GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Amna Nawaz is on assignment.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The Republican Midterm Convention enters its final night after an opening day that included a claim of cash payouts for votes.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.

GEOFF BENNETT: One year after the murder of Charlie Kirk, his organization, Turning Point USA, still wrestles with who will take up his mantle.

The Iran-backed Houthis capture a Red Sea port, upending oil markets and threatening to push Yemen back into an all-out civil war.

And we speak with a man who was in the Pentagon when it was struck on 9/11 about his miraculous survival that day.

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

), U.S.

Navy: I like to say that 9/11 is forever burned in the memory of our nation, or at least I hope it is and will be.

It's also quite literally burned into me.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Republicans are back in Dallas tonight as they wrap up their unprecedented midterm convention.

Night one brought a claim from President Trump of $5,000 payments if Republicans keep control of Congress, while Democratic Senator John Fetterman made a surprise appearance by video.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, has more.

LIZ LANDERS: During a nearly two-hour speech at the Republican Midterm Convention, President Donald Trump made a pledge to every American.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: And here is my promise.

If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic, tremendous economic success -- in history, we have never had anything like what's happening.

I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: It's a promise that could cost more than $1 trillion and had some Republicans questioning the price tag.

Texas Congressman Chip Roy writing on X that -- quote -- "Dependency is evil and soul-sucking in all its forms."

RICK HASEN, UCLA School of Law: He doesn't have the power to do this on his own.

You have to get Congress to do it.

LIZ LANDERS: The potential payout raised questions from some about whether the president was trying to buy votes.

but, says election law expert Rick Hasen, it's likely legal.

RICK HASEN: I think if a state actually tried to prosecute Trump, which seems very unlikely, that the courts would say that his activity is protected by the First Amendment because it's a campaign promise.

It's really not that much different from saying, if you vote for me, I will pass Medicare for all.

If you vote for me, I will cut your taxes by 20 percent.

Politicians make these kinds of things all the time.

So long as they're public and they're given to every voter, it's just part of campaign rhetoric.

LIZ LANDERS: The president defended his plan in an interview on FOX News today.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX News Anchor: Why not just give the money now?

If you have the money, why not give it now?

DONALD TRUMP: Because they can't -- I'll tell you what, because the Democrats can't do it.

Because, with them, it's negative growth.

With us, it's so positive.

So we're taking in $21 trillion.

Nobody, no country's ever taken in anywhere near that.

It's four or five times higher than the next guy, all because of that beautiful word that you and I love more than most others, tariffs.

LIZ LANDERS: When asked by PBS News for details on the dividend payment and cost, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in part -- quote -- "President Trump has consistently proven his doubters wrong, drawing a clear contrast with the Democrats' record of historic inflation, unfettered illegal immigration, skyrocketing crime and weakness on the world stage."

It's not the first time the president has pledged Americans money.

In 2020, the federal government sent stimulus checks emblazoned with Trump's name to certain Americans to offset the COVID economic crash.

But he has floated the idea of DOGE stimulus checks and tariff rebates for consumers, neither of which materialized.

The president revisited familiar themes and touted what he sees as the Republicans' biggest accomplishment so far, passing a sweeping tax cuts bill and securing the southern border.

He also repeated this falsehood: DONALD TRUMP: We won the presidency three times.

LIZ LANDERS: Trump lost the 2020 election by more than seven million votes.

ANNOUNCER: UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.

LIZ LANDERS: More than 50 speakers on the day's main stage included some unusual appearances.

Attorney General Todd Blanche broke with modern DOJ tradition, the first A.G.

to address a political convention in more than 60 years.

TODD BLANCHE, U.S.

Attorney General: To evil men and women in this country, know this.

President Trump will hold you accountable.

(CHEERING) TODD BLANCHE: If you traffic children, you will be held accountable.

If you sell death in a pill, you will be held accountable.

If you choose violence, you will be held accountable.

And if you steal from people who work hard and pay taxes, you will be held accountable.

(CHEERING) TODD BLANCHE: Now, that, that is making America safe again.

LIZ LANDERS: And Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman crossed party lines, making a surprise video appearance to introduce his Senate colleague.

SEN.

JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Why am I here talking to you today?

Because, well, I'm a commonsense Democrat.

I'm always going to stand with America.

I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.

We will work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley.

LIZ LANDERS: Other Democrats descended on Dallas to counterprogram the convention with their own vision.

President Trump commented yesterday that this arena was sold out and remarked at least a half-dozen times while he was speaking that this room was packed.

