity   Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story.   Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got   Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV.   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did.   Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great   Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy   Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that,   Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story.   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's   Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know,   Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip.   Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes.   Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us.   Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts,   Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And,   Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it   Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean,   Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated   Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You   Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers.   Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch.   Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah.   Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that   Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh,   Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick   Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible.   Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool.   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking.   Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner,   Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times.   Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much   Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry.   Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep?   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the   Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do.   Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them   Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights,   Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor,   Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes?   Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that   Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just   Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I   Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they   Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And   Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike?   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went,   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le

Be sure and join us on our Youtube Channel with our special guest, former Fire Patrolman Arnold Roma, father of Patrolman Keith Roma. Tune in as we honor and pay tribute to the ONLY patrolman that perished on 911. Keith was with Fire Patrol 2 in Greenwich Village and responded to the trade center on that horrific day. Keith performed some great heroic acts on 911 including several trips into the North Tower where he saved an estimated 200 civilians. Sadly, as he was rescuing 9 civilians, the second tower collapsed, killing Keith and the 9 civilians he was rescuing. This is going to be another great tribute show as we discuss Keith's career and the controversy surrounding his death. We will also get to discuss Arnolds time in the Fire Patrol. We will get the whole skinny. You don't want to miss this one. Join us at the kitchen table on the BEST FIREFIGHTER PODCAST ON THE INTERNET! You can also Listen to our podcast ...we are on all the players #lovethisjob #GiveBackMoreThanYouTake #Oldschool #Tradition #fdny #therescue #fdnyfirepatrolBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gettin-salty-experience-firefighter-podcast--4218265/support.

On The Rita Cosby Show, Rita breaks down the latest FBI briefing on the manhunt for the killer of Charlie Kirk. She is also joined by 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun to reflect on the tragedy 24 years later. Ari recounts his escape from the 78th floor of the North Tower and talks about the importance of faith and family today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rita talks with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun on the 24th anniversary of the tragedy to reflect on the tragedy 24 years later. Ari recounts his escape from the 78th floor of the North Tower and talks about the importance of faith and family today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today marks 24 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, and on this somber day, we look to the ones we love for solace. Kristin Schnacky's father, Kenneth Marino, was responding to the North Tower with FDNY Rescue 1 and was one of the thousands of people who lost their lives that day.  Kristin and her husband, Noah Schnacky, remember the life and legacy of Kenneth Marino and share the heartwarming story of how FDNY Rescue 1 honored her father on their wedding day.  Follow Kennedy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@KennedyNation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Kennedy Now Available on YouTube: ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/kennedyytp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@kennedy_foxnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join Kennedy for Happy Hour on Fridays! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWlNiiSXX4BNUbXM5X8KkYbDepFgUIVZj⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At 9 years old, Matthew Bocchi lost his father in the North Tower on 9/11. At 23, he got sober. In between were years of grief, addiction, and a secret he carried alone – sexual abuse by a family member. In this raw conversation, Matthew and Zac trace the line from trauma to addiction to recovery, and how speaking the truth can save lives. Matthew shares the call that changed everything, the moment of clarity that led him to treatment, holding his abuser accountable, and the work he does now – speaking to schools across the country, offering kids language and hope. It's a story about resilience, community, and choosing to live.Matthew is the author of SWAY and recently celebrated 10 years sober.Content note: This episode discusses 9/11, addiction, and sexual abuse.Connect with Zachttps://www.instagram.com/zwclark/https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-c-746b96254/https://www.tiktok.com/@zacwclarkhttps://www.strava.com/athletes/55697553https://twitter.com/zacwclarkIf you or anyone you know is struggling, please do not hesitate to contact Release Recovery:(914) 588-6564releaserecovery.com@releaserecovery

In Episode 132 of the Uncovering Anomalies Podcast (UAP), Adam and Topher sit down with Norman, a.k.a. 9/11 Revisionist, for a groundbreaking discussion on evidence, secrecy, and the possible UFO connection to 9/11.Hour 1: Interview with 9/11 Revisionist, highlighting the work of Dr. Judy Wood (Where Did the Towers Go?) and her controversial “dustification” theory.Hours 2 & 3: We review evidence and clips — from the disintegration of the North Tower to toasted cars, seismic anomalies, and the strange collapse signatures that conventional theories cannot explain. We explore whether exotic technologies, possibly derived from UFO crash retrieval programs, were used on 9/11.Clips & references include:The North Tower disintegrating on 9/11Judy Wood on ignored evidenceMilitary contractors investigating 9/11Seismic data anomalies & Earth's magnetic field shiftThe “toasted cars” phenomenonProjection technology & Project Blue BeamTesla, the MIC, and exotic energy connectionsFrom secrecy around UFOs to secrecy around 9/11, are we seeing the same control system at work?

Timothy Brown was serving as supervisor of field operations in New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's office of emergency management on September 11, 2001. He was already at work near the World Trade Center when terrorists flew the first plane into the North Tower. He was in the lobby of that building when he got word that a second plane controlled by terrorists struck the South Tower. He immediately rushed over there. Less than an hour later, the South Tower collapsed while Timothy Brown was still inside.In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Brown walks us from when he heard of the first attack through the horror of the South Tower coming down all around him. He explains what it felt like and sounded like as 110 stories crashed down around him. He also describes emerging from the rubble and getting out of the area just as the North Tower came down.Brown believes his life was spared in order to share the heroic actions of firefighters and other first responders on 9/11. And he tells multiple stories of those heroes, many of whom were friends he lost that day. Finally, Brown offers his thanks to the veterans who took the fight to the terrorists in the wars following 9/11.

An Egyptian engineer, a Hispanic Navy Seal, and an Italian construction manager walk into a building. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s the beginning of real-life heroism. The building was the World Trade Center’s North Tower and Father Mark Hanna is the only one of the 3 amigos to survive 9/11.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Egyptian engineer, a Hispanic Navy Seal, and an Italian construction manager walk into a building. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s the beginning of real-life heroism. The building was the World Trade Center’s North Tower and Father Mark Hanna is the only one of the 3 amigos to survive 9/11.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this emotionally gripping episode of DEAD Talks, host David Ferrugio sits down with Brian Clark — one of only a few known survivors who escaped from above the impact zone of the South Tower on 9/11. Brian shares an extraordinary firsthand account of that morning, the inexplicable moments that saved his life, and the man he helped rescue in one of the most powerful stories of survival and humanity you'll ever hear.Brian was on the 84th floor when Flight 175 struck just floors below him. From hearing voices guiding him to choosing a stairwell that wasn't engulfed in flames, this conversation reveals the smallest decisions that made the biggest difference between life and death.David, who lost his own father in the North Tower that day, brings personal vulnerability to the dialogue — making this not only a survivor story, but a deeply human exploration of fate, loss, and resilience.Join the ⁠DEAD Talk Patreon⁠ for only $5/mo to support our mission & and gain access to exclusive content and features. "Dead Dad Club" & "Dead Mom Club" hats and shirts: ⁠Shop Here⁠Purchase “Not Dead Yet” or DEAD Talk trucker hats here with free domestic shipping:

Wanna win a $100 Visa Gift card? Fill out this short survey and go in the draw Take the short survey Tom Canavan was a securities specialist working in the North Tower on 9/11 who survived the collapse of the Twin Towers. He recounts the moments leading up to the first impact, the confusion and shock that followed, and the calm yet determined evacuation down dozens of smoke-free stairwells. Rewind back to Season 10 to hear the full story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you follow a film like Longlegs, the chilling riff on serial killer thrillers that became one of the cult smashes of 2024? The answer, if you're acclaimed writer-director Osgood Perkins, is to first swap out the pressure-cooker dread of that breakout hit. Next, add a cursed toy monkey. Then, harvest the wildest, darkest parts of your imagination for some of the most gruesome demises ever seen on screen. And finally, package all of the above into an existentialist comedy about embracing death. The result is The Monkey – a Stephen King adaptation inspired by the literary icon's 1980 short story of the same name, but very much a work of Oz's own invention.From the moment a flamethrower-wielding Adam Scott opens the film with a maniacal cameo, screaming as he scorches everything in his path, it's clear the movie is operating on a different tonal plane to Longlegs. But make no mistake, The Monkey is just as personal to Oz as that film and others before it, like The Blackcoat's Daughter and 2016's I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. Perhaps, in fact, even more so. As Oz explains in this moving spoiler conversation, the film is a meditation on death because death is something he's experienced up close in the most unimaginably tragic circumstances; on September 12 1992, his father, Psycho actor Anthony Perkins, died of AIDS-related pneumonia at his home in Los Angeles. Almost exactly nine years later, his mother, the actress and photographer Berry Berenson, was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked by terrorists and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre, on September 11, 2001. The Monkey, he says, features Theo James playing two roles as twin brothers Hal and Bill, because “that's my life,” as he puts it. He and his own brother Elvis Perkins, an acclaimed musician, became “buried in the rubble of the tragedy” of their mother's death on 9/11 and emerged with “differences more apparent than ever.” In the conversation you're about to hear, Oz tells us the extent to which the movie helped reconcile some of the feelings towards his brother. Al asks him about the ending of the film, which involves a plane crash – a very emotionally-loaded image, given his tragic family history.  And he shares why accepting death is the only true way to find peace.Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.Support for this episode comes from ScreenCraft, Final Draft and WeScreenplay.To get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon.Support the show

Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust.An instant New York Times bestseller, Thunder Dog tells the true story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the life-changing power of faith and trust in the face of terror. When one of four hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center's North Tower on September 11, 2001, Michael Hingson, a district sales manager for a data protection and network security systems company, was sitting down for a meeting. His guide dog, Roselle, was at his feet.Blind from birth, Michael could hear the sounds of shattering glass, falling debris, and terrified people flooding all around him. But Roselle sat calmly beside him. In that moment, Michael chose to trust Roselle's judgment and not to panic. They were a team.

Alex, Jesse and Mike finished Cornerfest '25 this week with some weird mysteries! Video Link - https://youtu.be/_ZfTzNOUV9g?si=9CizA-fpiNMlBVtS MERCH - http://www.theyetee.com/collections/chilluminati HelloFresh - http://www.hellofresh.com/chill10fm All you lovely people at Patreon! HTTP://PATREON.COM/CHILLUMINATIPOD Jesse Cox - http://www.youtube.com/jessecox Alex Faciane - http://www.youtube.com/user/superbeardbros Editor - DeanCutty http://www.twitter.com/deancutty Show art by - https://twitter.com/JetpackBraggin http://www.instagram.com/studio_melectro CORNERFEST EPISODE D SHOW NOTES SHARK NO SHARK Rolling Stone Link: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/tiktok-true-crime-cameron-robbins-1234762334/  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/cameronrobbinsSHARK/ Shark Bytes Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHukQNJLKZA BLOOMBERG BREAKFAST CONFERENCE Who Took This Photograph? by blameitonjorge https://youtu.be/Epg97y-YeM8?si=FkS7wKAF-TVa-2b3 911Archive (CONTENT WARNING, VIOLENCE, TERROR, GORE): https://www.reddit.com/r/911archive/ Accounts From the North Tower by NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/accounts-from-the-north-tower.html 102 Minutes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/102_Minutes Diagram of Elevators in the North Tower: https://media.hswstatic.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50Lmhzd3N0YXRpYy5jb20iLCJrZXkiOiJnaWZcL3d0Yy1lbGV2YXRvcnMuZ2lmIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjoyMDB9LCJ0b0Zvcm1hdCI6ImF2aWYifX0= 911 Call (CONTENT WARNING, TERROR): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQtV0VXVXg&t=3s Lastimages Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/lastimages/comments/6hh37p/a_call_from_christopher_hanley_who_was_on_the/  Peaceful Tomorrows Donation Link: https://www.peacefultomorrows.org/donate SCHUYKILL Links to all the articles by Andy Mehalshick: https://www.pahomepage.com/mystery-notes/ Example Note from February 2024: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuylkill_notes#/media/File:Schuylkill_note.jpg  Schulkill Notes on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1opvXe7FbtpyiHdPHv9b1fLKHBA7UsgY&hl=en_US&ll=40.07821396607917%2C-75.76923297585698&z=8 Andy himself makes a little short to see if anyone can get the word out: https://www.pahomepage.com/video/andy-note-tease/9295605/ GRAVE ROBBING FOR MORONS VHS YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/AWFosb98Kec?si=tb65JBEsldwpMd6h r/nonmurdermysteries Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/1hpumet/grave_robbing_for_morons_vhs_tape_the_search/ Big Brother Version: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqKYqnj-gypbdzZyb9XZLuvT_JDwPO89c&si=fb1e7K82BY-g_CiC  Houdini's Grave Article: https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/30/nyregion/resting-comparative-peace-keep-vandals-away-houdini-s-grave-closed-for-halloween.html THE 47 SOCIETY Official Site: https://www.47.net/47society/ 47 Flyer: https://www.47.net/47society/gallery/files/47flyer.gif IKI NINGYO Atlas Obscura Article: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hananuma-masakichi-japanese-living-dolls  Doll Pics: https://img.atlasobscura.com/mGPaoIOLM37tBZLXBrBH-xQG82h05BdCsVxXPshe_Wg/rs:fill:12000:12000/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL2Fzc2V0/cy9hZGVhOTAyYWNi/NTAxOTdlYjlfMDAw/MDAwMDAwNzI2XzIu/anBnLmpwZWc.jpg  https://img.atlasobscura.com/Iaz0Zr5Zemg0CMlFfjZd6Rq4W0D6duu0k-z2N95ujeI/rs:fill:12000:12000/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL2Fzc2V0/cy81ZTQzNGM4ZWZi/ZWJjMjVhOTJfMDAw/MDAwMDA4OTA0XzEu/anBn.jpg

