00:00 - Governor Tom wolf

00:01 - this year is the twentieth

00:02 - anniversary of the

00:03 - September eleventh

00:04 - terrorist attacks.

00:05 - I tried to take US

00:06 - back to that time where

00:06 - where were you in

00:07 - your life at that point

00:08 - where were you working.

00:09 - This is my company.

00:11 - And I remember it really well.

00:14 - Was when the second

00:15 - floor and we had a.

00:16 - TV in the third floor

00:17 - and someone came

00:18 - down and said you to

00:19 - come up and see this.

00:21 - And.

00:22 - Just stood in

00:23 - shock.

00:24 - Because.

00:25 - With that point one

00:26 - building had been hit.

00:28 - By by the

00:29 - the plant the first plane

00:31 - and.

00:32 - No one knew what was going on.

00:33 - In fact there was some.

00:35 - Speculation that was

00:36 - just a small private plane.

00:38 - And then

00:39 - we were staying

00:40 - they're just looking at

00:41 - this

00:41 - burning

00:42 - tower when the second plane.

00:45 - Came and hit the second tower.

00:47 - And.

00:48 - We all leticia said that

00:49 - was not an accident

00:51 - and it's just a.

00:52 - Very

00:52 - hollow feeling very empty.

00:55 - Feeling of shock and

00:56 - and.

00:57 - In horror.

00:58 - Would like to go from.

01:00 - A normal day since

01:01 - that day began normally

01:02 - just like every other

01:03 - day but like what

01:04 - would you have been

01:05 - doing in the morning.

01:06 - Just prior to this happening.

01:08 - I was.

01:09 - Just working on some

01:10 - project in the in the company

01:12 - and and.

01:14 - Trying to figure out how

01:15 - we could increase sales.

01:18 - We were we had just

01:19 - converted to

01:20 - a new computer

01:21 - system so I'm sure it

01:22 - was was worked at

01:23 - working on that but.

01:27 - This through all of that into.

01:29 - The deep background.

01:30 - Because.

01:32 - This was.

01:33 - Just

01:34 - shocking

01:35 - and horrifying.

01:36 - I think

01:36 - you know if you look

01:37 - at.

01:38 - It.

01:39 - There is a the number

01:40 - of surveys that people

01:41 - have been taking

01:41 - since the late fifties

01:42 - in terms of.

01:43 - Interest in in government.

01:46 - And of course Watergate

01:47 - and Vietnam led to to Simpson

01:50 - real drop in in.

01:52 - People's trust in government.

01:55 - And

01:56 - that trust factor

01:56 - has been below fifty

01:57 - percent for most of the

01:58 - seventies eighties and

02:00 - nineties.

02:01 - There was one spike.

02:02 - And was around two.

02:04 - Nine eleven.

02:05 - When when people really.

02:08 - Came together.

02:09 - They said saw the same thing

02:11 - we're horrified and

02:12 - and said you know we

02:13 - we

02:13 - This is

02:14 - real early.

02:15 - We are all together on this and

02:17 - you could see that

02:18 - in in the numbers

02:19 - and that's the way

02:19 - I felt on that day.

02:21 - So and as you're

02:22 - watching this unfolded

02:24 - did you go back to

02:24 - work at some point that

02:25 - is it possible to go

02:26 - back to work after

02:27 - something like that

02:28 - yeah you go back to work

02:29 - but but you're changed

02:30 - and and and all of

02:31 - US were were changed

02:33 - there was a vulnerability that

02:35 - that we hadn't really

02:36 - considered before.

02:38 - The day to day

02:38 - existence that was.

02:40 - That was our lives.

02:43 - That

02:43 - there was something

02:44 - that intruded on that.

02:46 - As a result of nine

02:47 - eleven and and.

02:48 - So I went back to my office and

02:51 - but I was very much changed

02:53 - as was everybody else.

02:55 - So you were at

02:55 - work at the time what

02:57 - did you

02:57 - feel the need to

02:58 - reach out to your family

02:59 - to

03:00 - Make sure that they

03:00 - were ok oh yeah they.

03:02 - Called.

03:03 - My

03:03 - Wife my daughters were

03:05 - both in school at that

03:08 - point and and and

03:09 - so they were at school.

03:09 - But.

03:10 - It was.

03:12 - Remember.

03:14 - Just

03:15 - just to

03:15 - the the sense of

03:17 - of

03:17 - Wanting to talk to someone so.

03:20 - I

03:20 - Called my wife.

03:22 - Now people often are

03:24 - remember where they

03:26 - were when John f Kennedy

03:26 - was assassinated US.

03:26 - As.

03:27 - Does this one of

03:27 - those moments for you

03:28 - yeah I was going to say

03:29 - it as it was I remember.

03:31 - Vividly where I was when

03:33 - John Kennedy was in tenth grade.

03:35 - Music class and

03:36 - and.

03:37 - The announcement came

03:38 - over the loudspeaker

03:38 - it was just.

03:40 - A shock

03:40 - that was not the america that

03:42 - that we knew america.

