Eleven years later, the 9/11 Museum is still closed

This article can be found in this month's edition TheBlaze Magazine. Every issue of TheBlaze Magazine is full of reporting, investigation and commentary you won’t find for free online because we reserve it for subscribers to the print edition and/or digital version of the magazine. Because of the anniversary of 9/11, TheBlaze has decided to make this issue available for free online.

by TheBlaze's Robyn Wallensky

It’s all buried beneath the ground. And it really bothers me. Eleven years since the morning radical Islamic terrorists took down the Twin Towers, killing thousands of innocent Americans and shattering our sense of security, 9/11 artifacts are still not available for anyone to see.

“It’s all about the Benjamins, it’s all about the Benjamins,” a Port Authority Police officer tells me on a recent trip to Ground Zero. He shakes his head in absolute disgust and asks me rhetorically “Can you believe it’s not open because they claim they don’t have enough money? My friends were killed here.”

More than a decade later, the National September 11 Memorial Museum is still a work in progress.

A year ago, ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the attacks, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the 9/11 Memorial Visitor Center to reflect on the horrific events of that day and to discuss my charity book “Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11.”

AN EXCLUSIVE TOUR OF THE TOMB OF THOUSANDS

It’s a few hours before the event, I am offered a tour of what someday will be the 9/11 Museum. Walking around the massive 16-acre construction site, I wear the required hard hat, goggles, long-sleeved shirt, pants, work boots and a bright yellow vest. I am escorted past the WTC footprint reflecting pools where the granite is still covered with white cardboard so as to not reveal the names until the 10-year anniversary ceremony.

On this day, the waterfalls are being tested for the very first time. I am thinking about all the people who jumped to their deaths here. The thunderous sound of the fountains interrupts the horrendous tapes being played back in my mind of people jumping from the 110-story buildings. I remember looking up 1,000 feet in the air, thinking at first it was furniture going out the windows with all the white paper that looked like confetti. My brain couldn’t process in those first few seconds that it was actually people jumping from the fire to their deaths. Ten years later I look up and see nothing but the blue sky. No soaring twin buildings; the structures destroyed, plucked from the skyline forever.

The guide escorts me from street level down 70 feet below ground. There is a maze of unstable steps and muddy ramps covered in grey puddles of concrete and dirty water, I keep thinking, “I am walking down into a dark tomb. … Why in the world is this museum being built all the way down here? … This literally feels like being inside a grave.”

The first thing I notice is the exposed slurry wall that keeps the Hudson River out of lower Manhattan. Then I see the WTC cross—the 20-foot steel beams retrieved from the fiery pile of debris. It’s preserved here, way beneath the city. It ought to be in Central Park serving two purposes; a daily reminder of the true evil that attacked us and a daily reminder of God.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 1993 ATTACK

My guide escorts me to the exact spot where terrorists set off the bomb on Feb. 26,1993 — the first terror attack on the World Trade Center. The tapes in my mind start playing again, and this time I can see the people, scared, covered in soot, and stumbling out in all directions. I was there that horrible February day and night as school kids on a tour were stuck in an elevator on a high floor, and I reported on the attack for months after.

I was in the first pool of reporters allowed back into Tower 1 a week after the bombing. Black soot covered the carpets, and half-filled coffee cups sat exactly where they were left on desks next to open newspapers, a sign of how workers left in a huge hurry. The offices were frozen in time.

The country did not learn its lesson in 1993. President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno classified the bombing as a “crime” not a “terrorist act.” Bill Clinton never came to visit. He never stood on the soot caused by the terrorist bomb. He never promised to go after the people who did this.

So Osama bin Laden laughed in his cave and continued to patiently plot while we sat still as a nation distracted by sex scandals, politics and other nonsense. I covered the federal trial in lower Manhattan of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and Ramzi Yousef. The prosecutor said it was the goal of these two terrorists to “topple the towers.” It never stopped being the goal.

Now, 19 years later, we have a young generation that knows little about 9/11 and even less about the 1993 attack in which six people were killed and hundreds were hurt.

REMEMBRANCES DELAYED AND BURIED

Ironically, right near the marking of the 1993 bombing down in the still-unfinished museum is the last remaining pulverized staircase—the “Survivors’ Stairs”—used by panicked people running from the flames on 9/11 to the smoke-filled streets. Also buried beneath the city in this tomb-like museum sits the remnants of a red New York City fire truck to honor the 343 firefighters who used those same stairs to walk up dozens of flights with pounds of heavy gear but never made it out.