What does it feel like to survive the unimaginable? Picture this: the 85th floor of the North Tower, the chaos of the first impact, and the desperate journey down countless flights of stairs as the world collapses around you. Billy Forney shares his gripping, deeply personal account of 9/11, filled with moments of terror, resilience, and even unexpected humanity. From navigating through injured survivors and first responders to escaping just as the second tower fell, his story is a raw, unforgettable snapshot of a day that changed everything. Through it all, Billy reflects on how that experience reshaped his life and why sharing it matters now more than ever.Digital Wildcatters brings the energy community together through events, cutting-edge content, and powerful tools. Join our online community at collide.io. Engage with experts, level up your career, and ask Collide AI your toughest technical questions.Click here to watch a video of this episode. 00:00 - Chuck's speech at the IPAA Private Capital Conference02:04 - Chuck and Kenny reminisce about Rice football06:04 - Chuck's Christmas party and 9/1111:58 - First moments after the impact17:25 - Descending the stairs of the South Tower21:40 - Descent from the 85th floor24:39 - Encountering injured individuals26:50 - Meeting a first responder29:14 - Ditching the fire extinguisher30:20 - Encountering a woman on the 19th floor33:00 - Escaping the South Tower36:55 - Surviving the South Tower collapse44:03 - The impact of sharing your story46:18 - Writing down your personal story49:07 - Visiting the 9/11 Memorial & Museum49:40 - Legacy for future generations52:20 - Life in post-9/11 New York53:35 - Patrick's personal story56:08 - Importance of storytelling58:05 - Thanks for coming onhttps://www.instagram.com/digitalwildcattershttps://www.tiktok.com/@digitalwildcattershttps://www.facebook.com/digitalwildcattershttps://twitter.com/DWildcatters

On this episode, Derek sits with Michael Hingson.  Michael is a Survivor of the September 11th, 2001 Attack on the World Trade Center and also a Motivational Speaker.  I asked him to come on the show as part of my “Derek Duvall Show 9/11 Outreach Project”.  Blinded at birth, Michael's story of how he was helped out of the burning North Tower with the aid of his sight dog, Roselle became world famous, landing him on such shows as Larry King Live.  Michael will discuss his upbringing and how he overcame his disability, how he and Roselle came to work at the World Trade Center, and then we will discuss the Attack on the World Trade Center.We then discuss his post 9/11 career in which he turned to writing, publishing the New York Times bestseller, “Thunder Dog: The True Story of A Blind Man, His Guide Dog and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero”.  Michael is also a world famous keynote speaker, travelling all over the globe speaking about leadership and telling his 9/11 story.Website: https://michaelhingson.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/Twitter/X: https://x.com/mhingsonYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingsonLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingsonSPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

Tom Canavan was a securities specialist working in the North Tower on 9/11 who survived the collapse of the Twin Towers. He shares his story of what happened that day and how he escaped the rubble and even tried to walk to his home in upstate New York.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Day in Legal History: WTC Bombers ConvictedOn November 12, 1997, Ramzi Yousef and two of his accomplices were convicted for their roles in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, marking a significant legal milestone in U.S. counterterrorism efforts. The bombing, which took place on February 26, 1993, involved a truck bomb detonated in the North Tower's underground parking garage, killing six people and injuring over a thousand. The attack was an early sign of the growing threat of international terrorism on American soil, with Yousef aiming to collapse one tower into the other to maximize casualties. Yousef, the principal architect of the attack, fled the country shortly afterward but was eventually captured in Pakistan in 1995. His trial underscored the challenges of prosecuting acts of terrorism under U.S. criminal law and introduced the public to federal strategies for dealing with international terrorists within the American justice system. Prosecutors successfully argued that Yousef's attack was part of a larger, ideologically driven campaign against the United States, setting a precedent for treating terrorism as a criminal offense rather than solely a military threat.The conviction of Yousef and his co-conspirators in a civilian court demonstrated the U.S. government's commitment to using its judicial system to address terrorism, despite criticisms from some who argued for military tribunals instead. Yousef was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and was placed in the federal "supermax" facility in Colorado, where he remains to this day. This case highlighted the importance of international cooperation in tracking down fugitives and the evolving strategies to counter terrorism through legal channels in the years before 9/11.The FTC's draft settlement with Marriott International over a series of data breaches highlights the agency's growing support for "right-to-delete" policies, mirroring a trend in state-level privacy laws. This agreement, targeting breaches from 2014 to 2020 affecting 344 million customers, would require Marriott to provide U.S. customers with a way to request deletion of their personal data. Unlike the FTC's traditional "notice-and-choice" model, this approach shifts responsibility to companies to manage and remove collected data when requested. Experts say the Marriott settlement may be a sign of future federal data privacy directions, especially since the FTC has recently applied similar requirements in cases with companies like Chegg Inc. As right-to-delete policies expand, companies face challenges navigating varying state privacy laws, with 20 states already enacting or soon implementing data privacy regulations. Ensuring compliance across different jurisdictions requires complex data mapping and collaboration between legal and technical teams to track, delete, and prevent reintroduction of sensitive data. Additionally, reducing retained data may impact marketing strategies that rely on long-term customer data. Marriott's settlement and the FTC's recent blog post signal the importance of limiting data collection to only what is operationally necessary, reinforcing the idea that uncollected data cannot be stolen.FTC's Marriott Data Breach Order Echoes States' Right to DeleteRyne Miller, formerly the U.S. general counsel for FTX, has joined New Jersey law firm Lowenstein Sandler as a partner to lead its new commodities and derivatives practice. Previously with Sullivan & Cromwell, Miller advised FTX through its bankruptcy proceedings following the crypto exchange's collapse and founder Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud conviction. Though Sullivan & Cromwell faced allegations related to FTX's misconduct, Miller was not named in any subsequent litigation. After leaving FTX, Miller founded Miller Strategic Partners, providing regulatory advice in traditional and digital finance. At Lowenstein, Miller will head the commodities and derivatives group and co-chair its crypto practice, aiming to capture the recent surge in U.S.-based crypto interest. His experience, including past work for SEC Chair Gary Gensler at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, aligns with Lowenstein's strategic expansion in financial services, fintech, and investment management.Ex-FTX US Legal Chief Joins Lowenstein, Eying Crypto ResurgenceJack Teixeira, a 22-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, faces sentencing for leaking highly classified military documents online, with prosecutors seeking a 17-year prison term. Teixeira, who held a top-secret security clearance as a low-ranking airman, shared sensitive information with a group on the messaging app Discord, reportedly discussing topics like Russia's war in Ukraine, Israel, Syria, and Iran. He was warned by his superiors twice in 2022 about mishandling classified information, yet he continued to access and share sensitive intelligence. Prosecutors argue his actions represent one of the most significant breaches of the Espionage Act in U.S. history. Teixeira's defense team requested a shorter, 11-year sentence, arguing that his intent was to inform his online friends about global events rather than harm the U.S. and citing his struggles with autism and social isolation. In separate military proceedings, Teixeira also faces charges for obstructing justice and failing to follow orders.Pentagon leaker Teixeira faces sentencing, US seeks 17-year prison term | ReutersSteve Bannon, former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, is due back in court ahead of his Dec. 9 trial in New York state on fraud charges linked to a 2019 fundraising campaign for Trump's border wall. Prosecutors allege Bannon deceived donors, raising over $15 million while secretly diverting funds to the campaign's CEO, Brian Kolfage, despite promises that all donations would go directly to construction. Bannon, who was previously pardoned by Trump on related federal charges, faces charges in New York state court where presidential pardons do not apply.Bannon has pleaded not guilty, with his lawyers arguing that he only reimbursed Kolfage for expenses. Kolfage, who pled guilty to federal fraud charges, is currently serving a 4¼-year sentence. Recently released from a four-month federal prison sentence for contempt of Congress after refusing to testify before a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Bannon has resumed hosting his podcast and claims his legal troubles are politically motivated.Fresh off prison release, former Trump adviser Bannon due back in court | Reuters This is a public episode. 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GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep.223 : Tonight Thursday Oct 3rd at 8pm on our Youtube Channel. Our special guest will be 30 year FDNY Lt. Mickey Kross. He worked with the NYPD from 1968-71 and then the NYC Transit Authority from 1971-1976. Joined FDNY and Assigned to Engine 81 in 1977 Transferred to 24 Truck in 1981 Promoted to Lieutenant in 1996 and assigned to Engine 16 Retired in 2006. On 9/11, Lieutenant Kross was doing paperwork at FDNY Engine Company 16 firehouse when his company received the order to dispatch to the World Trade Center. He reported to the North Tower's 23rd floor. Upon orders to evacuate, he was descending stairwell B when the building collapsed. Lt. Kross curled his body into a corner of the stairwell. A few hours later, sheltered by the stairway, he and 11 other members of the FDNY, a PAPD officer, and one civilian emerged relatively unscathed into a landscape of twisted steel and rubble. We will get the whole skinny. You don't want to miss this one. Join us at the kitchen table on the BEST FIREFIGHTER PODCAST ON THE INTERNET! You can also Listen to our podcast ...we are on all the players #lovethisjob #GiveBackMoreThanYouTake #Oldschool #TraditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gettin-salty-experience-firefighter-podcast--4218265/support.

Ron DiFrancesco moved to the New York City area in 2000 to take an investment job with a firm based in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He was already at work on September 11, 2001, when the first plane hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists struck the North Tower. People working in the South Tower were immediately told their building was fine and they should continue working. Soon a friend called DiFrancesco and urged him to evacuate. Just moments after leaving the spot where he had been working, a wing from United Airlines Flight 175 sliced through the office.In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," DiFrancesco describes the horrors of what he saw happening in the North Tower after it was struck and before the South Tower was hit. He then walks us through the impact of the jetliner hitting his building, the intitially futile efforts to get downstairs and the "voice" that guided him to an exit that could get him away from all the debilitating smoke. DiFrancesco tells us about getting to the lobby, where he was directed to go, and the last thing he remembers as the South Tower came down. Some experts later concluded he was likely the last person to get out of the World Trade Center alive.He also discusses the injuries he suffered while getting out and the severe mental and emotional trauma that he and his family then endured for an extended time. DiFrancesco explains why he later decided to start speaking publicly about the horrific ordeal he endured.

Imagine fighting for your life as the very building you're inside of crumbles around you. On September 11, 2001, that's the nightmarish reality that Sujo John faced inside the North Tower as terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center. Sujo recounts his miraculous escape, what he saw on that fateful day, and how God ignited purpose in him to fight human trafficking and stand against the evil in our world. Miss last week's episode? Catch it here: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TSF3072700333.mp3?updated=1725904393 WATCH Stakelbeck Tonight episodes for free on TBN+ here: https://www.tbnplus.com/c/sy/ptdulukx The Stakscast with Erick Stakelbeck podcast features host Erick Stakelbeck and special guests having candid, thought-provoking conversations on the state of America, the world, and the Church, plus powerful personal testimonies and stories. Tune in for deep discussions on the big issues that matter to you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, Derek sits with Joe Dittmar.  As the day of this release marks the 23rd Anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 Attacks,  I have been sitting on Joe's interview for 9 months as quite frankly, his story is so incredible, it felt only appropriate to release it on 9/11.  Joe agreed to come on the show as part of the “Derek Duvall Show 9/11 Outreach Project” as he was on the 102nd Floor of the South Tower when the North Tower was struck and is one of the few living people to have seen the carnage of the North Tower up close including the wrecked fuselage of Flight 11.  I also consider him to be the luckiest survivor of all of the 9/11 Survivors I have interviewed as as you will hear, he was 3 floors below United 175 striking the South Tower, having made a crucial choice that ended up saving his life.  Joe's story is gripping and heart wrenching and not for the faint of heart so listener discretion is advised.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-dittmar-02214812/SPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