03:43 - That we knew.

03:45 - Presidents.

03:46 - Didn't get assassinated.

03:48 - America that I knew.

03:50 - Had never been invaded.

03:52 - America I knew had never had.

03:54 - Somebody.

03:56 - Fly into.

03:57 - The tallest buildings

03:58 - in the country

03:59 - I mean that that

04:00 - the those were were.

04:01 - Shattering moments.

04:04 - And life was never

04:05 - the same after the

04:06 - Kennedy assassination

04:07 - it was never the same

04:08 - after nine eleven.

04:10 - Now.

04:11 - At what point did

04:11 - you find out that a

04:12 - plane had crashed

04:13 - in Pennsylvania.

04:15 - Later.

04:18 - And I am not sure if it was was.

04:20 - You know at at that

04:22 - point because all this

04:24 - happened around the

04:24 - same time the the plane.

04:25 - Flying into the Pentagon was

04:26 - when I was upstairs watching

04:28 - the TV

04:29 - and it was.

04:30 - This the same time that that the

04:31 - plane went down in shanksville.

04:33 - I'm not sure that was reported

04:35 - at exe exactly the same time.

04:37 - It might have

04:38 - been a little bit later.

04:39 - But.

04:40 - Just standing there watching

04:42 - that plane go into the tower.

04:45 - And then of course

04:46 - watching the aftermath

04:47 - the consequences of

04:47 - what happened at the

04:48 - Pentagon.

04:51 - It was it was a.

04:54 - A terrifying moment.

04:56 - Does the fact that a plane

04:58 - landed in Pennsylvania

04:59 - doesn't make it

04:59 - more personal for you.

05:00 - Yeah.

05:02 - I think

05:02 - and I think the.

05:04 - The things that happened to

05:05 - the things that we remember

05:07 - and

05:08 - and.

05:10 - Honor the people

05:11 - who were on that plane what we

05:13 - remember about that was just the

05:15 - the heroism of

05:16 - I know they don't want

05:17 - to talk about this and

05:18 - the.

05:18 - Families don't want

05:19 - to talk about that but

05:20 - but the.

05:23 - The

05:24 - tragedy of nine eleven.

05:26 - Was

05:26 - was.

05:28 - What happened to human life.

05:32 - But it also showed.

05:34 - What we do.

05:35 - We gather around

05:36 - and band together

05:37 - and

05:38 - do things to support

05:38 - each other that happened

05:40 - in new York it

05:40 - happened in Washington.

05:42 - The first responders.

05:44 - And it happened.

05:45 - In shanksville.

05:47 - Did you ever have a

05:48 - chance to talk to any

05:49 - of the families of the

05:50 - people who died on

05:51 - flight ninety three absolutely.

05:53 - What do you

05:54 - what do they tell you.

05:56 - They're very modest

05:57 - and.

05:59 - Very.

06:00 - But but.

06:02 - That.

06:03 - Something had

06:04 - happened and and and.

06:06 - They were all touched by it

06:07 - and and it's.

06:09 - Been out to shanksville.

06:11 - I guess because the

06:12 - pandemic we didn't have the.

06:14 - Commemoration of the

06:15 - mortal service last year but

06:16 - every other year I've been out.

06:18 - And

06:19 - and.

06:21 - It's a very poignant moving

06:22 - experience and just

06:23 - going through the

06:24 - the.

06:26 - Visitor center out there is

06:27 - a very moving experience.

06:30 - If people have

06:31 - never visited that site

06:32 - where would you

06:32 - recommend that they do.

06:35 - Well there are a

06:35 - number of different things.

06:37 - Videos

06:38 - and.

06:39 - The toughest thing

06:40 - and I'm not sure this

06:41 - is for everyone but

06:43 - to hear some of the.

06:46 - The last phone

06:46 - calls that were made.

06:48 - There are some

06:48 - recordings of those.

06:50 - That those are tough.

06:53 - Have you ever had a chance

06:54 - to talk to a governor Tom Ridge

06:56 - about his experiences

06:57 - with what did he tell you.

06:59 - Well.

07:01 - Of course.

07:03 - He

07:04 - Left

07:05 - the governorship

07:05 - to become secretary

07:06 - of homeland security

07:07 - right after it's as a

07:08 - result of nine eleven.

07:11 - And and so he had to set up a.

07:13 - Whole new.

07:15 - Infrastructure to

07:17 - to.

07:18 - Try to protect

07:19 - the country and

07:20 - and.

07:21 - There were no

07:22 - operating instructions

07:23 - he he was.

07:25 - Doing what he did.

07:27 - For the first time and and that

07:29 - that was a.

07:30 - Real a real challenge

07:32 - I think he probably.

07:34 - More than anybody bore the the

07:36 - burden

07:37 - of of trying to to.

07:41 - Not.

07:43 - Overcome what happened but but

07:44 - prevent that kind of thing

07:46 - from ever happening again

07:47 - and trying to get US back

07:48 - to some semblance of the.

07:51 - The security and safety that

07:52 - we felt before that happened.