There are walls featuring the faces of the innocent. People who went to work that morning at what was considered the most prestigious office building in the United States. I remember friends from high school and college always so proud to show a business card that read “1 World Trade Center” or “2 World Trade Center” and the floor number. It wasn’t just a building, it was an iconic symbol of America’s might, power and economic success, and that’s why the terrorists were relentless in their goal of toppling it.

The museum will also honor the memory of those killed at the Pentagon and in the field in Shanksville, Pa.—sites that actually have fitting memorials, both of which I’ve had the honor to visit and report on. Yet the long-overdue underground museum in New York City remains closed.

So, what’s the hold up? A spokeswoman for the 9/11 Museum director can’t really give me a solid reason: “The museum will not be opening this September, and we are currently working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who is the construction manager for the project, to determine the opening date for the museum.

“Donations are going very well, in large part due to the generosity of many Memorial visitors who hail from all 50 states and 150 different countries. We’re pleased to have welcomed more than 3.7 million visitors since opening to the public on Sept. 12, 2011.

“Thanks for checking in about the project and for your continued interest and support.”

POWERFUL MEMORIES AND IMPORTANT LESSONS DESERVE BETTER

As the museum tour ends, I am emotionally spent as I make my way past the construction workers back to the ramps. When I get back up to street level, the dust blows in my face, and I literally feel the remains of the innocent people who were pulverized here, their bodies never found. I sense their spirit in the air, and I break down and burst into tears.

When I speak about 9/11 I always mention the 1993 bombing in the same sentence. I maintain there would be no 9/11 had we learned the lesson and understood the terrorist message from that dark snowy day 19 years ago.

I pray this museum opens someday soon so people from all over the world can come here to pay their respects to innocent Americans and learn an invaluable double history lesson.

Top FIVE takeaways from Trump's LEGENDARY Joe Rogan podcast

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President Donald Trump sat down for a three-hour podcast with famous podcaster Joe Rogan for what was likely the longest interview of a presidential nominee in American political history.

The interview, which first aired Friday, October 25th, has amassed over 38 million views at the time of writing, making it one of the top-performing podcasts Rogan has ever done. Naturally, the mainstream media tried desperately to spin this interview against Trump by "fact-checking" claims he made about the 2020 election, cherry-picking individual sentences from the three-hour-long interview just to repeat them out of context. They've even gone so far as to tell people not to watch the podcast.

This is all just a coping strategy, as anyone who has seen the interview would tell you, Trump absolutely crushed it! He was sharp, witty, funny, intelligent, strong, positive, and perhaps most importantly, he had actual policy solutions to America's problems. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, here are the top five takeaways from the must-watch podcast:

Tariffs and Federal Income Tax

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Trump repeated a statement he had made at a rally earlier in the week, suggesting that he's considering repealing the Federal Income Tax. He suggested an alternate means of deriving income for our government tariffs. Trump praised the late 19th century, President William McKinley, for his use of tariffs to increase the wealth of the United States before income tax was introduced. Trump said that he wants to use tariffs to tax other countries for stealing American jobs, which would simultaneously protect American industry and lighten the burden of American taxpayers; two birds, one stone.

RFK Jr. and MAHA

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Joe Rogan discussed RFK Jr. and his mission to Make America Healthy Again. He mentioned a startling statistic he had heard from RFK Jr.: that over 70 percent of young American men are not physically fit enough to serve in the military. Trump corroborated this claim with a graph he had brought that revealed the U.S. spends significantly more than most other countries on health care per capita yet has significantly lower life expectancy. This discrepancy is perpetuated by Big Pharma, which profits off our illness. Trump even claimed that he was warned against partnering with RFK Jr. lest he would anger people within the industry. President Trump assured Rogan that he is completely committed to working with RFK Jr. to make America healthy again.

The JFK Files

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In an especially thrilling moment of the interview, Trump claimed to have read a portion of the JFK files and decided to re-seal it after seeing what he read and consulting with trusted advisors. He claimed that well-intentioned, good people asked him not to open the files just yet, and after reading about half the files, he understood why. While he was reluctant to go into more detail, he claimed that there were people who were involved with the JFK assassination and the following investigation who are still alive, and whose names and addresses were in the files. But according to Trump, enough time had passed, and he was adamant that he would unseal the JFK files soon after taking office.

