9/11 memorial news: Biden lays wreath at Pentagon as Trump teases 2024 run

During a stop at a fire department in Shanksville, Pennsylvania - the site where Flight 93 was brought down by its passengers in an attempt to stop the 9/11 hijackers from using it as a weapon - Joe Biden praised former President George W Bush’s speech encouraging American unity.

“I thought President Bush made a really good speech today, a genuinely good speech, about who we are, we’re not—the core of who we are is not divided, it’s just this notion of, I don’t know how to explain it,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Bush also warned of the dangers of extremism, both foreign and “from within.” Many commentators have taken his speech as a condemnation of right-wing extremists like those that stormed the Capitol on 6 January, though he was not explicit in his speech.

Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Flight 93 memorial on Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

During her visit she encouraged Americans to look to the unity of the past for inspiration, but noted that Americans must also “look to the future” to preserve the nation. Watch her speech below.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus spoke with survivors and family members of those who died on 9/11, recounting their tales of the past 20 years living in the shadow of the attack.

“On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, or the 20th commemoration as some prefer to call it, The Independent spoke with some of these survivors and family members. Their experiences are a mosaic, not a monolith,” he writes.

Read their stories below...

Tune into Independent TV for a 20 year retrospective on the 9/11 terror attacks and the ensuing violence that resulted after the US went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Independent’s Nathan Place examines the paper’s coverage of the 9/11 terror attacks 20 years ago, examining how reporters and columnists at made sense of the world-shaking event at the time.

“If I ever need to imagine what a nuclear hell must look like, I have seen it today. Hollywood could never conjure this. Thick smoke continues to fill the area, fed by fires on what was the No 7 building in the World Trade complex, a 40-storey block that collapsed later on Tuesday afternoon. Occasionally, the smoke clears to reveal the remains of the towers. Segments of what used to be the steel sheathing of the towers are standing, pointing upwards towards the sky like snapped-off teeth. Otherwise, nothing is recognisable.”

Read Nathan’s piece below...

Though former President Donald Trump did not attend a memorial ceremony at Ground Zero on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, he did visit an NYPD precinct, where he told officers that they will be “very happy” if they are hoping to see him run for office again in 2024.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward examines Mr Trump’s not-so-subtle hint at his political future in the story below...

Joe Biden is attending a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington DC, the third site struck by the 9/11 hijackers 20 years ago.

He is joined at the ceremony by Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

Brian Clark and Stanley Praimnath were the only people above the 175th floor of the World Trade Centre - the floor where one of the hijacked planes impacted the building - to survive on 9/11.

The Independent’s Nathan Place recounts the tale of how one of the men saved the other’s life and became “brothers for life” as they made their escape from the crumbling tower.

Joe Biden attended a memorial service at the Pentagon on Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Mr Biden was joined by his wife, First Lady Jill Biden as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.