And while the convention floor and this lower deck here near where we are standing was certainly full during his speech, the upper decks definitely had empty seats.

Geoff, this arena holds 21,000 people.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, Liz, based on your reporting, what can we expect to hear from the speakers tonight?

LIZ LANDERS: I think we should expect to hear a continuation of a lot of the same themes that we heard last night and touting President Trump's accomplishments.

We know that Speaker Mike Johnson is going to be speaking tonight, delivering what he calls a contrast for America, contrasting Republican tax cuts with what they say the ruin is that Democrats would bring if they did in fact retake the House.

We're also expected to hear from a number of people in President Trump's inner circle, including his son Don Jr., his former White House Press Secretary and now outside adviser Karoline Leavitt, also Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Today also marks the one-year anniversary of the killing, the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

And we are certainly expecting to hear about him and his legacy on the conservative movement, in particular young conservatives here today.

J.D.

Vance, the vice president, will also deliver the keynote address.

He was close with Charlie Kirk, so I think we should expect to hear from the vice president about him as well.

President Trump is going to deliver a speech tonight, but we are not expecting it to be nearly as long as the almost two-hour address he gave last night, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Liz Landers in Dallas for us tonight.

Liz, our thanks to you.

GEOFF BENNETT: As Liz mentioned, one figure whose influence is still deeply felt at the Republican gathering is Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA.

His killing one year ago reshaped the young conservative movement he built and left his friends and political allies with the task of carrying it forward.

Today, Vice President J.D.

Vance appeared on Kirk's former podcast to reflect on the future of the movement.

J.D.

VANCE, Vice President of the United States: This was a guy who just had so much life to live, who had so many people who loved him, and so many people who relied upon him, who depended upon him.

All of us, I think, have this hole that we're all trying to fill or all trying to at least find some way of making sure that we carry on in Charlie's absence.

GEOFF BENNETT: For more on the future of Turning Point USA, we're joined now by Robert Draper, a "New York Times Magazine" reporter who profiled Kirk before his death.

He continues to cover the young conservative movement and the fight over its future.

Thank you for being here.

ROBERT DRAPER, "New York Times Magazine": My pleasure.

GEOFF BENNETT: When you look at the conservative youth movement that Charlie Kirk built, what has changed the most in his absence and who, if anyone, is stepping in to fill that leadership vacuum?

ROBERT DRAPER: Sure.

I mean, I on a certain level, Turning Point USA is still the predominant youth organization, conservative or otherwise.

I mean, it in fact added numerous chapters after Kirk was assassinated.

A lot of young conservative kids on campus really felt inspired by Kirk and wanted to properly pay tribute to him by starting chapters of their own.

And they continue to raise a lot of money to host events.

But certain things certainly have changed.

I mean, no one, including his widow, Erika Kirk, can sort of really fill the shoes that Charlie Kirk walked in.

I mean, he was a generational talent.

I mean, that's -- it becomes trite to say that, but in his case it's really true, not just because of his fluency as a conservative messenger, but also his deftness in being able to hold a very fragile coalition together and to help get out the vote, to raise money.

And he was a very trusted adviser to President Donald Trump.

So it's -- so replacing all that with just one person is a pretty impossible task.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, as you say, Turning Point USA has exploded in size.

What exactly has it grown into?

ROBERT DRAPER: Yes.

I mean, it's still -- it's - - well, they're doing a couple of things.

So, first, they're growing more and more college campus chapters, but something Erika Kirk had told me she wanted to focus on, and which they're doing, is adding more and more high school chapters.

So they're trying to get kids at an earlier age and sort of acculturate them to conservative values.

And that largely explains the proliferation of the chapters.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you have reported on how openly racist and antisemitic elements of the far right have gained traction among some young conservatives... ROBERT DRAPER: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... especially young men who are drawn to figures like Nick Fuentes.

How much have those views seeped into Turning Point and how is Turning Point, if at all, addressing it?

ROBERT DRAPER: They haven't seeped into Turning Point.

I think that is a battle that they have been fighting, not internally, but rather sort of waging a kind of conservative civil war over the hearts and minds of disaffected young males.

And there are some people who are Groyper-curious - - that's the name of Fuentes' movement -- who show up to Turning Point USA events.

But, by and large, they have been very clear, Turning Point has, that -- and Charlie Kirk used to talk to me about this -- that we utterly reject Fuentes' virulent racist form of white nationalism, and so, kids who are interested in that, look elsewhere.

GEOFF BENNETT: There's another tension here.