The Biggest Mistake in His First Term

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President Trump discussed what he saw as the biggest mistake he made during his first term. He admited that he was still very new at politics when he was elected into the White House and relied on the advice of the swamp creatures he swore to destroy when building his cabinet. Trump admitted that he made several bad picks, which caused him problems throughout his first term, but he said he is determined to learn from his mistakes, and he's working on assembling a dream team for 2025.

Doubling Down on 2020 Election Fraud

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Despite efforts by the mainstream media to "debunk" election fraud claims, Trump continued to assert that there was interference in the 2020 election. Trump pointed out the Hunter Biden laptop story, which was actively suppressed and denied by the media leading up to the election, despite being true. On top of this, Trump and Rogan discussed the opportunity for cheating and interference offered by Covid with the vast increase in the use of mail-in ballots. Considering how small of a margin Biden won by, Trump argued that between Covid and the fake news media, the notion that the scales were tipped in Biden's favor is not that far-fetched.

Kamala Harris dropped the ball at CNN's town hall

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Vice President Kamala Harris held a town hall on CNN Wednesday night, asking voters questions about the swing state of Pennslyvania. It was a train wreck.

Harris could not give a single straight answer to any question, and would instead lapse into long, word-salad answers. At times even Anderson Cooper, who was hosting the event, seemed fed up with her answers and tried to steer her back on track. There were even a few times that felt like Cooper was practically spoon-feeding the answer to Harris, who still managed to drop the ball.

This town hall was a flop at a time when the polls revealed Harris really couldn't afford it.

She talked more about Trump than herself.

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Throughout her campaign and the CNN town hall, Harris repeatedly promised that her administration would break away from the "hate" and "divisiveness" that supposedly characterize President Trump and his campaign. But despite these promises, it seemed like Harris's answer to every question was to bash Trump. From questions about how she would support or not support Israel to questions about potential Supreme Court reforms, the answer was the same: Orange Man Bad.

Even the CNN after-show panel complained that she spent far too much time talking about Trump. Her performance lacked substance and proved that her campaign isnot about anything she has to offer the American people, it's solely about hating Donald Trump.

She missed the opportunity to further define herself.

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Contributor | Getty Images

Harris spent so much time Trump-bashing that she never got into any detail about her policies. This was an event designed to give her the chance to lay out her platform and define who she is as a candidate and she utterly failed to do so. As mentioned before, all she really spoke about was Trump, a candidate who almost every voter is highly familiar with. This was a critical failure on Harris's part, she missed possibly one of, if not the last chance to make an impression on voters before the election and according to recent polls, this was a chance she could not afford to miss.

She gave several radical and dangerous remarks.

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Contributor | Getty Images

The few times Harris managed to reveal some of her policy ideas it became clear why she was being so coy: they are blatantly dangerous. In between her anti-Trump tirades where she makes Trump out to be the biggest threat to the Constitution the country has ever seen, Harris let slip that she is open to Supreme Court reforms, including adding more Justices to the bench. This is known as court-packing and is most certainly unconstitutional, as well as one of the hallmarks of an authoritarian takeover, as Glenn has pointed out.

Harris also spent the first several minutes of the event making dangerous accusations against Trump, calling him a fascist and comparing him to Adolf Hitler. She would echo this sentiment the following day in a surprise address. Glenn explained on his radio show just how dangerous and inciteful this kind of language is and the kind of damage it can do. This looks like a desperate, last-ditch attempt to sway people away from Trump during this critical time of the election cycle.

Meet Trump's dream team who will make America healthy again

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Americans are sick of being sick. In a recent TV special, Glenn revealed one in three Americans suffer from a chronic disease, and it's only getting worse.

But there is hope! President Trump has taken notice of our dysfunctional and corrupt system and has assembled a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) dream team who plan on making big changes once Trump gets back into office. This team plans on fighting back against federal regulatory agencies such as the FDA, which are bought out by Big Pharma and Big Food and allow toxic ingredients that most other countries have banned into our food.

So who is this dream team? Below, we've compiled a list of the most prominent figures who are working with Trump to make America healthy again:

RFK Jr.

