ABC News Presents "9/11 Twenty Years Later: America Remembers" Full Week of Coverage For 20th Anniversary of Terrorist Attacks

ABC News Presents 9/11 Twenty Years Later: America Remembers with a week of coverage consisting of three primetime specials, a five-part docuseries, live coverage of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and a dedicated full 24 hours to 9/11 programming on ABC News Live.

What’s Happening:

ABC News announced today 9/11 Twenty Years Later: America Remembers, a special week of coverage across the network and streaming news channel ABC News Live to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including four reflective primetime specials and a five-part documentary series.
On Saturday, Sept. 11, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary, a special edition of Good Morning America Saturday will air at 7:00 a.m. EDT and lead into ABC News’ special live coverage 9/11 Twenty Years Later: America Remembers beginning at 8:00 a.m EDT. Anchor David Muir will lead the special live coverage alongside Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer from ABC News headquarters in New York and ABC News’ powerhouse team of anchors and correspondents across downtown Manhattan, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, including:
Throughout the week, primetime specials can be seen on ABC along with special programming on ABC News Live. All of the programming can be viewed next day on demand and on Hulu, and throughout the day on Saturday, Sept. 11, on ABC News Live.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos kicks off the commemorative week on Sunday, Sept. 5, with an in-depth look at the fallout from America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan with insight from Raddatz and her two decades of on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan.
Anchored by Davis, the hour-long special 9/11 Twenty Years Later: Women of Resilience, streaming Monday, Sept. 6 (7:30-8:30 p.m. EDT), on ABC News Live, features the dramatic stories of four inspiring women who survived trauma and loss on 9/11 to find purpose and peace after two decades. One is the first-ever female FDNY firefighter who, along with her fellow first responders, rushed to ground zero on 9/11. Another is a heroic Army colonel at the Pentagon who narrowly escaped death and saved several lives while jumping from the burning inferno. A mother and a widow share their stories of loss and redemption, ensuring their lost loved ones will never be forgotten.
Narrated by Stephanopoulos, five-part documentary series 9/11 + 20: The Longest Shadow, streaming on five consecutive nights beginning Monday, Sept. 6 (8:30-9:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC News Live, examines a nation and world completely changed by the terrifying moments when al-Qaeda operatives used U.S. jetliners to attack America on Sept. 11, 2001. Returning to the morning of Sept. 11, the series explores what America is and has become in the aftermath of one of the most traumatic events in history. From families still searching for answers, their responses and the failures that allowed terrorists to turn planes into missiles to the fear over an anticipated “second wave” of attacks and a seemingly endless war on terror, each episode navigates viewers through the past twenty years to today. The series, produced by ABC News’ Investigative Unit, will be rebroadcast on ABC News Live in full following the commemoration ceremonies on the anniversary, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.
For the first time, after two decades, the women whose lives changed forever on Sept. 11 tell their stories of survival, pain and redemption in a landmark two-hour documentary special, Women of 9/11: A Special Edition of 20/20 with Robin Roberts, hosted and executive produced by Roberts, airing Wednesday, Sept. 8 (9:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. From the heroic female first responders and workers who risked everything in dangerous jobs at ground zero to the miracle survivors, including Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the last person pulled out alive from the World Trade Center rubble after 27 hours, and the women who suffered heartbreaking loss; all of them bonded in trauma, grief, and after two decades, remarkable strength and resilience. The Women of 9/11 is produced for ABC News by Rock’n Robin Productions in collaboration with Plimsoll Productions.
20/20 will present two specials on Friday, Sept. 10:
- Two decades after 9/11, anchor David Muir reports on how the day’s tragic events forever changed the world. In the one-hour special event, Muir interviews survivors and family members who lost loved ones in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93 in Shanksville. The survivors share their harrowing personal stories of rescue and escape, including Florence Jones, who Muir has followed for years. Muir also spends time with families who lost loved ones, including the family of Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett who, along with other passengers, helped stop an additional attack on our nation’s capital. 20/20 will also revisit Joseph Pfeifer, the New York City Fire Department chief, who Muir has profiled, who led the command post at the north tower following the initial attack – and firefighters who survived the north tower collapse. Muir’s interviews include personal and moving messages to the American people from survivors and relatives of some of the victims on what they’re hoping Americans will do to honor those who were lost — 20 years later. The special edition of 20/20 airs Friday, Sept.10 (9:01-10:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.