Subscribe to the Mike Drop Patreon Page to see Ad-Free Episodes Early + Bonus Content at https://www.patreon.com/mikedrop Dan Hughes was working as a Special Agent in the New York Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service when the first plane hit the North Tower on September 11th, 2001. As the second plane hit the South Tower, Dan set up an on-site triage area for the injured, witnessing atrocities and providing life-saving assistance that would later earn him the U.S. Secret Service Medal of Valor for his actions on the day. Later, Dan joined the Secret Service's Technical Security Division as an Advance Agent, supervising explosive detection canine sweeps for the President, Vice President, and major Heads of State, where he would discover a major K-9 shortage for preforming pre-event security sweeps. To help fill the role, Dan would go on to join the Bismarck Police Department in North Dakota, developing key K-9 team strategies along with his own business, 'Dogs for Defense' where he would personally subcontract K-9 security work in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside K-9 Adak (later named USA Today's #1 Most Heroic Dog) with Blackwater and other private security companies during height of the Iraq War in 2007. Today, Dogs for Defense continues to provide some of the finest working dog solutions around the world.  ---------- Support Dan Hughes -  Dogs for Defense Inc.  https://www.dogsfordefense.com https://www.instagram.com/dogsfordefense Dogs for Defense Foundation  https://www.instagram.com/dogsfordefensefoundation Kilo9er  https://kilo9er.com https://www.instagram.com/kilo_9er ---------- Sponsors:  BUBS Naturals  The BUBS namesake derives from Glen ‘BUB' Doherty, who was heroically killed in Benghazi, Libya in 2012. In addition to remembering Glen for the patriot he is, the BUBS ethos centers around the passionate and adventure seeking life that Glen lived.  BUBS Naturals products are rooted in sustainably sourced ingredients and controlled consistency to provide our customers with the highest quality Collagen Protein & MCT Oil Powder that help you feel amazing and live a fuller life. Our mission is simple. FEEL GREAT. DO GOOD. 10% always goes back to charity, helping military men and women transition back into civilian life.  Go to https://www.bubsnaturals.com/mike and use code MIKE for 20% off your order.  ---------- Beam Take advantage of Beam's biggest sale of the year and get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to https://www.shopbeam.com/MIKEDROP and use promo code MIKEDROP at checkout! ---------- Fueled by TeamDog | https://www.mikeritlandco.com | @Teamdog.pet TEAM DOG FOOD, TREATS & SUPPLEMENTS Be Your Dog's Hero: Veteran-owned by a former Navy SEAL and Special Operations K9 Trainer, Team Dog provides a complete diet of science-backed premium dog food, treats, and supplements to optimize your dog's health, forged from rigorous standards and real-world expertise. https://www.teamdog.shop  TEAM DOG ONLINE TRAINING Mike Ritland – a former Navy SEAL & Special Operations K9 trainer – shares his simple and effective dog training program to build trust and control with your dog. Based on Mike's bestselling book “Team Dog, Train the Navy SEAL Way”, join tens of thousands of families that successfully trained their way to a better dog.  https://www.teamdog.pet  SHOP ALL THE MIKE RITLAND BRANDS  Get all your Mike Ritland branded gear - Mike Drop | Trikos | Team Dog https://shop.mikeritland.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

