CNN Commentator: We Have The Wrong Leadership To Renew 9/11's Unity

Noel King CNN This Morning 9-11-26

On the 25th anniversary of September 11, CNN This Morning opened on the reflecting pools at Ground Zero. Audie Cornish recited the pledge to never forget the 2,977 dead, the firefighters who ran into the inferno, the innocent people on the hijacked planes. 

She then played the famous clip of George W. Bush on the rubble, bullhorn in hand, arm around a firefighter. 

“I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” 

Cornish then asked her Group Chat members:  “Now, [a] quarter of a century later, in a country that feels divided, can today's America ever get back to that sense of unity?” 

Cornish might have offered the first response to Terry Schilling, President of the American Principles Project and a member of the board of directors of the Media Research Center, our parent organization. 

Instead, Cornish chose Noel King, who, like Cornish, is a former NPR host. Her Today Explained podcast for Vox.com airs on hundreds of NPR stations. Audie knew what to expect from King, and she delivered:

KING: Well, I don't think we're gonna get back to unity anytime soon. I think we have not got the right leadership in this country for unity at this moment. In all honesty, like, I look at what our leaders are saying and it's divisive statement after divisive statement after divisive- of statement. What's interesting is, you know, I think you talk to ordinary Americans and you hear something different. I think a lot of Americans are tired of divisiveness, but at this point, 9/11 is just one of those moments in American history that people are using to wrench the divide even further.

King didn't name President Trump, but her implication was clear. During King's comments, Cornish injected a "yeah" and a "right," signaling her acquiescence. 

 

It's no secret that Donald Trump is not a great uniter. But the other side -- including CNN and its pundits -- has endlessly branded him a fascist, compared him to Hitler, and sold him as an existential threat to democracy. Liberals don't get to run that line for a decade and then, on September 11, announce that “we have not got the right leadership for unity” and that the attacks themselves are being used to “wrench the divide.” 

Used by whom? A morning show that cannot let the anniversary pass without turning Bush on the rubble into a shot at the incumbent? 

King’s “ordinary Americans” may well be tired of divisiveness. They might also be tired of a press that makes “fascist” and “Hitler” its go-to epithets for the president. CNN's first answer to whether America can return to the 9/11 spirit of unity was a "no."

For a large part of the answer, the liberal media and liberals at large need to look in the mirror. 

Note: When Terry Schilling was given a chance to respond, he recommended focusing on the heroes of that day. In addition to the brave responders who ran into the buildings, Schilling cited Father Mychal Judge, who had run to the towers and offered prayers and last rites to the dead and wounded. Father Mychal was killed by flying debris when the South Tower collapsed. Terry concluded by saying the focus should be on "the people that actually practiced love, which is self-sacrifice and suffering for the benefit of other people, like Father Mychal Judge."

Here's the transcript. 

CNN This Morning 
9/11/26 
6:00 am EDT 

AUDIE CORNISH: It is six AM on Friday, September 11th. This is a live look at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, a reflecting pool where one of the Twin Towers once stood. 

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and this is where we begin. Twenty five years ago, the nation made a pledge to never forget. To never forget the two thousand nine hundred seventy seven victims who died that day. To never forget the brave firefighters and first responders who ran into the inferno of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And to never forget the innocent passengers and crew on the planes that were hijacked. 

In the grip of sadness and anger, a country vowing to stand united in the wake of this unforgettable terror. 

GEORGE W. BUSH: [Standing on the rubble, his arm around a firefighter] This nation stands with the good people of New York City, and New Jersey, and Connecticut, as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens. 

RESCUE WORKER: I can't hear you! 

BUSH: I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people [cheers] -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! 

CORNISH: Now, [a] quarter of a century later, in a country that feels divided, can today's America ever get back to that sense of unity? Today, in the group chat, Noel King, co-host and editorial director of the Today Explained podcast, Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, and Lulu Garcia-Navarro, CNN contributor and journalist and host of the New York Times podcast, The Interview. Thank you guys all for being here on this day. 

There has been, even going into this week, division about who should be at the commemoration and what that says about where we are in this country. How are you thinking about, kind of, this response on this day? 

NOEL KING: Well [sighs], I don't think we're gonna get back to unity anytime soon. I think we have not got the right leadership in this country for unity at this moment. In all honesty, like, I look at what our leaders are saying, and it's divisive statement after divisive statement after divisive statement. 

What's interesting is, you know, I think you talk to ordinary Americans and you hear something different. I think a lot of Americans are tired of divisiveness. But at this point, 9/11 is just one of those moments -- 

CORNISH: Yeah. 

KING: -- in American history that people are using to wrench the divide even further. 

CORNISH: Right. Which at the time, it was so cataclysmic, it, it had a very jolting effect on people.