07:54 - You've been a governor during a

07:55 - period of crisis

07:56 - with the pandemic.

07:58 - What kind of

07:59 - how much insight

07:59 - does that give you into

08:00 - what governor Ridge

08:01 - was having to deal with

08:02 - during his time.

08:03 - I

08:04 - Well.

08:05 - We haven't talked

08:06 - about that but I

08:07 - I would imagine

08:08 - a lot I mean I I think

08:09 - the the thing that

08:10 - that

08:11 - you

08:11 - don't know in a

08:12 - situation like that is.

08:14 - You know you want to

08:15 - try to keep people safe

08:16 - but.

08:17 - As I say there are no

08:18 - instructions.

08:19 - No

08:20 - Directions for how to do that.

08:22 - And so you're you're

08:22 - you're doing

08:23 - things on on the run

08:24 - with with

08:25 - insufficient.

08:27 - Information what is the

08:28 - right thing to do here.

08:29 - We don't have.

08:31 - This we don't have

08:32 - enough of that.

08:33 - And that point in the beginning

08:35 - we didn't have a vaccine.

08:38 - And.

08:39 - But all we knew was there was

08:40 - this dangerous disease that was.

08:42 - Killing people.

08:43 - And governor Ridge

08:45 - secretary Ridge.

08:47 - All he knew was

08:48 - that there are these

08:49 - people out here

08:50 - out there in the world who.

08:51 - Really want to do

08:52 - harmful things to Americans.

08:55 - And.

08:56 - How do you

08:56 - how do you

08:57 - address yes that that that's

08:59 - it we were both facing the

09:01 - the.

09:01 - I think the toughest part

09:02 - of that just the uncertainty.

09:05 - And we talked about the

09:06 - memorial site at

09:07 - ash in shanksville

09:09 - other awesome memorial sites at

09:10 - the Pentagon and

09:11 - in new York city

09:12 - how important is

09:13 - it for our society

09:14 - to memorialize this

09:15 - kind of an event.

09:17 - I think it's really

09:18 - important I mean

09:19 - we had a lot of

09:20 - memorials to important

09:21 - events throughout

09:22 - our history mean

09:23 - the.

09:24 - Gettysburg battlefield is one

09:25 - that's not too far from here.

09:28 - And I think it's important

09:29 - that we recognize all the

09:30 - different things that have.

09:32 - Contributed to.

09:33 - Our history to define US.

09:36 - And obviously

09:37 - all the.

09:38 - Memorials in Philadelphia.

09:40 - Remembering the.

09:42 - War of independence and the.

09:44 - Declaration of

09:45 - independence the constitution.

09:48 - The things that that.

09:50 - Happened at at

09:51 - gettysburg.

09:52 - And the things that

09:53 - happened in nine eleven

09:54 - those are things

09:55 - that have defined US

09:56 - there will be things that.

09:57 - We remember about this

09:58 - past eighteen months that will.

10:00 - Will look back and see.

10:02 - That.

10:02 - As part of what defined.

10:04 - Defined US.

10:05 - Now at the time it was

10:07 - one of those experience.

10:08 - It's really overwhelming in a

10:09 - kind of overshadows everything.

10:11 - As twenty years later

10:12 - now do you still hear

10:13 - people referencing

10:14 - it and talking about

10:15 - it as a lived experience.

10:18 - Yeah I do I mean you

10:19 - mention the Kennedy

10:20 - assassination one of

10:21 - the things one of the

10:22 - markers is that that.

10:23 - You think back in your life and.

10:25 - Do you remember where you were

10:27 - when such and such

10:27 - a thing happened.

10:28 - This is one of those

10:29 - experiences where I

10:30 - think most people

10:31 - remember where they were.

10:33 - Now.

10:34 - Since it's the

10:34 - twentieth anniversary.

10:36 - Most recent class of high school

10:38 - graduates were

10:39 - born after nine eleven.

10:41 - If you could

10:42 - talk to them if you

10:44 - could say this is why

10:46 - this is significant what

10:47 - would you tell them.

10:47 - I'd say it was significant

10:49 - in that occasionally

10:51 - and.

10:51 - There are things

10:52 - we we love we're

10:53 - Americans we love

10:55 - to argue and debate

10:56 - disagree with each other

10:58 - but there are times

10:58 - when when we pull

10:59 - together and this

11:00 - was one of those times

11:01 - and as I say you

11:02 - can see it in the.

11:03 - The

11:04 - polling data

11:05 - but.

11:05 - I think just the sense

11:07 - that we were all in

11:09 - in this two together

11:10 - is something that that.

11:12 - I guess it's the silver

11:13 - lining in the cloud.

11:15 - That that.

11:16 - We.

11:18 - We are.

11:20 - A nation we are

11:21 - one people.

11:23 - And in

11:24 - part of the.

11:25 - The great thing about

11:26 - US is that we can disagree

11:28 - but when something

11:28 - like this happens.

11:30 - We pull together.

11:31 - For governor Tom wolf thank

11:32 - you for sharing your memories.

11:34 - Thank you.