STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Twenty-five years ago this morning, Americans heard news of a plane that struck the World Trade Center. For many people, it wasn't until the second plane struck that they began to realize it was an attack. At the Pentagon, U.S. military officers were watching TV images of the attack when a plane struck there. And a fourth plane crashed in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A quarter century later, communities around the U.S. are gathering to remember. And, of course, the main ceremony - the largest one - is in New York. NPR's Brian Mann is in Lower Manhattan at the 9/11 Memorial. And, Brian, what are you seeing?
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Yeah, Steve. I'm going to speak kind of softly because they are reading out the names of those lost right now. Two thousand, nine hundred seventy-seven people died on 9/11. One powerful heartbreaking thing is how after 25 years, so many of these people reading the names are young. They're too young to remember the family members they lost.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Grandpa Andrew (ph), me and my brothers, Matty (ph) and Teddy (ph), hear so much about you. You blessed us with the Knicks, and this year we got our first championship. Knicks in 5. You also cursed us with the Jets. We're still waiting on that one.
MANN: And I also did speak with Louis Chenal, a New York firefighter, now retired. He was here at the site of the Twin Towers that day.
LOUIS CHENAL: The South Tower had already fallen. But when I got here, the North Tower was still standing. And I could hear on the radio the voice of a friend of mine.
MANN: And he did not make it.
CHENAL: No. No. He didn't. I'm sorry (ph).
MANN: All the living U.S. presidents except Donald Trump are here to mark this moment. Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden spent time before the ceremony, meeting and talking.
INSKEEP: You can hear the sorrow in that voice, and I appreciate also hearing the grandson who tells a joke, laughter at a funeral. That's a good thing, Brian. You mentioned that President Trump is not there. He is - has been at the Pentagon here in Washington, D.C., in the Washington area. What did he say?
MANN: Yeah. President Trump spoke about the losses of 9/11. He spoke about the heroism. He also used this moment to justify the military operations against what he described as the menace of radical Islam.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Today, we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago. We will never ever forget. That's why we fight today.
MANN: Trump campaigned of course for a second term, opposing more wars, but then launched what he promised would be a brief war against Iran in February. That fighting continues six months later.
INSKEEP: What do you make of the fact that Trump chose to be at the Pentagon today and is not in New York with all the other presidents?
MANN: Well, for most of the last quarter century, the 9/11 memorial ceremony has been an important nonpartisan event. Trump has attended at least once this moment of unity in an increasingly polarized nation. You could see that happening again here today. Men and women who are fierce political opponents most of the time, like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the current mayor, Zohran Mamdani, they're sitting together. They're talking quietly, sharing this moment. It's notable that Trump, who's also a New Yorker, isn't here, but also at this event, politicians are silent. There are no speeches allowed, and that's not Trump's style.
INSKEEP: OK. That's NPR's Brian Mann. He is in lower Manhattan near the 9/11 Memorial, where people are remembering the dead and the 25 years since that event. Brian, thanks very much for your reporting all morning. Appreciate it.
MANN: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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