Remembering 9/11. And, Vance, Trump urge voters to back Republicans in the midterms

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Twenty-five years ago today, a terrorist attack changed American life forever. Four planes were hijacked by al-Qaida; two struck the World Trade Center in New York, one struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9/11 attacks killed at least 2,977 people , and a Brown University study found that an additional 7,000 U.S. service members died in post-9/11 wars, while thousands more suffered from illnesses linked to toxic debris after the collapse. Today, communities across the U.S. are gathering to remember, honor and grieve.

New York City firefighters march Friday near the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Angelina Katsanis/AP hide caption

President Trump and Vice President Vance closed out the first-ever midterm Republican convention by urging their supporters to vote in November. Vance did not mention the president's promise to send every adult American $5,000 if their party maintained control of Congress, but Trump was quick to remind the room. The next Republican convention will be in 2028 , when the party will have a new presidential nominee and Trump will no longer be its standard-bearer.

Missouri's Republican redistricting plan was blocked yesterday due to a series of court rulings. The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal order requiring use of the GOP map, while the Missouri Supreme Court found Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt for telling local election officials to use it despite an earlier court order. Hoskins said the state would revert to the map used in the last two elections.

President Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (left) and CIA Director John Ratcliffe (center) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 3, 2026. U.S. forces captured Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York where he faces criminal charges. Molly Riley/AP via The White House hide caption

The Sept. 11 attack was the most monumental event of my lifetime and still shapes the world to this day. I was based in Jerusalem on 9/11, and when the second plane slammed into the World Trade Center, I immediately suspected al-Qaida was responsible. I'd reported extensively from Afghanistan in the 1990s, including the rise of the Taliban and previous al-Qaida attacks, marked by simultaneous strikes.

Within days, I was in Pakistan and would soon drive the rutted roads deep into Afghanistan, all the way to Kabul, as the U.S. military and its partners ousted the Taliban and pursued al-Qaida.