HISTORY This Week returns with new episodes starting September 16th! In the meantime, listen to a favorite classic from the archives. September 11, 2001. On a clear and sunny day, Captain Richard Thornton is piloting his ferry boat back and forth between New Jersey and New York City. But when he hears an airplane flying too low to the ground, he knows something is wrong. After the World Trade Center's North Tower is struck, Thornton instinctively drives his ship down towards Lower Manhattan. He will soon be joined by countless other marine craft: ferries, fishing boats, tugboats, and more. With the roads, bridges, and trains that connect the island of Manhattan to the rest of the world shut down, this collection of civilian, commercial, and military boats manages to carry more than 500,000 survivors to safety. How did this impromptu evacuation, which was larger than Dunkirk during WWII, come together? And how does one ferry boat captain reflect on the shared sense of duty he felt on that fateful day? This episode originally aired on September 6, 2021. To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Congress returned to work after the Republican National Convention, the House held three hearings investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. In this episode, hear for yourself the facts presented by the Director of the Secret Service, the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, and the FBI Director during their 15 hours of testimony. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes Cheatle's Failures Rep. James Comer and Rep. Jamie Raskin. July 22, 2024. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Julia Reinstein et al. July 16, 2024. ABC News. Would-be Assassin Emily Cochrane et al. July 19, 2024. The New York Times. Bernd Debusmann et al. July 19, 2024. BBC. Gaza Death Toll Rasha Khatib. July 20, 2024. The Lancet, Volume 404, Issue 10449. Audio Sources July 24, 2024 House Committee on the Judiciary Witnesses: Christopher Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation Clips Time stamps correspond to C-SPAN version 31:20 Christopher Wray: I'm told that the father purchased the firearm in 2013, so quite a while ago, and then he sold it to his son in October of 2023. 43:05 Christopher Wray: The reason why I've talked about how we think he got on the roof is that's based our evidence response to forensic analysis. Without getting into all the details, footprints, fingerprints, et cetera, that we can see how he got on. But we don't have an eyewitness at the moment who saw him climbing up. 43:25 Christopher Wray: A few minutes before the shooting, local law enforcement saw him on the roof. Again, no weapon identified at that point. A few seconds before the shooting is when the law enforcement officer that I've talked about already, the one who was assisted by another officer who saw up on the roof, saw the shooter in a prone shooting position with the gun. He turns… Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL): How long did that happen before? Christopher Wray: That sighting, that is the first time, to my knowledge, the first time anybody from law enforcement saw him with a weapon. That is seconds before he shot at President Trump. July 24, 2024 House Committee on the Judiciary Witnesses: Christopher Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation Clips Time stamps correspond to C-SPAN version 25:30 Christopher Wray: We have recovered eight cartridges on the roof. 28:05 Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Have you developed any evidence to so suggest that there are any accomplices or cooperators or assisters? Christopher Wray: Not at this time, but again, the investigation is ongoing. 36:10 Christopher Wray: So we have recovered a drone that the shooter appears to have used. It's being exploited and analyzed by the FBI lab. The drone was recovered in his vehicle, so at the time of the shooting, the drone was in his vehicle with the controller. In addition, our investigation has uncovered -- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Do you know what time of day he flew it and if he flew it on the day of the shooting? Christopher Wray: So in addition, it appears that around 3:50-4:00PM, in that window, on the day of the shooting, that the shooter was flying the drone around the area. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Two hours before? Christopher Wray: I want to be clear about when I say the area, not over the stage and that part of the area itself, but I would say about 200 yards, give or take, away from that, we think, but we do not know. So again, this is one of these things that's qualified because of our ongoing review, that he was live streaming, viewing the footage from that. Again, about 11 minutes and around the 3:50-4:00 PM range. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Two hours before, he's flying a drone in the vicinity of the rally. Christopher Wray: About 200 yards away, yes. 37:25 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): What about the bombs that we've heard about in the shooter's car? Christopher Wray: So again, the FBI lab is exploiting those explosive devices. We've recovered three devices, two in his vehicle and one back in his residence. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Are these what your experts would call sophisticated operations? I dunno. That's what I've been told by people who have some understanding of this area. Christopher Wray: Yeah, I think we've seen more sophisticated and less, I would say these are relatively, again, keyword relatively, crude devices themselves, but they did have the ability to be detonated remotely. And so to that point, in addition to the two devices that we recovered out of his vehicle, there were receivers for those two explosive devices with the devices. And then on the shooter himself, when he was killed by law enforcement, he had a transmitter with him. Now, I do want to add one important point here. At the moment, it looks to us, again, ongoing review, and I can't say that too many times, at the moment, it looks like because of the off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked. But that doesn't mean the explosives weren't dangerous. 1:23:00 Christopher Wray: I think it's fair to say that we do not yet have a clear picture of his motive. 1:25:30 Christopher Wray: We located a number of firearms associated with the shooter and his family. I think it was a total of, I think 14 in the house. The weapon that he used for the attempted assassination was an AR-style rifle that was purchased legally that he, its my understanding, acquired, I think bought actually from his father, who was the one who originally bought it, again, legally. 1:46:20 Christopher Wray: So we do know that he purchased a ladder. I think if I recall correctly, it was about a five foot tall type of ladder. But importantly, we did not find the ladder at the scene. So it's not clear that he used the ladder to get on top of the roof. 1:52:40 Christopher Wray: The weapon had a collapsible stock, which could explain why it might've been less easy for people to observe, because one of the things that we're finding is people have observed him. The first people to observe him with the weapon were when he was already on the roof, and we haven't yet found anybody with firsthand observation of him with the weapon walking around beforehand. 1:54:00 Christopher Wray: There were no pictures or videos on the drone of the day of the rally, for example. But we have been able to reverse engineer the flight path of the drone from the day of the rally, and that's how we know that for about 11 minutes from, I think it's around 3:50 PM to 4:00 PM, somewhere in that range, he was flying the drone and we have the flight path, and it's about 200 yards away from where former President Trump would ultimately be speaking. And so that would've primarily given him a vantage point. I'm trying to think how to describe this. If the former President's podium is that way, the drone would be over here looking, say 200 yards again, off this way, looking back, so it would've shown the shooter -- we think, again, we're still doing more work on this. I really want to qualify what I'm saying, but I'm trying to be transparent and lean in here -- we think it would've shown him kind of what would've been behind him. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): When you say behind him, behind the shooter. Christopher Wray: Correct. In other words, almost like giving him a rear view mirror of the scene behind him, except again, he wasn't flying it overhead while he was later back for the assassination. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): But he would've had, with the drone, he would've been able to also assess, because the stage, I assume, was already set, he'd be able to assess that angle with rooftop as well, forward and backward, I assume. Christopher Wray: Well, certainly going towards the podium, again, we're still trying to figure out exactly what he saw, because having to, in effect, because there's no recording of what he saw during those 11 minutes, our hypothesis at this point, the experts think he would've been live streaming it, and so we're trying to, in effect say, okay, well this was the flight pattern. Given these capabilities of the drone, what would you have seen? What could you have seen for those 11 minutes? And again, it wasn't over the stage or kind of the hub of the rally. It was about 200 yards away, but it looks like it would've been looking, let's say, the length of a football field or so more towards the podium. 1:56:25 Christopher Wray: So again, with the caveat that we're continued to do work on it, we believe that the first time he traveled to the grounds was I think a week before and he spent roughly 20 minutes there. Then he went to the grounds again on the morning of the event. It appears for about 70 minutes, I think. But again, I qualify that. I'd have to go back and look to be sure of that part. And then he came back in the afternoon. So that would be, I guess a third time for good. But that included things like this drone activity we just talked about. 1:58:10 Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): Have you been able to gain access to the shooter's electronic communications, social media, and -- with the caveats that you mentioned that the investigation is still early -- have you been able to make any deductions or are there any indications of the shooter's motivation from those electronic holdings? Christopher Wray: So in terms of our ability to access it, we have been able to get into and exploit a number of electronic devices, digital devices, but not all of them yet. And then within his various accounts, we've been able to get access to some of them, but some of them we're still waiting on. Some of them we may never get access to because of the encryption issue. It presents an increasingly vexing barrier for law enforcement, not just the FBI, but for law enforcement all over the country. 1:59:30 Christopher Wray: It does appear fairly clear that he was interested in public figures kind of more broadly, and I think this is important, that starting somewhere around July 6th or so, he became very focused on former President Trump, on this rally. And so one of the things that I can share here today that has not been shared yet is that we've just in the last couple of days, found that from our review, to your point about devices, analysis of a laptop, that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals that on July 6th he did a Google search for "how far away was Oswald from Kennedy." And so that search obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind. That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally. 2:15:30 Christopher Wray: So I know it was a Secret Service counter sniper who took the shot that eliminated the shooter. 2:15:50 Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): You mentioned that the would-be assassin bought a five foot ladder, you have credit card evidence of that. But it looks like on the scene there was a larger ladder that he might've used. Do you know which ladder he used to get to the roof? And do you have possession of that five foot ladder and the other ladder? And do you know how the taller ladder got to the scene? Christopher Wray: So this whole business about the ladder is something we're drilling into more. We do have possession of the five foot ladder that he purchased close in time to his attempted assassination that we've traced the purchase of that ladder from a receipt, a bloodied receipt that he had on him at the time his body was recovered on the roof. We do not yet know for sure how exactly he got up on the roof. We're looking at various forensic pieces to try to kind of piece that together. So more to come on that. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): Do you know where the five foot ladder was found or retrieved? Was it near the roof or was it still in his vehicle? Christopher Wray: Neither. I don't have it in front of me, but I know that it was not, I know that it was not on scene and I know that it was not in his vehicle. 2:17:55 Christopher Wray: From everything we've seen, which is consistent with what we've learned in interviews, a lot of people describe him as a loner. That does kind of fit with what we're seeing in his devices. His list of contacts, for example, is very short compared to what you would normally see from most people. So it doesn't appear to be a whole lot of interaction between him, face-to-face or digital, with a lot of people. 3:00:50 Christopher Wray: We now believe that the subject climbed onto the roof using some mechanical equipment on the ground and vertical piping on the side of the AGR building. In other words, we do not believe he used a ladder to get up there. 3:07:25 Christopher Wray: He was a fairly, avid might be a little strong, but a fairly avid shooting hobbyist, and so he belonged to different clubs and went to certain ranges and that kind of thing. We do believe, based on what we've seen so far, that he went to a shooting range the day before and that he shot an AR-style rifle at that range the day before. I am not sure we know for sure that it's the weapon that he used, but I think we assessed that it probably is. July 23, 2024 House Committee on Homeland Security Witnesses: Colonel Christopher L. Paris, Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Police Patrick Yoes, National President, Fraternal Order of Police Clips Time stamps correspond to YouTube version 23:35 Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Colonel Christopher Paris serves as the commissioner for the Pennsylvania State Police. In this role, he exercises command, administrative and fiscal authority over the Pennsylvania State Police, the 10th largest police agency in the United States. Commissioner Paris has served in the Pennsylvania State Police since his enlistment in 1999. 23:55 Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Mr. Patrick Yoes currently serves as the president National Fraternal Order of Police. In this role, Mr. Yoes leads the order and its more than 367,000 law enforcement members in representing police officers in the profession. Prior to taking his current role, Mr. Yoes served an impressive 36 years as an active law enforcement officer. 25:45 Col. Christopher L. Paris: Prior to the shooting, our role was to support the Secret Service with personnel and assets that they requested. Our operation plan, completed to fulfill this responsibility consisted of 32 members, and we had two main responsibilities, a motorcade operation for the transportation with the Secret Service of former President Trump, as well as manning and staffing security posts inside the secure area of the Butler County Farm Show. Additionally, we provided two marked cars with uniformed troopers outside of the secure perimeter to provide roving duties, as the name implies, responding to incidents that may occur as a large gathering of people were moving to the venue. 1:22:10 Col. Christopher L. Paris: I would say from my experience and from state police operations to include this event as planned in our operations plan, we had integrated communications by having RPSP personnel in the Secret Service Command post. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): So your person was in there, in that command post on this event? Col. Christopher L. Paris: Yes, sir. 1:22:45 Col. Christopher L. Paris: There's a lot of talk about interoperability and communications. The state police, for example, operate our own statewide radio network, so we have the ability to, if we have an incident, a long protracted incident, for example, where we need to patch other agencies in, we have the capability to do that. However, Secret Service, for example, maintain some additional encrypted communications. So the best way to integrate unified command… Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Is physically present in the command site. Col. Christopher L. Paris: That would be our, yeah. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): That's how the Army does it and the military Col. Christopher L. Paris: I would expect our commanders to have personnel in there so that we could have radio communication, as well as a redundancy in the operations plan with a telephonic backup. 1:25:30 Col. Christopher L. Paris: The final walkthrough occurred on the 11th. Present at that meeting were the two commanders that were tasked with both staffing the security checkpoints on the interior of the secure perimeter, as well as the commander who was going to be in charge of the motorcade. But in addition to that, a PSP area commander was on that walkthrough, holding the rank of Major. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Could you share a little bit of insight? I appreciate the timeline, but could you share a little bit specific to the AGR building? Col. Christopher L. Paris: So on that walkthrough, our area commander asked specifically who was responsible for the AGR building, and we were told that Butler ESU was responsible for that area by several Secret Service agents on that walkthrough. 1:26:35 Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): The slope of the roof, would that have prevented a sniper from being up there? Col. Christopher L. Paris I don't believe so, sir. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Okay. 1:29:40 Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS): President Yoes, in your comments, you talked about the need for communication. You talked about FirstNet. We have federal, state, and local law enforcement at an event like what we're talking about in Butler, but in our conversation with some of the locals, not state police, but the sheriff's department and the chief of police in Butler yesterday, those individuals did not have communication with state police or Secret Service. Would that, in your professional opinion, be a vulnerability for managing an event like this? Patrick Yoes: Well, I think we can go back to 9/11. When we identified at that time that the inoperability of different agencies to be able to communicate really was a hindrance. There's an infrastructure in place now to address these inoperabilities, but at the same time, they're not always utilized in every event. I do not have any direct knowledge whether that was the issue here, but I can tell you it is a common issue in law enforcement and an ability for our agencies not to be able to communicate, not that the technology is not necessarily there, it's because that they're not always incorporated. 1:31:10 Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS): Yeah, we passed legislation mandating, obviously, FirstNet interoperability, and we tied funding to make sure that that happens. But here we are looking at this situation and we picked up some valuable information that we are still not where we need to be on that. 1:32:25 Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS): Butler, Pennsylvania has no permitting process for events of that size, so you can announce it and hold it, and local government doesn't really have anything to do with it. And we were assured by local government that they would try to fix that. They said, we have to be more involved in events of this size, so that if this was not the best venue, then that permitting could have gotten engaged and suggested an alternate venue. 1:42:25 Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): How many rounds did the shooter fire before he was killed? Do you know? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I believe that the number is eight casings have been recovered. 1:55:05 Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Colonel Paris, are you aware whether any law enforcement officer or officers was or were posted in the second floor window of the AGR building? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I am aware, yes, sir. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): And what is the answer? Col. Christopher L. Paris: To my knowledge, there were two posted there from Butler ESU. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): And you said Butler ESU. What does the acronym ESU stand for? Col. Christopher L. Paris: Emergency Services Unit. It's a team that's comprised of multiple agencies that pool resources on a county or several county basis in order to enhance capabilities and training and be able to respond. Basically a mutual aid agreement is my understanding of it. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Is it sort of like a SWAT team? Col. Christopher L. Paris They are trained in SWAT tactics, to my knowledge, yes. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): So how many ESU officers were posted to that second floor window? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I am aware that two were in the building, but again, I have not seen the Secret Service operations plan. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Do you know, you say in the building, were they in a window? A window out onto the scene? Col. Christopher L. Paris: From briefings that I have been given, I was told they were in a window, yes, sir. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Did they remain on Post? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I was told that at a certain point they began searching along with other local officers in the immediacy after Crooks had been identified as suspicious by them. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): By them? Col. Christopher L. Paris: My understanding is that they identified Crooks for not matriculating. To my knowledge, Crooks never made it through the Secure Perimeter into the venue space itself. He was identified by those members as suspicious in part because of that. And then at some point he produced the range finder, which heightened that. 1:57:30 Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Was it from this vantage point that those ESU officers spotted Crooks? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I don't know that particular window, but my understanding is from a second story window is where he was initially spotted. 1:57:45 Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): So are you then saying that, to your knowledge, those ESU officers left the location where they could look out the window to go in search of this person? Col. Christopher L. Paris: That is my understanding. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): So sometime between the time he was spotted on the ground and identified as someone suspicious until the shooting, they had left that post to go look for him. Is that what you're saying? Col. Christopher L. Paris: My understanding is yes. Along with other municipal officers that responded to that area. And that's based on interviews that we've conducted. And I want to be very clear that I don't want to establish a timeline minute by minute because we don't have that yet. 2:35:40 Col. Christopher L. Paris: So this goes to my earlier qualifier about the timeline, but my understanding of the sequence of events is that he was determined to be suspicious as a result of behavior that he was exhibiting, milling around that area in front of the AGR building. There was a text thread that was going, I've been briefed, between the ESU members. They identified, they took a photo of him at some point. When he utilized the rangefinder, the suspicion was heightened. So I know at a certain point in the command post, a member of PSP received a phone call and a text message from members of ESU, and I know from an interview that that was immediately relayed in the command post to the Secret Service. 2:36:35 Col. Christopher L. Paris: When the PSP member received that information and verbally turned right around, gave it to the Secret Service, our member was provided with a number to which the picture that had been taken by the Butler ESU members, or that was on that group thread, to which that should be sent. Our member did that, and our understanding was that was some element of the Secret Service. 2:37:50 Col. Christopher L. Paris: But at that point, just to be clear, he was determined to be suspicious. There was no information that he possessed a weapon. He was outside of that building where the ESU was posted. They were being vigilant. It's, I think, relevant that there were other people at the venue who were suspicious and reported likewise, in a close temporal nexus to that as well. 2:38:35 Col. Christopher L. Paris: I believe, again, I'll defer to when the President came out. I know that that was probably 20 to 25 minutes before 18:11 hours and steps were taken by the municipal officers over in that area, they were actively looking for Crooks. You saw the building yesterday. That's a pretty wide footprint. They began looking for him. There were scores of people making their way across that facility. Again, just for some context, there were over a hundred people that day requiring medical attention due to the heat. There was a missing 6-year-old. This individual was deemed to be suspicious because he was walking around and not moving into the venue. The rangefinder obviously heightened that, and they were attempting to locate him as people were moving across that space, who were attending the event, to the secure perimeter. 2:41:10 Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): You said that many of your officers, or Butler ESU officers, were looking for Crooks. That was after that photograph was relayed to the Secret Service? Col. Christopher L. Paris: My understanding is it was after the photo was relayed to our trooper in the command post. And yes, Crooks was in that area around the building. My understanding is two additional municipal officers who were on a different post responded to that area and they began actively looking for Crooks. They circumscribed the building to try and locate him. It became apparent at some point that he was up on the roof. Those two municipal officers who responded then, to their credit, actively, once they realized that he was on the roof, one boosted the other one up hanging from the ledge of the roof. By the time that officer was boosted up on top of the roof, Crooks was on it almost in that final position that you saw. He had the AR out and he pointed it at the municipal officer who was suspended from the roof, who was not in a position, feet dangling at that point, to draw a weapon or continue hoisting himself back up on the roof. He drops back down from the roof, and at this point, I believe, that's when the video that's been widely circulated with people filming Crooks up on the roof saying there's somebody up on the roof. There were other law enforcement around the building running, but their vantage point on the ground did not lend a clear line of sight to where Crooks was at the top of that building. 2:44:35 Col. Christopher L. Paris: The hoisting up of the officer occurred probably no more -- again, I'm going to give you a time, but I want to just put it in context -- Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) We understand it's not specific. Col. Christopher L. Paris: -- of a sequence of events. I would say at most two and a half to three minutes before that first shot rang out. 2:45:00 Col. Christopher L. Paris: The municipal officer saw Crooks. Crooks saw him, and Crooks turned and leveled the gun at him in a position tactically of extreme disadvantage, suspended in the air with your legs dangling after somebody had boosted you up. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): And he let go, right? Col. Christopher L. Paris: He let go and he fell back down. 2:48:30 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA): Now emergency services noticed Thomas Crooks on the roof -- this is the timeline that we have -- took a picture and reported it. Who did they send that picture to? Col. Christopher L. Paris: Just to be clear, they were posted in the AGR building and took a picture of him. That's what you're referring to. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA): Yes, who did they send the picture to? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I only know from interviews what I can confirm to my knowledge and belief here today, that a member of Pennsylvania State Police inside of the command post received that information telephonically and by text, relayed it to the Secret Service, and then was given a number to follow up on and that was based, again, heightened suspicion. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA): How did they relay it to Secret Service? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I believe that they verbally turned and said in the command post, this is information that I just received. And then in follow up to that, as directed from the interview that I was briefed on, that was forwarded by text as requested by the Secret Service. 2:56:10 Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY): Were there other folks who were also in the crowd identified as suspicious by law enforcement? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I have been briefed that yes, there were multiple individuals, which would be consistent with normal operations for a detail like this, that are identified as suspicious. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY): Can we take that as a single digit number of other folks? Col. Christopher L. Paris: The number that I was briefed on was single digit, but I can't say definitively that I was -- Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY): What number were you briefed on, Colonel? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I believe I was briefed on an additional three individuals. 3:03:25 Col. Christopher L. Paris: I'm aware of three radio systems in operation: PSP's, the Secret Service, and Butler County's. Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX): All communicating on different channels. Col. Christopher L. Paris: Technically, yes, but, I can only speak from PSP, our integration occurs by us having somebody inside of the Secret Service Command post. Again, for an incident of this magnitude, in theory, the more people you have on the same channel, if there was a medical emergency or a lost 6-year-old and everybody keys up at once, it paralyzes your communication. 3:14:45 Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ): From the time that a law enforcement officer was hoisted up, was identified by the shooter, the shooter turns his rifle on him, how long between that encounter and the first shot? Col. Christopher L. Paris: So, I'm glad you asked me that question, Congressman. I'd like to clarify. So it was a matter of seconds. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ): Alright, because I think earlier it might've been minutes. Col. Christopher L. Paris: Correct, and I appreciate you asking that question, you allowing me to clarify that on the record. When I assigned that number, which again, I don't want get locked into a timeline, of three minutes before, that's probably a total amount of time that he was on the roof. When the one local officer hoisted the other one up and subsequently falls, releases himself after being faced with that -- Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ): The shooter shuffles across the roof and takes his first shot -- Col. Christopher L. Paris: He's already, I believe, close to being in his final position there, and I'm told it's again, sequence of events, not a timeline based on the prior criteria laid out, but seconds after that is when the first shots rang out. 3:24:20 Patrick Yoes: There's no doubt when you look at how many people are involved in an operation like this, having everyone on one channel is difficult. But there are people within contained areas and their ability to be able to communicate as things change across platforms is crucial. In this case, we know that in seconds things unfolded and in seconds getting meaningful communication out to people who might be able to act on that communication is vital. So I think there's avenues here. I agree that not everyone should be on the same channel, but there are certain people within certain areas and perimeters that should be having communication or the ability to communicate a little more freer. 3:37:20 Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ): Now that you've had a chance to go back and look over it, what is the tallest structure on that site? Col. Christopher L. Paris: The water tower, sir. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ): Absolutely. Colonel, do you know how far the water tower was from the roof where the shooter took his shots? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I do not. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ): 160 yards, sir. Who made the decision, Colonel, not to put a counter sniper team on the tallest structure by far on the site with 360 degree surveillance? Do you have any idea? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I do not know, sir. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ): Okay. We'd like to get that answer. 4:02:55 Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Was Secret Service notified that they were leaving to go look for this guy and thus those eyes on top of the building gone? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I do not know. And the other thing that I do not know is where else Butler ESU sent that information. I have not been briefed on that. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Who told them to go look? Do you know if they were told to go look? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I do not know, sir. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): We just know that they did go look. Col. Christopher L. Paris: Yes, sir. And like I said, a very concerted effort with all of those alcoves and all of those buildings was made. There were two additional officers who, again, I don't know the specifics of the timeline, I don't know the specifics of the logistics of how that information was relayed, but I'm briefed that they came and they made a very concerted effort to try and locate Crooks. 4:12:05 Col. Christopher L. Paris My understanding is the two officers that responded and one hoisted up, the second one were not part of Butler ESU. They were two separate municipal officers who were tasked with a different responsibility. I would speculate, as an example, to say a traffic post or… Rep. Mark Green (R-TN): Understood. Col. Christopher L. Paris: And they responded. I don't know, again, the specifics as to how they were alerted, but just to be clear, they were two separate. Yes, sir. 4:12:30 Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): The Butler ESU officers who spotted Crooks, do I understand correctly, they spotted him from the second floor of the AGR building? Col. Christopher L. Paris: That is my understanding. Yes, sir. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Okay. Were they posted there in order to maintain Overwatch on the roof, or were they generally assigned roving responsibility to be in the vicinity of that building? Col. Christopher L. Paris: I can't answer that, and I would defer to the Secret Service. July 22, 2024 House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Witnesses: Kimberly Cheatle, [then] Director, United States Secret Service Clips Time stamps correspond to YouTube version 19:45 Rep. James Comer (R-KY): A little over a week ago, Americans watched in horror as a shooter attempted to assassinate President Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman nearly succeeded. The bullet that struck President Trump's head was less than an inch from taking his life. President Trump survived, but one rallygoer, Corey Comparatore, tragically did not. Two others were seriously injured. It was a horrifying moment in American history. The horror was exceeded only by the bravery of the law enforcement agents who threw themselves in harm's way when shots were fired, the bravery of a crowd unwavering in its refusal to panic, and the bravery of a bloody President Trump refusing to run. 32:55 Kimberly Cheatle: Today we are joined by Kimberly Cheatle, who was sworn into office on September 17, 2022, as the Director of the United States Secret Service. Prior to her appointment, Director Cheatle was Senior Director of Global Security at PepsiCo. Before her role at Pepsi, she served 27 years in the Secret Service. 35:40 Kimberly Cheatle: The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders. On July 13th, we failed. As the Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. We must learn what happened, and I will move heaven and Earth to ensure that an incident like July 13th does not happen again. Let me state unequivocally, nothing I have said should be interpreted to place blame for this failure on our federal, state, or local law enforcement partners who supported the Secret Service in Butler. We could not do our job without them. 37:05 Kimberly Cheatle: I will be transparent as possible when I speak with you. Understanding, though, at times, that I may be limited in providing a thorough response in this open setting due to associated risks with sharing highly sensitive protective methodologies. 38:30 Kimberly Cheatle: The comprehensive advance process involves collaborative planning between our Secret service, the protectee's staff, and local law enforcement partners. The level of security provided for the former President increased well before the campaign and has been steadily increasing as threats evolve. The security plan included a full assessment of the Butler Farm Show grounds to identify security vulnerabilities and craft a security plan for the protectee, attendees, and the public. Immediately following the assassination attempt, I directed the activation of my crisis center. I assembled my executive team to begin surging more protective resources to the former President and to ensure the wellness of our people post-incident, all while securing an active crime scene. I immediately ordered a reevaluation of the Republican National Convention Security Plan, and I increased the security posture in the National Capitol Region for all permanent protectees and sites. At the same time, I initiated a Mission assurance investigation within our agency. 41:40 Rep. James Comer (R-KY): Let's start with the building that the shooter used to shoot President Trump from. At any point Saturday, did the Secret Service have an agent on top of that roof? Kimberly Cheatle: Sir, as I'm sure you can imagine that we are just nine days out from this incident and there's still an ongoing investigation, and so I want to make sure that any information that we are providing to you is factual. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): You can't, okay. Can you answer why the Secret Service didn't place a single agent on the roof? Kimberly Cheatle: We are still looking into the advanced process and the decisions that were made. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): Okay, okay. Wasn't that building within the perimeter that should be secured? Do we agree with that? Kimberly Cheatle: The building was outside of the perimeter on the day of the visit, but again, that is one of the things that during the investigation, we want to take a look at and determine whether or not other decisions should have been made. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): One of the things that you said, I believe in an interview, that there wasn't an agent on the roof because it was a sloped roof. Is that normal? And do you fear that that immediately creates an opportunity for future would-be assassins to look for a slanted roof? I mean, this is a huge question that every American has. Why wasn't a Secret Service agent on the roof? And there have been reports that agents were supposed to be on the roof, but it was hot that day and they didn't want to be on the roof. Can you answer any of those questions, Director? Kimberly Cheatle: So I appreciate you asking me that question. Chairman. I should have been more clear in my answer. When I spoke about where we placed personnel in that interview, what I can tell you is that there was a plan in place to provide Overwatch, and we are still looking into responsibilities and who was going to provide Overwatch, but the Secret Service in general, not speaking specifically to this incident, when we are providing Overwatch, whether that be through counter snipers or other technology, prefer to have sterile rooftops. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): Did the Secret Service use any drones for surveillance that day? Kimberly Cheatle: So again, I'm not going to get into specifics of that day in itself, but there are times during a security plan that the Secret Service does deploy an asset like a drone. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): There were reports that the shooter used a drone just a few hours before the rally start time. Is that accurate? Kimberly Cheatle: I have heard those same reports. And again, am waiting for the final report. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): If you can't answer the question, that's your answer. But can you answer this? Do you know, I'm not asking yes or no, but do you know if the shooter used a drone before the shooting? Kimberly Cheatle: That information has been passed to us from the FBI. Rep. James Comer (R-KY): How many Secret Service agents were assigned to President Trump on the day of the rally? Kimberly Cheatle: Again, I'm not going to get into the specifics of the numbers of personnel that we had there, but we feel that there was a sufficient number of agents assigned. 46:05 Rep. James Comer (R-KY): Before July 13th, had the Trump detail requested additional resources? Kimberly Cheatle: What I can tell you is that for the event on July 13th, the assets that were requested for that day were given. 46:25 Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): It's been reported that before former President Trump got up on the stage at around 6:00 PM on Saturday, July 13th, that the local police had identified and even photographed a man who was acting suspiciously. And this man, who turned out to be the gunman, had been flagged as a potential threat. Is that accurate? Kimberly Cheatle: What I can say is that the individual was identified as suspicious. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): So he was known to be suspicious before former President Trump took the stage. Kimberly Cheatle: That is the information I have received. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): Why was he allowed to take the stage with a suspicious person having been identified in the crown? Kimberly Cheatle: So I appreciate the question, and I'd like to make two points. If the detail had been passed information that there was a threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto stage. That is what we do and that is who we are. We are charged with protecting all of our protectees. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): So you distinguish between someone who is suspicious and someone who's threatening. Is that right? Kimberly Cheatle: We do. There are a number of times at protective events where suspicious people are identified and those individuals have to be investigated and determined what is it that identifies that person as suspicious? 47:45 Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): Did you deny a request for additional resources that had been made by the Trump campaign? Kimberly Cheatle: There were no assets denied for that event in Butler on the 13th. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): I see. So you're saying there were requests made for additional assistance for other specific events, rather than for the campaign as a whole. Is that right? Kimberly Cheatle: I'm sorry, I'm not understanding. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): You seem to say that there were not additional resources requested for that event. And forgive me for being unfamiliar with this. Is it requested event-by-event or is it requested just in general for the campaign? Kimberly Cheatle: So if I can explain the advance process. When an event or an venue is identified by, in this case, campaign staff, then the campaign staff works together with Secret Service agents who go out and conduct an advance. Generally that is a five day time period where those discussions are had about what the perimeter is going to look like, what the size of the event is, what the venue is, and then from there there is a request made to mitigate potential risk and threat. And I'm saying that on that day, the requests that were pushed forward were granted. 49:00 Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): So the Secret Service did not know that the gunman actually had a weapon before President Trump was allowed to get up on the stage. Kimberly Cheatle: To the best of our knowledge and the facts that we have at this point, that is correct. 49:50 Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): It's been reported that the shooter was not carrying a driver's license or any form of identification. They had no idea who he was, but then he was quickly identified, I think within 30 minutes, by using the serial number on the AR-15 under a tracing system that is now controversial. Some people say we should get rid of it, some people want to keep it. But is that right, that the serial number was the key information which led to the identification of the shooter? Kimberly Cheatle: That is my understanding, sir. Yes. 52:50 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): How many times did you turn them down ahead of that? Kimberly Cheatle: I think that it is important to distinguish between what some people may view as a denial of an asset or a request -- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Well, Mr. Guglielmi, your spokesperson, he said he acknowledged the Secret Service had turned down some requests. I'm asking how many. Kimberly Cheatle: A denial of a request does not equal a vulnerability. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Well, tell me what it is. Kimberly Cheatle: There are a number of ways that threats and risks can be mitigated with a number of different assets, whether that be through personnel, whether that be through technology or other resources. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Well tell the committee which it was. They asked for additional help in some form or another. You told them no. How many times did you tell them no? And what'd you tell them no to? Kimberly Cheatle: Again, I cannot speak to specific incidents, but I can tell you in general terms the Secret Service is judicious with their resources based on -- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): What does some requests mean? How many times? Requests is plural. So more than once they ask for additional help and you turned them down. What did they ask for and how many times did you turn them down? Pretty basic questions. Kimberly Cheatle: So again, without having all of the details in front of me, sir, what I can tell you is that there are times when -- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): You didn't get briefed on how many times you turned down the Trump detail when they asked for additional help? Kimberly Cheatle: I'm sorry. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Didn't get briefed on that before you came to this hearing, knowing you were going to get asked that question? Kimberly Cheatle: What I can tell you is that in generic terms, when details make a request, there are times that there are alternate ways to cover off on that threat. 1:04:05 Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): Director Cheatle, have you read the intelligence of the generalized threat to Donald Trump by Iran as a result of their desire to retaliate for the killing of Soleimani? Kimberly Cheatle: I have. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): Have you read or been briefed about the intelligence of the specific recent threat to Donald Trump from Iran? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes, I have. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): Director Wray, when we were getting our briefing, indicated that he thought the threat assessment should have included this threat from Iran. Is it your testimony today that the threat assessment, since you've read this intelligence, was sufficient to protect him from this threat from Iran? Kimberly Cheatle: My testimony today is that the information that we had at the time was known, that -- Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): Was it sufficient, Director Cheatle? Was it sufficient for the Iranian threat that you said you have read the intelligence briefings for? Kimberly Cheatle: That information was passed to -- Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): Well, I'm not asking the bureaucratic issue of who did it get passed around to. Director Cheatle, was it sufficient for the specific and generalized threat to Donald Trump's life from Iran? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes, I do believe it was. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): Director Cheadle, is an Iranian assassin more capable than a 20-year-old? Kimberly Cheatle: Sir, I think we've acknowledged that there was gaps and a failure that day. 1:09:15 Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): There were some reports that the individual had a rangefinder. That would certainly raise my suspicion. Did he have a rangefinder? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes, he did. But may I explain that at a number of our sites, especially when you're at outdoor venues, a rangefinder is not a prohibited item. It is sometimes an item that is brought in by individuals if you're going to be in the back. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): Did anybody confront him on that? Anybody ask him questions? What are you doing with the rangefinder? Anybody confront him on his presence where he was in proximity to the President? Kimberly Cheatle: So again, to my knowledge, I believe that that was the process that was taking place, was to locate the individual. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): Did they confront him? Did they go up to him? Did they talk to him? Kimberly Cheatle: I do not have those details at this time. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): Yeah, those are important details. 1:10:40 Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): There was considerable delay in removing the president from the podium after the shooting began. He got shot in the ear, and it was still over a minute before he was removed from the stage. Meanwhile, this shooter had multiple clips. Several clips. He got off eight shots, and he had the capacity and the ability, if he was not neutralized, to basically mow down that whole Secret Service detachment as well as the President. What, from your own investigation, caused that delay under the circumstances. Kimberly Cheatle: What I can tell you is that when the agents identified that the shooting was taking place, in under three seconds they threw themselves on top of the -- Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): I understand that. There was heroism there. No question about it. No question about it. But protocol would indicate, and these are the opinions of various former Secret Service agents, people who have done this work in the past, that over a minute of exposure on that podium, with a shooter with a high-capacity weapon, who had already wounded the President and could have got off we don't know how many more rounds, and yet the President remained exposed even though he was joined in that exposure by the Secret Service in their heroic acts. I dunno if there's a good explanation for that. Kimberly Cheatle: Our personnel created a body bunker on top of the President, shielding him. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): I get that. Yeah. This was an AR 15 style weapon that would've made pretty quick work if he was determined and able to do so. 1:13:00 Kimberly Cheatle: As of today, the Secret Service has just over 8,000 employees. We continue to hire knowing that we need to ensure that we keep pace with a -- Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): What would be the full compliment that you're looking for? You've got 8,000 and how many would be a full complement for the service? Kimberly Cheatle: So we are still striving towards a number of 9,500 employees, approximately, in order to be able to meet future and emerging needs. 1:25:15 Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI): When this guy took the shots, he climbed a ladder to get on the roof, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: I'm unable to answer details of exactly how the individual accessed the roof at this time. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI): Do you know if he did use the ladder? Do you know when the ladder was placed there? Was the ladder there two days before? Just the night before? Do you have any information at all as to when the ladder got there? Kimberly Cheatle: I would like to be able to answer those questions. The FBI is still conducting an investigation. 1:25:20 Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI): Were President Trump's normal agents, normally assigned to him, there that day? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI): These were the same agents that were always there? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes, sir. The people that are assigned to his detail were working on that day. 1:30:45 Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): As you know, the shooter began shooting at 6:11 PM Eastern on July 13th. NBC reported that at 5:51 PM, 20 minutes before the shooting began, the State Police informed the Secret Service of their concern. Now, the rally was not paused at that point, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: No. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): And according to NBC, just two minutes later, at 5:53 PM, the Secret Service notified its snipers about the gunman. The rally wasn't paused at that point either, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: No. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Let me show you some video footage by rally goers. If you could play the video on the screen up here. This was taken two minutes before the shooting started. If you could turn up the volume. Rally goers: Right up here, he's on the roof. Right there, right on the roof. He's standing up now. Right on the roof. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Ma'am, that doesn't look like suspicious behavior. That looks like threatening behavior to me. And the rally wasn't paused at that point either, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: I can tell you, as I stated earlier, sir, that the moment that the shift surrounding the President were aware of an actual threat. -- Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): That's a threat, right there. The guy's on the roof and everybody's yelling at him and directing the officer's attention to him. The rally was not paused at that point, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: We are currently still combing through communications and when communications were passed. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Well, I can point you to this communication. It's two minutes before the shots started ringing out. Director Cheatle, yes or no, was there ever a moment where the Secret Service actually considered pausing the rally? Kimberly Cheatle: The Secret Service would've paused the rally had they known or -- Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): So the answer is no -- Kimberly Cheatle: -- been told there was an actual threat. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): The answer is no, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: I can speak to you in generalities. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): No, no. I don't want generalities. I want specifics. The answer is no, you did not consider pausing the rally, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: The people that are in charge of protecting the President on that day would never bring the former President out if there was a threat that had been identified. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Well, they did because we've now identified three points in the 20 minutes before the shooting that the threat emerged. Let me point you to something else, which is the building that the shooter was perched on, seen here. This building is called the AGR building. I'm sure that you're familiar with it. It's no more than 150 yards from the stage where Donald Trump stood. Yet the security perimeter was drawn such that the AGR building was placed outside of it. Director Cheatle, according to the Washington Post, the AR 15-style rifle used in the shooting had a range of 400 to 600 yards, and therefore the AGR building was clearly within rifle range of the stage, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): NBC News has reported that in the days before the rally, the Secret Service had identified the building as a vulnerability that required special attention, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: That's reporting from NBC? Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Yes. Kimberly Cheatle: So I am still looking into an active investigation. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): I know, but it's been nine days. I mean, you should know that, right? And yet, despite the fact that the AGR building was in rifle range of the stage, and it was flagged as a vulnerability, this building was put outside of the Secret Service's security perimeter. And I respectfully submit, the Secret Service must expand its security perimeter to account for the kinds of weapons that can be used outside the perimeter to endanger the protectees inside the perimeter. 1:34:50 Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): First, you have not found evidence that the incident was a stage shooting, right? Kimberly Cheatle: Correct. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): And you haven't found evidence that this was a result of a conspiracy of high ranking government officials, correct? Kimberly Cheatle: Correct. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): And you have not found evidence that this incident was in fact directed or perpetrated by a foreign state or entity, right? Kimberly Cheatle: Not at this time. 1:58:15 Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX): Have any employees been disciplined for their role in the Butler, PA incident? Kimberly Cheatle: No, sir. Not at this time. I am asking those questions. 2:01:30 Rep. James Comer (R-KY): It's been nine days, every American wants these questions answered. Do you have a ballpark estimate of when what Mr. Sessions asked you would be able to answer, time wise? Kimberly Cheatle: I can tell you on our mission assurance internal investigation, we are targeting to have that completed within 60. 2:02:10 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): Director Cheatle, respectfully, what you had just laid out about 60 days. We are currently in the midst of an especially concentrated presidential campaign in the moment that is also paired with, of course, elections happening across the country that are happening in about a hundred days. So the notion of a report coming out in 60 days when the threat environment is so high in the United States, irrespective of party, is not acceptable. 2:03:55 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): Director Cheatle, is there a standard perimeter that the Secret Service establishes around an event, or are those perimeters independently determined per event and scenario? Kimberly Cheatle: There is no standard. Every event and every venue is different and treated as such. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): So each event has a different perimeter that is established depending on the logistics of that event. Now, you established earlier that the building upon which the shooter operated from was outside of that established perimeter, correct, for the Butler Pennsylvania event? Kimberly Cheatle: It was outside of our secure perimeter, yes. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): Now, that building was, I believe, 500....How far away was that building from the President? Kimberly Cheatle: It was approximately 200 yards. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): 200 yards. Now, the individual used an AR 15 in order to act out his assassination attempt, an AR 15 has a range of about 400 to 600 yards. My question is, why is the Secret Service Protective perimeter shorter than one of the most popular semi-automatic weapons in the United States? Kimberly Cheatle: There are a number of weapons out there with a number of ranges. Again, an advance was completed. The determination of the perimeter, I'm not going to speak to specifics, but there are a number of factors that are taken into account when we determine our perimeter. Some of it has to do with terrain, some of it has to do with buildings, some of it has to do with assets and resources that are available. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): And so what I'm hearing is that a perimeter was not established outdoors in an outdoor venue that would prevent an AR 15, which is one of the most common weapons used in mass shootings, from being able to be within the range of Secret Service protection. Kimberly Cheatle: A perimeter was established, and even though there were buildings that were outside of that perimeter, it wasn't just that building. There were a number of buildings in the area and there was Overwatch that was created to help mitigate some of those buildings. 2:32:45 Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM): I want to talk a little bit about the timeline. Now, here's what we know, and I know, Director, you were also on the call that we had a few days ago with the FBI and other law enforcement. So I respect that you are not able to share based on your testimony, some of the details that are currently being investigated, but I know you were on the call because I heard you on the call and you heard them too. So I'm going to lay out the timeline a little bit. On July 3rd, the rally was announced that it was going to be in Butler. On July 6th, three days later, we know that the shooter searched for dates for Trump and DNC events. On July 7th, so this is four days after the announcement, the shooter went to the site. He actually physically went to the site. On July 12th, the shooter went to a gun range where he and his dad regularly go and practiced shooting. And the next day, on July 13th, he went to the site again before the rally began. We know that he then went and searched online for a gun store, where he went and he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition, went home, got his father's AR, which was legally purchased, and returned to the venue at 5:00 PM that evening. This is more than an hour before Donald Trump actually took the stage that evening. Local law enforcement we're made aware that there was a suspicious man. In fact, at 5:20, local law enforcement flagged that he had a rangefinder and they radioed their concerns and sent around pictures of the individual. At 5:40, 20 minutes before local law enforcement actually identified the shooter and at 5:51 Secret Service was notified of the suspicious person by the state police. And one minute later, they distributed that information. That was before Donald Trump even took the stage. That was 11 minutes before he took the stage. So the Secret Service was aware that there was a suspicious person. At 6:03 he took the stage. At 6:09, rally goers, as was shown in the video, identified this gentleman climbing on the roof. At 6:11, three shots were heard, three rounds of shots, and of course the president and the other victims were shot. 2:48:35 Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): So given that there was an increased threat to President Trump's life, was he provided a full security compliment akin to what a sitting US President would receive? Kimberly Cheatle: He was provided a full compliment of security based on the threat assessment that we had and the venue. Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): That's not my question. My question is, if he'd been the sitting President, would he have had the same security he had on July 13th or would it have been beefed up? Kimberly Cheatle: There is a difference between the sitting President -- Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): So your answer is, he didn't. Kimberly Cheatle: -- and continuity of government and the responsibility that we had -- Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): So he did not, okay. There wasn't a full CAT team on site. There wasn't countersurveillance teams on site. 2:49:25 Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): Have you visited the site? Kimberly Cheatle: No, I have not. 2:50:30 Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): You said, do you remember, in an ABC interview you did, that you didn't have people on the roof of the AGR building because you were worried about safety because of the slope? Kimberly Cheatle: I recall that statement. Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX): Okay. Does the Secret Service have written policy you can share with us about sloped roofs? Kimberly Cheatle: No. 2:54:00 Kimberly Cheatle: So again, I think we're talking about the distinction between suspicious behavior and a threat, and at the time that this individual was identified, they were displaying suspicious behavior. I'm still waiting for interviews from the FBI to determine what it was that identified that individual as suspicious and what those behaviors were. 2:55:05 Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA): When there are so many teams that are collaborating, who takes the lead, and how is that determined? Kimberly Cheatle: The Secret Service is responsible for the security of the site and the coordination. Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA): And that was the case on July 13th? Kimberly Cheatle: Correct. 3:06:25 Kimberly Cheatle: I acknowledge that we are unaware at this time how the individual was able to access the roof. 3:06:35 Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): Overwatch meaning from other counter-sniper or other higher points. Kimberly Cheatle: Correct. 3:06:50 Kimberly Cheatle: I don't have the timeline of how the individual accessed the roof, where they accessed the roof, or how long they were on the roof. 3:13:40 Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA): Was Crook's vehicle inside any of your perimeters? Kimberly Cheatle: No, it was not. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA): It was not. Was there a device located on Mr. Crook's body to detonate the vehicle? Kimberly Cheatle: That is the information that I have. 3:26:05 Kimberly Cheatle: The allocation of resources is decided based on the availability of personnel and their location and where they are, but there were sufficient resources that were given to the former President's event that day. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC): What did you just say? Did you just say there were sufficient resources? President Trump got shot. 3:32:05 Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN): Were agents or officers inside the building? If so, what floor were they on? Kimberly Cheatle: We had local police officers inside the building. 3:59:30 Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): Have you been in communication with the FBI? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes, I have. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): With whom? Kimberly Cheatle: I speak with the Director and the Deputy Director. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): Okay. And what have they shared with you about this investigation? So I'll give you an opportunity to answer again. Did they share with you how many shell casings were on the roof? Kimberly Cheatle: They have shared with me the -- Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): Did they share with you how many shell casing were on the roof? Kimberly Cheatle: Yes. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): Okay. How many were there? Kimberly Cheatle: I would refer to the FBI for their investigation. 4:13:20 Kimberly Che

