The News Agents How 9/11 changed everything
94 snips
Sep 11, 2026 
Miles Taylor, an American national-security commentator, author, and former Homeland Security official, joins a searching look back at 9/11. They revisit the attacks’ human cost and political shockwave, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Guantanamo, surveillance, civil liberties, Islamophobia, populism, and America’s retreat from global leadership.
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A Normal School Morning Became 9/11
- Miles Taylor remembers a perfectly ordinary school morning turning into national panic as students watched live coverage of the attacks.
- The Today Show had described ideal fall weather and aired a Howard Hughes segment just before the towers were hit.
The Second Plane Changed Everything
- Broadcasters initially treated the first impact as a possible small-aircraft accident before the second plane revealed an intentional attack.
- The shift from uncertainty to terror came when viewers saw the second fireball and realized America was under attack.
Miles Taylor Watched His Recent View Become History
- Miles Taylor had eaten at the World Trade Center only days earlier and watched the second tower erupt on television.
- A classmate laughed at the collapsing tower, prompting Miles to warn that the event could mark the beginning of World War III.