Turning Point is growing, while some young voters who backed President Trump are growing disillusioned over affordability, the war in Iran, the Epstein files.

Are you seeing that frustration manifest in the campus movement?

ROBERT DRAPER: Yes.

Yes, I mean, now you're really putting a finger on, I think, the true war that's being waged here.

It's not so much against one conservative flank versus another, another organization.

It's instead that President Trump's policies have become very unpopular among young Americans.

He has really -- the youth coalition that contributed to the larger MAGA coalition has really fallen off.

I mean, just as Trump has lost a lot of Latino and Black voters who voted for him, that's even more so the case with young voters.

And so it's very, very hard.

And I think the Iran war in particular has made it difficult for conservative groups like Turning Point to come to young people and say this is your kind of place after President Trump had talked so much about no more forever wars.

GEOFF BENNETT: Are we seeing or is it too early to say that we're seeing competing movements with very different ideas about what conservatism should be?

ROBERT DRAPER: It's a bit early.

We certainly are seeing that sort of above in the ecosystem, in the influencer ecosystem, whether it's Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both former Trump loyalists who have fallen out of favor with him, or other individuals, that has not yet seeped into the sort of young conservative movement.

But there's no question that the conservative movement writ large is fracturing.

I mean, it's -- and Charlie Kirk was someone who I would argue actually died trying to hold it together.

It was already starting to fall apart while he was there.

It still may be enough, by the way, to help them in the midterms and in 2028.

But that movement has really begun to be in tatters, and we will eventually see that in the youth groups as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: Robert Draper, thank you for joining us this evening.

Good to speak with you.

ROBERT DRAPER: My pleasure.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we start today's other headlines with a pair of legal losses for President Trump's efforts to shape the midterm elections.

The U.S.

Supreme Court once again rejected a Republican push for a new map in Missouri that could have helped Republicans pick up a seat.

The illegal back-and-forth has led to weeks of confusion for Missouri voters.

Separately, an appeals court upheld a block on President Trump's order to limit mail-in voting, while the Supreme Court considers the same issue.

The first mail ballots are already going out in Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

Climate scientists say August was the hottest month ever recorded globally.

Temperatures averaged about 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly three degrees above preindustrial levels.

The European climate service Copernicus points to human-caused climate change and a strong El Nino, warning the impacts will only get worse.

SAMANTHA BURGESS, Copernicus Climate Change Service: The reality is, we will get more of these conditions that we have seen this summer.

Every fraction of a degree of warming increases the likelihood of extremes becoming more intense, more frequent, and longer-lasting.

GEOFF BENNETT: Separate data out this week shows the U.S.

just recorded its warmest summer on record, averaging 74.4 degrees across the Lower 48, about three degrees above normal.

In New York City, thousands of drones recreated the Twin Towers as the city prepares to mark 25 years since the September 11 attacks.

The aerial art show featured 2,977 drones, one for each person killed, which formed the outlines of the towers at their full height.

According to organizers, the project was developed with input from victims' families, survivors, and first responders.

It was designed to give the public a place to come together, remember those who were lost, and reflect on the tragedy.

On Wall Street today, stocks struggled again as oil prices hit their highest levels since May.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 300 points.

The Nasdaq slipped more than half-a-percent.

The S&P 500 also ended lower.

And two passings of notes, starting with Barry Melrose, the legendary hockey coach and longtime commentator of the sport.

BARRY MELROSE, Sports Commentator: Hi, I'm Barry Melrose, the hardest-working sports announcer in the world.

GEOFF BENNETT: Melrose became a familiar face to millions of ESPN viewers, known for his sharp hockey analysis, unmistakable style, and signature mullet.

Before that, he played six seasons as an NHL defenseman, before becoming head coach of the L.A.

Kings.

He brought them to the Stanley Cup final in his first season back in 1993.

Barry Melrose retired from broadcasting in 2023 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

He was 70 years old.

Also today, former colleagues and friends are mourning the passing of political journalist Roger Simon.

As Politico's chief political columnist, Simon was known for his fearless reporting, his insightful analysis, and his quick wit.

Before that, the Chicago native made his name as a columnist at The Sun-Times, where he developed what he described as a special connection with his readers.

ROGER SIMON, Chief Political Columnist, Politico: Even in these pre-Internet days, people really communicated with you.

They took the trouble to write letters and they would stop you on the street.

And there was no experience like being a big city columnist.

GEOFF BENNETT: His longtime friend and media colleague Dan Balz wrote about Simon's passing for The Washington Post today, calling him a craftsman of the first order.