On this episode, Derek sits with Peter Bitwinski.  Peter is a former New York Port Authority employee and a survivor of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.  I asked him to come on the show as part of my “Derek Duvall Show 9/11 Outreach Program” to tell his incredible story of surviving not only September 11th, but also the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.   Peter will discuss working in the North Tower, the 1993 Bombing, and he will go into detail the September 11th attack and how he and his co-workers on the 69th floor escaped before the tower collapsed.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-bitwinski-508871293/SPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

On this episode, Derek sits with Matthew Bocchi.  Matthew is an accomplished author and speaker.  I asked him to come on the show as part of the “Derek Duvall Show 9/11 Outreach Program” as he is the son of 9/11 victim who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald in the 105th Floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  He has written a book, “Sway”, about his experiences dealing with the trauma of losing his father to this tragedy and dealing with his own personal demons by way of addiction to drugs and alcohol.  Matthew will discuss his obsession about finding out the truth of his fathers death, his unhealthy coping mechanisms, how he overcame addiction and how he now has a successful career speaking to and inspiring children.Website: https://www.matthewjohnbocchi.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattybochTwitter/X: https://x.com/mattybochLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-bocchi/SPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

“It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it.” – Seneca   In This Episode, We Get Stoic About: Will Jimeno was a 33 year old rookie cop for the Port Authority Police Department on the morning of September 11, 2001. Shortly after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, Jimeno and 19 of his colleagues boarded a commandeered bus and made their way towards the World Trade Center where they entered the mezzanine between the buildings. When the South Tower began to collapse minutes later, Jimeno, his colleague Dominick Pezzulo, and their sergeant, John McLoughlin were trapped in a freight elevator some 20 feet beneath the wreckage.    Jimeno and McLoughlin were two of only twenty survivors to emerge from the collapsed buildings.  Their amazing story reminds us that even in times of unimaginable despair, it is within our power to control our mind, and bear the burden with resilience and courage.  It reminds us that what defines our character is not the adversity we face, but, rather, the attitude with which we face it.   Resources + Links: Connect with Kristofor | LinkTree Connect with Kristofor on Instagram | @team_healey Subscribe to The Stoic Responder on Substack | https://thestoicresponder.substack.com Subscribe to The Stoic Responder on YouTube | The Stoic Responder Buy your copy of In Valor: 365 Stoic Meditations for First Responders, here! Buy your copy of Indispensable: A Tactical Plan for the Modern Man, here! Book Kristofor for a speaking event, here! Takeaways   Supporting mental health services for first responders is crucial to their well-being. The 9/11 attacks had a profound impact on many first responders' lives and careers. The story of Will Jimeno and John McLaughlin demonstrates the power of resilience and mutual support in overcoming adversity. Controlling one's mind and bearing life's difficulties with resilience is key to personal growth and character development. Until Next Time…out of role! 