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Former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the declining health of Americans a focal point in his campaign. After dropping out of the race, he combined forces with President Trump, promising to assist Trump in reinventing federal health agencies, such as the FDA and CDC, to purge them of corruption, and to reduce the dominance of ultra-processed foods full of toxic additives. RFK Jr. has adopted the slogan Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) in reference to Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) slogan.

Casey and Calley Means

Over this last month, Dr. Casey Means and her entrepreneur brother Calley have taken the Conservative sphere by storm after testifying in front of the U.S. Senate. The siblings have been making the circuit, speaking alongside Jorden Peterson, appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast, getting a shoutout by RFK Jr., and even joining Glenn on his most recent TV special. Casey and Calley are trying to expose the corruption in the upper levels of industry and federal agencies and fight back against what Dr. Casey describes as a "genocidal health collapse."

Dr. Robert Redfield

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Former CDC Director Dr. Redfield has recently rejoined Trump's Make America Healthy Again team. His experience as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control means he is familiar with the corruption that rots our federal agencies and has good reason to believe that the Trump administration can turn things around. Dr. Redfield has shown concern for the alarming rate of chronic disease that plagues Americans. He expressed special concern for children, given that over 40 percentof American children suffer from at least one chronic condition.

Can fear win the vote? Democrats have a dangerous strategy to demonize Trump.

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The Democratic Party’s nominee is deliberately spreading false, fear-driven narratives to turn her base against Donald Trump, regardless of the consequences.

Have you noticed how Kamala Harris and her allies in the corporate left-wing media have become bolder in labeling Trump a “fascist”? A recent New York Times article revealed that Democrats have shed their reluctance to use the term. In fact, it has become their rallying cry as Election Day approaches.

What’s the real goal here? According to John Daniel Davidson at the Federalist, Harris and her supporters are using this rhetoric to energize their base — and more disturbingly, to prepare them for violence if Trump wins. The fearmongering isn’t just about driving people to the polls; it’s about creating an atmosphere of rage and chaos.

Let’s show the Democrats that our republic doesn’t bend to fear and certainly doesn’t bend to those who twist the truth for political gain.

Harris is deliberately spreading false, fear-driven narratives to turn her base against Trump, regardless of the consequences. This is the same Kamala Harris who, during the George Floyd riots in 2020, encouraged bailing out rioters and urged the violence to continue both before and after the election.

For example, Harris has claimed that Trump will use the Department of Justice as a weapon against his political enemies if he returns to office. But let’s pause for a second: Who is using the Justice Department as a political tool right now? Harris’ own administration, led by Joe Biden, has weaponized federal agencies against Trump and conservatives for years.

Harris also recently entertained the idea that Trump would round up people who “don’t look white” and throw them into camps. During an interview with Charlamagne tha God, a caller suggested this scenario. Instead of refuting the caller’s paranoia, Harris nodded and said, “You have hit on a really important point.

This kind of divisive rhetoric fuels fear and division in our country. Let’s not forget: Trump was president for four years, and there were no camps, roundups, or authoritarian crackdowns on dissenters. Leftists claim Trump and his supporters spread conspiracy theories, but they are the ones pushing baseless and dangerous claims.

While Democrats claim to defend democracy, they are increasingly aligning with authoritarianism. For example, the EPA funneled billions of dollars to left-wing organizations, including one tied to Stacey Abrams, for “voter mobilization” efforts. This funding came through the Inflation Reduction Act — a taxpayer-funded omnibus bill. Imagine the outrage if Republicans in Congress gave billions of taxpayer dollars to right-wing groups. The media would be in an uproar, and there would be protests at the White House gates. But because it’s Democrats doing it, the mainstream media turns a blind eye. These are the warning signs of an authoritarian regime.

This is why it’s more critical than ever for Americans to see through the left’s manipulation. Trump’s not the fascist here — he’s a threat to the left's power. The real danger lies in the left’s escalating rhetoric, which is designed to incite chaos if things don’t go its way. And let me be clear: That’s exactly what leftists are preparing for.

Don’t let them succeed.

The best way to counter their lies is by getting out to vote and encouraging others to do the same. If every single one of us does this, we won’t let the fearmongering and lies being peddled by Harris and the Democrats succeed. Let’s show them that our republic doesn’t bend to fear and certainly doesn’t bend to those who twist the truth for political gain.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.