- Twenty years ago, in the wake of Sept. 11, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer sat down with young women holding their infants who were pregnant when their husbands died in the attacks. The mothers she met were fresh in grief, holding new babies who often looked like their dads. Over the years, Sawyer and her team followed these families as they look at the world through their unique lens, with their children’s lives in part shaped before they were even born. Now, as those children approach their 20th birthdays, a special edition of 20/20 brings nearly 40 families together again. Has grief given them new purpose? Are some following in their fathers’ footsteps? A master class in resilience and hope comes from a group forever bonded by a national tragedy. With lessons to teach us after a year of national trauma, they hand us a blueprint for survival. The special edition of 20/20 airs Friday, Sept. 10 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.
In the week leading up to Sept. 11, World News Tonight with David Muir will feature anchor David Muir’s interviews with the survivors and heroes he’s been following for more than a decade. They open up to Muir about the tragic day, the loved ones they lost, the people they met during the horror and their messages to their fellow Americans on why it’s so important to reflect and remember 20 years later. On Friday, Sept. 10, Muir will anchor “World News Tonight” from ground zero.
GMA3: What You Need to Know will feature a wide range of stories and topics, including a panel discussion on Islamophobia and two strangers who met trying to escape the towers and became friends for life. The program will feature interviews with retired FDNY Chief Joe Pfeifer, the first firefighter on the scene at the World Trade Center on 9/11, legacy female firefighter Kelly Fullam, whose father was also a FDNY firefighter who died from 9/11-related illness, and the family of fallen FDNY firefighter Lt. Kevin Dowdell. Ending the week, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes will anchor from ground zero on Sept. 10 with John Feal, president and chairman of the FealGood Foundation, 15 active and retired firefighters who rode for 40 days across the country with the goal of raising money in honor of the anniversary, and former FDNY chaplain Rev. Chris Keenan will join for “Faith Friday'' to discuss his experience and deliver a word of faith in honor of the anniversary.
On Friday, Sept. 10, The View revisits the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, as the co-hosts prepared for the live broadcast. They will reflect on the tragic events of the day, including what it was like at the New York City studio as the news unfolded and the important conversations that took place at the table once they returned following the terrorist attack.
In addition to the five-part docuseries narrated by Stephanopoulos, ABC News Live will provide coverage throughout each day in the week leading up to the anniversary. During the day, ABC News Live will carry live streams of 9/11 related events and feature new interviews and roundtable discussions on topics such as how New York City recovered from 9/11 and how that has helped the city recover from a pandemic, and how first responders have dealt with health issues for years. On Friday, Sept. 10 (3:00-3:30 p.m. EDT), The Breakdown will be anchored by Diane Macedo live from lower Manhattan.
ABC News Live Prime (7:00-8:30 p.m. EDT) will feature a conversation and tell the story of Heather Penney, a female F-16 fighter pilot who was supposed to go on a kamikaze mission and shoot down Flight 93 but didn’t get there in time, and examine the current iteration of the Taliban and look at why the Taliban is still a threat 20 years after 9/11. Plus, ABC News reporters who covered the tragedy 20 years ago will reflect on their experiences at the time of the attacks, including former ABC News White House correspondent Ann Compton who was traveling with former President George W. Bush that day. ABC News Live Prime will also feature a report by senior Washington reporter Devin Dwyer on Islamophobia and how Muslims feel 20 years later. On the eve of the anniversary, ABC News Live Prime will be anchored by Davis from near the site of the attacks on the twin towers and take a look at the children of 9/11 firefighters who became firefighters themselves.
ABC News Digital will have wide-ranging coverage on ABCNews.com and its apps leading up to the anniversary, including an overview of the 20 years since 9/11, how Islamophobia has evolved in the U.S. since 9/11, what progress has been made with the Victims Compensation Fund and 9/11 victims, coverage of the memorial events held around the country on the day of the anniversary and more. Additionally, two 9/11 related episodes of digital video series VOICES will be released, looking at the 20th anniversary and the “War on Terror.” There will also be a special 9/11-focused episode of On Location and video highlights on the day of the anniversary.
ABC News Radio will provide an hour-long special anchored by correspondent Aaron Katersky, which will be available mid-week for affiliates to air on-demand. The special will also be available later as an episode of the ABC News Radio Specials podcast, available on major listening platforms. On Saturday, Sept. 11, ABC News Radio will provide live-anchored coverage of the annual commemoration ceremony.
ABC News’ flagship daily podcast Start Here, hosted by Brad Mielke, will feature special coverage in the days leading up to the anniversary.
ABC NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, will be providing a series of reports in the week leading up to the anniversary, looking at how 9/11 changed America. NewsOne will also be providing live coverage from lower Manhattan with multiplatform reporters Ike Ejiochi and Reena Roy on the day before and the day of the anniversary. NewsOne provides news content and services for more than 200 ABC affiliates and international news partners