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in and for being a part of The Climbing Majority. Today, we're diving into part two of our conversation with Myles Moser. If you missed part one, I highly recommend going back to the previous episode before continuing.This episode is PACKED with stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat. So I will keep this introduction brief. First we explore Myles' incredible experience establishing the first ascent of his route 'Plate Tectonics,' a 21-pitch Grade VI 5.12 C1 on the east face of the North Tower of Torres Del Paine in Patagonia—a 3000ft unclimbed vertical face deemed simply too dangerous by local climbers.. We then discuss his attempt on the Central Tower of Torres del Paine and a climbing accident that left him with a broken ankle 1600 ft off the ground. All I can say after listening to these stories, is that Myles is lucky to be alive and that he is probably one of the most determined and mentally tough men I've ever met. Also, the scale and seriousness of these objectives are almost too intense to truly comprehend. Myles has a Youtube channel and I HIGHLY recommend check it out after this episode to help gain some context to the stories he shares in this episode.Finally, wrap up our conversation by discussing Myles' future objectives and get to reflect on why he chose now to break his seven years of silence…with these remarkable stories of radical first ascents….----Don't forget to check our our full video episodes on Youtube!The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Please share this podcast with your friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. If you enjoyed the show we'd really appreciate it if you could rate and review us on your favorite podcatcher.We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don't hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ theclimbingmajoritypodcast@gmail.com---ResourcesLearn about Plate Tectonics Grade VI 5.12 C1Learn about Una Fina Linea De Locura Grade VII 5.12 A3Myles' Youtube

GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Ted Walter is Executive Director of the International Center for 9/11 Justice. He moved to New York City two weeks before 9/11 and was a mere 15 minutes into his first class at NYU when the North Tower of the World Trade Center was struck. Although he had lingering doubts from the very beginning, it wasn't until 2006 that he began to critically examine the events of that day. Ever since, he has been a tireless advocate for 9/11 justice. X: @TedFWalter https://ic911.org/ GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: David Chandler is Coordinator of Scientists for 9/11 Truth. He has a bachelor's degree in physics, a master's degree in education, and another master's degree in mathematics. David taught physics and mathematics at the high school and undergraduate college levels starting in 1972 and retiring in 2012, working also as a freelance programmer, product designer, and entrepreneur along the way. Since about 2007 he has been an active researcher with the "science wing" of the 9/11 Truth Movement. https://scientistsfor911truth.com/            

On today's show, Matt Campbell discusses his latest court filing in the fight for 9/11 justice. GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Matt Campbell is the brother of Geoff Campbell, a British citizen who was killed on 11 September 2001, while attending a Risk Waters conference on the 106th floor of the North Tower. Since November 2001, Matt has been actively researching 9/11 and campaigning for justice for his brother. Matt has contributed to a number of 9/11 documentaries, including "Incontrovertible", "The Last Secrets of 9/11", "Surviving 9/11", and "The Unspeakable". X: @mattcampbell911 GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Ingrid Carlqvist is a journalist, author, and former mainstream media figure who left mainstream media in 2012 and has since been active in alternative media. She hosts a podcast called "Ingrid&Maria."

GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is a farmer and businessman. GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Matt Campbell is the brother of Geoff Campbell, a British citizen who was killed on 11 September 2001, while attending a Risk Waters conference on the 106th floor of the North Tower. Since November 2001, Matt has been actively researching 9/11 and campaigning for justice for his brother. Matt has contributed to a number of 9/11 documentaries, including "Incontrovertible", "The Last Secrets of 9/11", "Surviving 9/11", and "The Unspeakable". X: @mattcampbell911 https://ic911.org/  

Billy McCarthy is the son of first and second generation Irish immigrants Margaret and Bill McCarthy. Their lives changed forever on 9/11, when they lost their son and brother Michael Desmond in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centres in 2001. Michael Desmond worked on the 92nd floor of the North Tower, with a company called Carr Futures. He was 33, an assistant vice president, hugely successful and due to finish work that day at 10am. Today, Billy speaks to me about the day that changed everything and I am so grateful for his time. Olivia Hunt's podcast with the McCarthy family Paul Bond's NYC blog It's ok Thank you Yoplait for supporting The Good Glow this season, check out this week's recipe. Join us in Chicago  

On today's show, Matt Campbell explains the meaning behind his unique hairstyle and provides an update on the inquest into his brother, Geoff's death on 9/11. Later in the show, Ruckus reports on boxing superstar Ryan Garcia going viral on X (Twitter) for spreading wild conspiracy theories. Also, Billy Falcon joins the show and provides an update on the most recent work he's done with Jon Bon Jovi and plays a couple of live songs: IF GOD IS LOVE and AWAKE. GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Matt Campbell is the brother of Geoff Campbell, a British citizen who was killed on 11 September 2001, while attending a Risk Waters conference on the 106th floor of the North Tower. Since November 2001, Matt has been actively researching 9/11 and campaigning for justice for his brother. Matt has contributed to a number of 9/11 documentaries, including "Incontrovertible", "The Last Secrets of 9/11", "Surviving 9/11", and "The Unspeakable". https://ic911.org/ X/Twitter: @mattcampbell911 GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Billy Falcon is an American musician, composer and music producer. He released albums throughout the late 1970s and 80s, as well as appearing on The Way International's "High Country Caravan" and has co-written over 50 songs recorded by Bon Jovi. While he continues to write, perform, record and produce records, Billy's primary focus is on reaching individual people with the inspiration of God's word, which he does primarily through his Nashville home fellowship / YouTube https://billyfalcon.com/ GUEST 3 OVERVIEW: Adam Clark AKA "Ruckus" is the host of THE DAILY RUCKUS and contributor to TNT and Alternate Current Radio. You can follow him on X: @AC_WordSlinger https://alternatecurrentradio.com/the-daily-ruckus/ https://tntradio.live/presenters/adam-ruckus-clark/

On this episode, Derek sits with Anne-Marie Principe.  Anne-Marie is a survivor of the September 11th, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and has agreed to come on the show to tell her story as part of my ongoing "Derek Duvall Show 9/11 Outreach Project".  Anne-Marie will be discussing where she was when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower, the horrors she was exposed to, being caught in the toxic dust cloud from the collapse of the South Tower and the years long health struggles that came from that exposure.  Anne-Marie is also a fierce advocate for 9/11 Survivors having been a part of numerous 9/11 Legislation, the most notable being working with Jon Stewart and his team to get the "The Never Forget the Heroes Bill" passed which establishes the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.  Anne-Marie will touch your life like she did mine after you hear her powerful story.Website: https://www.aha-us.org/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemarieprincipeTwitter/X: https://twitter.com/amprincipeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/amprincipe/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annemarie.principe/Jon Stewart's Speech to Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uYpDC3SRpM&t=29sSPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

Getting' Salty Experience Podcast Ep.187TRIBUTE TO FDNY CAPTAIN WILLIAM BURKE JR. Be sure to tune into our next segment of "NEVER FORGET” with special guests, 43 year FDNY veteran Deputy Chief Jay Jonas and Capt. Burke's brother Mike Burke. We will be paying Tribute to FDNY Captain William "Billy" Burke Jr. who died on 9-11-01. William “Billy” Burke Jr. grew up on Plainview, Long Island. His father was William F. Burke Sr and a Deputy Chief assigned to the 6th Division in the Bronx. During his tenure as a Deputy Chief in the 6th Division, the Bronx experienced unprecedented levels of fire duty. Throughout his career, many Bronx Firefighters would approach Billy Burke Jr. to tell him how much they admired and respected his Dad. They told him that his Dad always took care of his men. This is a lesson that Billy Burke Jr. would learn and practice. Capt. Burke was appointed to the FDNY on January 9, 1982 and was assigned to Engine 24. In September 1986, he transferred to Ladder 11 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He was promoted to LT in 1991 and assigned to 34 Engine. He was promoted to Captain in 1997 and assigned to Engine 21 in June of 2001. Captain William F. Burke Jr. was beloved wherever he worked. He was a positive force in affecting the demeanor of those around him. On September 11th, he led his Firefighters into the North Tower, and he told them to evacuate when he realized that the situation in the North Tower was untenable. Yet, Capt. Burke stayed behind and helped those that couldn't help themselves. A lesson he may have learned from his Dad, take care of your men. WE HONOR the BRAVE men and women like Captain Burke, who refused to quit; refused to retreat; and fought until the very end!!Join us at the kitchen table on the BEST FIREFIGHTER PODCAST ON THE INTERNET. You don't want to miss this one. You can also Listen to our podcast ...we are on all the players #lovethisjob #GiveBackMoreThanYouTake #Oldschool #neverforget www.youtube.com/gettinsaltyexperience. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gettin-salty-experience-firefighter-podcast--4218265/support.

The family of Geoff Campbell is seeking to open a new inquest to establish that the true cause of his death was the explosive demolition of the North Tower, but the UK Attorney General has once again unlawfully denied their application. Mike Robinson speak to Matt Campbell, Geoff's brother, and Ted Walter from the International Center for 9/11 Justice about the Campbell family's quest for justice. They plan to challenge the Attorney General's decision but they must raise £60,000 by March 1st to do so. Please give generously. ic911.org

On today's show, Matt Campbell discusses the Campaign for a new inquest into 9/11 deaths. GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Matt Campbell is the brother of Geoff Campbell, a British citizen who was killed on 11 September 2001, while attending a Risk Waters conference on the 106th floor of the North Tower. Since November 2001, Matt has been actively researching 9/11 and campaigning for justice for his brother. Matt has contributed to a number of 9/11 documentaries, including "Incontrovertible", "The Last Secrets of 9/11", "Surviving 9/11", and "The Unspeakable". Follow him on Twitter/X: @mattcampbell911 GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Basil Valentine is a philosopher, poet, broadcaster, writer, musician, horse racing aficionado, and a dedicated Leeds United supporter. He is known for his prolific posting on Twitter and frequently contributes to TNT and the SUNDAY WIRE WITH PATRICK HENNINGSEN. For more information, you can visit https://21stcenturywire.com/sundaywire/ and follow him on Twitter/X: @says_basil.

The Unraveling series, where amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs share the unraveling of old habits and mindset that holds us back, and the rebirth of new.  Today we feature Inez Ribustello, whose unraveling started back on September 11, 2001, when she lost nearly all of her colleagues in the terrorist attacks. At 25 years old, Inez had hustled her way up the ranks to be the beverage director at Windows on the World, a restaurant and entertainment venue located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. When the attacks happened, Inez and her husband Stephen - who was the sommelier for Windows on the World - happened to be at her sister's wedding back home in North Carolina.Instead of slowing down to grieve, Inez kept hustling - and it's only now that she's beginning to process everything that happened.Inez Ribustello Website | Instagram | Life After Windows | On the Square: The Community That Made a Restaurant For previous Unravelings:156157 with Adrianna McDermott161 with Aleya Harris177 with Sara Margulis184 with Andrea Eppollito188 with Ashlyn Carter191 with Kristen Mullins aka "The Pie Lady"193 with Rachel DeAlto197 with Sandra Cassios208 with Brian Green218 with Nellie Butler238 with Natalie Franke245 with Michelle Norwood253 with Amber Melanie Smith(01:20) What's an Unraveling? (02:15) "With shock came a lot of anger"(06:00) Finding the right next job(10:00) Going back to Tarboro North Carolina to start a restaurant(14:10) "We had zero tools in our toolbox for what we were doing.(18:00) Throwing in the towel - on the businesses, on the marriage(24:30) The case for therapy(27:30) Why one investor refused to keep working with Inez(30:30) Inez's new chapterThis episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.Weddings for Real on Social Media:Instagram: @weddingsforrealFacebook: @weddingsforrealtwitter: @weddingsforrealHosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.p

GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep. 174 Our special guest will be 35 Veteran FDNY Battalion Chief Robert Ingram. Appointed to FDNY: 1/9/82 Assigned to L-163 Woodside, Queens Ladder Chauffeur School in late 1983 1984, Transferred to HMC1 as a charter member. 1986, Fire Service Instructor I in FLTSP in order to instruct in HM courses. 1991, Promoted to Lt, assigned to the 35 Battalion 1992, Detailed to Fire Academy (HazMat Command request) to develop 1 st FDNY HM Ops training program. Joined later by Capt. Pete Stuebe and Lt. George Meyers. Worked in same room with then Lt. Mike Weinlein and FF John McConnel who were working on the initial Rescue training program. Selected & amp; trained 12 officers to deliver HM Ops to the members in 4 sites. 1993, Detailed to HMC1 as the 4th Lt. 1994, Promoted to Capt. Assigned to the 13th Division Contracted by the IAFF to deliver HM programs. Apr 94-Jan 95 UFO Captain Eng 303 1995, Covering Captain 13th Division 1996, Assigned Captain, E-273 1997, Detailed to Fire Academy at the request of BC Fanning to Develop and organize HM Training School for Technicians, Mission Specific companies in Building 8. Assigned to be the Radiation Safety Officer for the FDNY at this time also. Assumed responsibility for continuing to train CPC ladder companies Assumed responsibility for continuing to train ALS/BLS HazTac personnelWith Chief Fanning and Operations, planned “ICE” (Interagency chemical exercise.) With Chief Fanning and Con Edison VP for Emergency Operations Dick Morgan, developed the Joint CBRNE program with Con Edison for their WMD Response Team. 1998, Assigned as Executive Officer to BC Fanning, HM Operations. From 1996-2001, Chief Fanning and I made many trips to DC to work with the DOD in the Pentagon to support the NGB development of urban response and in return they provided the first WMD training to FDNY. This training focused mainly on chemical weapons. Under Chief Fanning, with Capt. Doherty (now Tech school Commanding Officer) worked with Operations and SOC to train newly formed Squads 18, 61, 252, 270, 288 in HM capabilities. 1998, FC Ven Essen ordered the training of Rescues 1. 2. 3. 4, and new members of 5 in HM capabilities. With Chief Fanning and Operations, planned citywide “BAD” (Biological Agent Drill) With Chief Fanning, Capt. Doherty, we all became charter members of the IAB, The Interagency Board, implemented by then attorney General Janet Reno, and co-chaired by the DOJ-FBI and DOD-NGB to enhance coordination between federal agencies and local responder organizations to combat WMD attacks. 1999, With Chief Fanning and Operations, planned citywide Maritime Radiation exercise. 2000, Promoted to BC Assigned as Executive Officer to Assistant Chief Cruthers, The Executive officer handled issues from Chiefs Downey (Rescue), Fanning (HM), and Guido (Marine) while Chief Cruthers was off duty. During this time, I worked with Chiefs Cruthers, Fanning, and Downey on the FDNY/NYPD Matrix for managing Special Incidents meeting regularly with NYPD Chief of SOD and others. Sept. 11, Was in my office when the 1 st plane hit the North Tower. Responded with Chief Ganci and the 7th floor staff, Incident Command at the down ramp to the WFC when the 2nd plane hit the South tower.Sept 12-Oct 12 Worked with Vinny Doherty to establish the US&R base camp at the school yard. Served as the H&S Officer of the WTC site. Took command of HM Operations. Worked with Chief Norman when he assumed command of Rescue Operations to equip and manage rescuers from SOC. Maintained my duties as the Executive Officer of Special Operations under Chief Cruthers. Oct 12-Jan 1, 2002, Moved out of the WTC H&S role and worked with Chief Tom Purtell of NYPD SOD to establish and manage “White Powder Teams” until NYPD took control of 911 and cut out the FDNY member position on Jan 1 2002. Nov 2001 Responded to the Plane crash in the Rockaways. Dec. 2001 Responded to the 1 NY Plaza titanium chiller explosion. Testified before the Senate Science & Technology Committee Jan 1-Sept 1, 2007, Commanded/managed the rebuild of HM Operations Capabilities. Re-organized HM Operations to manage grants, capital budgets, equipment Developed Managing 25-50 LD FFs and Officers (9/11 related) in HM Operations Developed HM Battalion over several years bringing in 5 additional BCs Trained & equipped HM Tech Engines 44, 250, 274, and 165. Maintained all external organizational commitments. HM Command by 2007 Sep 2007-Dec 2017 Assigned as the WMD Branch Chief for the FDNY Center for Terrorism and Disaster Retired Dec 20, 2017 Join us at the kitchen table on the BEST FIREFIGHTER PODCAST ON THE INTERNET! You don't want to miss this one. You can also Listen to our podcast ...we are on all the players #lovethisjob #GiveBackMoreThanYouTake #Oldschool www.youtube.com/gettinsaltyexperience.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/gettin-salty-experience-podcast/support.

There's an exhibition on view now at The Bronx Museum of the Arts presenting the work of the late artist Michael Richards, who was born in New York, and died on 9/11 while he was working at his studio on the 92nd floor of the North Tower. He was 38. Michael Richards: Are You Down? is the artist's first retrospective, who primarily worked in sculpture to explore Black identity and history. The show is on view through January 7, and curators Alex Fialho and Melissa Levin join us to discuss.

There's an exhibition on view now at The Bronx Museum of the Arts presenting the work of the late artist Michael Richards, who was born in New York, and died on 9/11 while he was working at his studio on the 92nd floor of the North Tower. He was 38. Michael Richards: Are You Down? is the artist's first retrospective, who primarily worked in sculpture to explore Black identity and history. The show is on view through January 7, and curators Alex Fialho and Melissa Levin join us to discuss.

During the September 11 terror attacks, Pasquale Buzzelli was at work on the 64th floor of the North Tower. Here's his incredible story of survival after falling 22 floors.   AND   A man and a woman in Indiana were trying to locate the owner of a lost dog when they instead, found an elderly man in life-threatening condition.   To see videos and photos referenced in this episode, visit GodUpdates!   https://www.godupdates.com/september-11-terror-attacks-pasquale-buzzelli/ https://www.godupdates.com/elderly-man-found-in-life-threatening-condition/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Chris Tucker is a former air traffic controller who was working in New York City on 9/11. Tucker spent the whole day trying to keep the passengers of two hijacked planes safe. This episode is his story. It's heroic, and it saved lives. But as Chris says, "I was just doing my job."Episode Notes:I welcome Chris Tucker on the show. The reason I had him on is because I heard him speak at an event. And it was riveting. Chris spoke about his personal experience trying to keep the passengers of two hijacked planes safe – [2:55]I tell Chris my experience that morning. I was a hedge fund manager. It was one of the most beautiful days in New York City. I saw the plane. And my business partner thought it was the president. The plane flew over us. Everyone ducked. It was so loud. And so fast. And we watched the plane go right into the building – [4:06]Chris says why he became an air traffic controller – [6:56]Why New York City is too stressful to live in – [8:02]How Chris' solo sailboat trip gave him clarity. And helped him see what he wanted to do with his life. He said, “The nice thing about being in the middle of the ocean with no one else around you is that you can find some clarity that for some bizarre reason is not attainable when you're in the normal world.” – [8:57]I ask “How long does it take to get a pilot's license?” He breaks down the process. – [9:54]“Flying is, in general, very safe, but that having been said, airplanes can find ways to kill you that you can't even dream of.” – [12:18]Chris' scariest moment aboard a plane. He says it was very similar to what happened to JFK Jr. – [12:32]How Chris transitioned from pilot to air traffic controller – [16:37]I ask Chris, “How close can two jets get before they start to affect each other?” – [19:33]Chris gives an example of how two aircraft accidentally impacted each other. And caused turbulence. “That aircraft had to make an emergency landing. But that's extremely rare,” he said. [22:13]Chris Tucker's training: he does 3 months and is in the top 40%. He moves to New York and starts apprenticing. It took 3 and a half years to become fully certified. “And the very first day was terrifying.” – [22:45]Chris gives some background information. This helps set the setting for September 11. So we can understand what makes being an air traffic controller so stressful – [23:40]How private jets and small planes impact regular planes – [26:33]Why there's a 0% chance I'll get a pilot's license… Chris tells a story about a time he almost crashed directly into another plane – [29:20]In 1981, Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers who had a union strike. I ask Chris, “Why did he think he could do that? And why did we survive that?” – [32:06]Chris Tucker starts to tell us about his day on September 11, 2001 – [33:58]Chris was working departures out of JFK airport. And he explains the structure he has to follow to make sure arrivals and departures don't conflict with each other – [34:45]“I had a lot of work to do,” Chris says as he explains the number of planes he has to vector before ever learning about the hijacked planes – [37:20]The moment Chris finds out there's a hijacked plane… – [39:13]Everyone was experiencing denial. Chris explains why they didn't believe there was a real hijack at first… and how that changed – [40:00]The controllers in Boston could hear the hijackers making announcements to the passengers – [41:12]Things change… the hijackers turn off their transponder. “Now we can't see the altitude the aircraft is broadcasting.” – [43:01]I ask if the military could have intervened in any way. – [45:03]“One of the flight attendants on board called American Airlines and told them that the aircraft had been hijacked and that they had murdered the pilots.” – [46:23]Chris says what they thought the hijackers were going to do… and why they didn't think a crash was possible – [47:03]Chris calls the military – [47:47]“Every eye in the room is staring at this target…” But they still had other planes to watch. And they did. “It's part of the job,” Chris said, “…this division of attention.” – [49:20]“In the beginning, it's like the fog of war. It's unsettling. It's disconcerting. Everybody's not feeling right. And we weren't trained to project what might happen in the future and what we can do about it. Air traffic controllers keep airplanes apart from one another. And apart from the ground. That's our job.” – Chris Tucker – [49:49]How Chris learned the North Tower of the World Trade Center was on fire. – [53:01]Chris describes the tension in the room – [54:45]The moment Chris started praying – [1:00:27]How Chris stopped two planes that were 8 miles apart from colliding – [1:00:46]The radar updates every 12 seconds. Chris and his colleagues watch the two hijacked planes on the screen. And debate whether they're going to land… or if they're going to crash – [1:07:50]After the planes crashed… Chris screamed at the radar. They didn't know what to do next. “But at the same time, I had work to do,” Chris said. Because there were other planes in the air that needed to land – [1:09:11]Chris explains the devastating emotional effects crashes have on air traffic controllers – [1:10:30]A few minutes after they watched the plane crash on the radar, Chris and his colleagues discovered it crashed into the World Trade Center. – [1:11:35]We discuss the military's involvement. And why there was nothing they could do – [1:13:31]The horrifying alternative realities Chris has had to face… – [1:15:21]Chris says how connecting with a particular passenger helped him avoid suffering PTSD – [1:18:53]Chris decided to see a psychiatrist. He said, “I wasn't suffering too bad… But nobody in the country, let alone New Yorkers, could get those images out of their head that day, the next day, the next week, the next month.” – [1:20:30]Chris gets an invite from the FFA to meet with the Critical Incidents Stress Management Team. – [1:22:12]I ask Chris, “What are the odds that this can happen again?” [1:25:23]How the airline industry has changed – [1:26:57]What measures of airport security are effective vs. just reactive? – [1:30:39]I thank Chris for everything he did on September 11. And we talk about what he's up to now – [1:33:37]Chris talks about some of the new technology air traffic controllers are using – [1:35:39]We end on a light note. You'll hear me ask two naive questions that get Chris laughing – [1:37:19]------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe  to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook

Giovanni Renteria was in New York City undergoing training for Morgan Stanley in their offices inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center. On day two of the three-week program, Renteria and his colleagues finished their first session early. He and another employee headed downstairs for some coffee. While down there, they saw the debris falling after the first airliner struck the North Tower. Told by security that everything in the North Tower was fine and they should return to the office, Renteria and his colleague weren't so sure. It was then that the second plane hit the tower he was in.In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Renteria walks us through that entire, horrible day. He explains the unlikely encounter that prevented him from going back upstairs, running from the building after the second plane struck, and watching people surrounded by flames on the upper floors choose to leap to their deaths. He also describes his response to the collapse of the towers and not knowing what happened to the rest of his colleagues. He also shares what that day taught him after more than two decades of reflection.

Tim Guerrette and Jeff Morse, North Collier Fire Battalion Chief, discuss The Brotherhood Ride and the upcoming stair climb fundraiser event used as way to remember those who were lost on 9/11/2001. There were 110 stories in each of the Twin Towers, so participants will have the opportunity to climb as our fallen heroes did. Agenda 7:00 a.m. - Check in will begin 8:00 a.m. - Opening Ceremony 8:46 a.m. – Stair Climb begins The first impact was that of American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan at 08:46. Sixteen minutes later, at 09:03, the World Trade Center's South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175. Proceeds from this event benefit the Brotherhood Ride. Firefighters, Law Enforcement Officers and EMS Personnel who ride bicycles to honor emergency first responders who have died in the line of duty. Funds raised will benefit the families of who they honor during their rides. NEVER FORGET visit the Brotherhood Ride website: https://www.brotherhoodride.com/  

My special guest is retired police officer Steve Ditmars here to discuss his book Big Dogs. Get it from Amazon.    About the Author SL Ditmars, the author of the award-winning Big Dogs series, is a retired police officer from Long Beach, California. His career included positions in patrol, police K9, information technology, homeland security, counterterrorism, and police communications. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona.   Criminals are on the loose and Lieutenant JW North will do everything in his power to hunt them down. Join the Lieutenant and his K9 partners, specially trained human scent-detecting and man-trailing German Shepherds, as they chase serial killers and hunt down the brutal rapist and man who shot North a year earlier. Standing quietly at the elevator door to the North Tower of the Ultimo Hotel in Las Vegas, JW watches the numbers go down as the elevator descends to him. He thinks—sixty-five floors? There is a serial killer up there! If the mission is a success, it means a second career chasing serial criminals with a special FBI task force. If not, the Lieutenant will be going home defeated and outsmarted by a warped criminal mind. JW needs this to work; he needs another chance at the man who shot him. The elevator doors open, and the team steps aboard… Is his team ready to face the cruelest criminals? Is he?   It's super easy to access our archives!   Here's how:   iPhone Users: Access Mysterious Radio from Apple Podcasts and become a subscriber there or if you want access to even more exclusive content join us on Patreon.   Android Users: Enjoy over 800 exclusive member-only posts to include ad-free episodes, case files and more when you join us on Patreon.    Copy and Paste our link in a text message to all your family members and friends! We'll love you forever! (Check out Mysterious Radio!)  

Everybody remembers the morning of September 11, 2001, when two passenger jets flew into the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. But the idea of toppling the towers was not new. Thirty years ago, a group of men set off a bomb in the garage beneath the North Tower, hoping it would tumble into the South Tower. At the time, this was the largest improvised explosive device ever ignited on American soil. It killed six people and injured thousands, leaving behind a 100-foot crater five stories deep. Investigators from New York City's Joint Terrorism Task Force—a ragtag team of FBI paper-pushers and NYPD detectives—found themselves conducting a new type of international investigation, called Operation: Tradebom. It became their job to find the bombers and bring them to justice before something even worse happened. Operation: Tradebom is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Truth Media in partnership with Brillstein Entertainment Partners. All episodes are available now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*Thank you Michael, Jenny, Braden, Bennett and Ty for allowing me to share your family's story.*Today's podcast is Michael B. Wright's powerful first hand account from inside the Twin Towers during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in NYC. The audio from this story was pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and was remastered for today's podcast.Story name, preview & link to original YouTube videos:#1 -- “9/11" -- Michael B. Wright's first hand account from inside the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001. (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0azXES3MKew)For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenCharities that support 9/11 victims, their families, and first responders (I have donated to all of them):1. The FDNY Foundation -- Though the FDNY Foundation predated 9/11 — it was established in 1981 — it serves the city's firefighters, who were crucial in responding to the attacks. The FDNY Foundation buys them high-tech equipment, funds training efforts, and helps with fire and life safety education initiatives.Give here