Roger Simon was 78 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Red Sea shipping faces renewed pressure from an increase in fighting in the region, as the war with Iran rages on; and 25 years after September 11, we speak with the survivor of the Pentagon attack and to the former governor of New York.

Yemen appears to be sliding back toward all-out war after Houthi rebels backed by Iran seized the key port city of Mokha from allies of the internationally recognized government.

Mokha sits on the Bab al-Mandab, a critical shipping choke point and gateway to the Red Sea.

Nick Schifrin has more on the escalating conflict, which is pushing oil prices higher and raising fears of a wider regional war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Yemen today, a Houthi advance that once again threatens a global fault line.

Iran-backed Houthi fighters chanted death to the U.S.

and Israel as they walked into a government building today and released these videos of Central Mokha, seizing Western armored vehicles, releasing prisoners held by Yemeni government allies, and on a joyride on the Mokha Airport.

This is territory that's been contested for more than a decade.

For weeks, the fighting's been simmering.

Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters have tried to hold the line.

But they have been pushed back quickly, as the Houthis have captured a string of positions in Yemen leading to Mokha, which sits on Yemen's coast just a short distance from the Bab al-Mandab, the 20-mile-wide gateway to the Red Sea.

It was already one of the world's most important maritime choke points, more so since Iran has maintained its choke hold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Already, the Houthis had been threatening Saudi ships, and they attacked key Saudi energy and military facilities across the border.

Saudi officials say the Houthi attacks have destroyed civilian homes and wounded more than 70 people.

MOHAMED A-BUKHAI, Houthi Spokesperson (through translator): The fight for the west coast of Yemen had to be decisive.

We are very keen to face the enemy directly.

The next step would be to get into a dialogue that involved the political and leadership parties in Yemen.

NICK SCHIFRIN: I spoke remotely today to Houthi spokesman Mohamed A-Bukhai.

You're calling for dialogue, but are you planning to expand the military operation?

Will you try and seize more territory alongside the Bab al-Mandab?

And will you also try and seize Perim Island inside the Bab al-Mandab?

MOHAMED A-BUKHAI (through translator): We don't need to actually take control over Bab al-Mandab or the island.

Our missiles can reach any ships in the sea.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The Houthis and Saudis fought a nearly decade-long war that for the last four years has been in a tentative cease-fire.

The current tensions spiked in July when Saudi Arabia bombed a Houthi-controlled airport to prevent an aircraft landing that the Saudis say was carrying Iranian weapons.

There are reports that there are IRGC members in Yemen helping direct or assist in some of these attacks.

How much of this are you doing on behest of Iran?

MOHAMED A-BUKHAI (through translator): There are no Iranian forces in Yemen.

We actually depend on ourselves to manufacture all kinds of weapons, whether they are an AK rifle or a drone or even a hypersonic ballistic missile.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tonight, the U.N.

special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, warned, the new violence was dragging Yemen back into civil war and toward a regional conflict.

HANS GRUNDBERG, U.N.

Special Envoy for Yemen: This renewed war should alarm us all.

It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the U.N.-brokered truce.

It not only threatens to plunge Yemen into a prolonged and expanding war, but also risks yet again dragging the country into the wider and unresolved regional confrontation with global repercussions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, today, the Houthi advance pushed the price of Brent crude above $105 a barrel over concerns of disruption to global supply routes.

For perspective on the latest development in Yemen, we turn to Gregory Johnsen.

He is a longtime Yemen expert currently with the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C.

Gregory Johnsen, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

As I just mentioned, the Houthis have already been threatening Saudi ships going through the Bab al-Mandab.

You heard the Houthi spokesperson there saying that their missiles and drones can cover all of the territory in the Bab al-Mandab.

So how significant is it that they have now captured the port city of Mokha?

And I'm going to bring up the map here to understand its geography.

GREGORY JOHNSEN, Arab Gulf States Institute: Yes, thanks, Nick, and always a pleasure to join you.

It's an incredibly significant development in Yemen.

So the Houthis, as you can see there on the map, had territory on Yemen's western coast.

That was the north.But the Bab al-Mandab in the Red Sea sort of acts as a funnel, so it narrows down to about 19 miles across at its narrowest point.

That's a choke point for the Houthis.

So by moving south and taking Mokha, the Houthis are actually able to project a lot more power into the Red Sea.

So you have boats that are sort of congested there at the choke point.

This gives the Houthis more targets to aim at.

They say they're only going after Saudi oil tankers at the moment.

And it gives the ships less room to navigate.

It also allows the Houthis, at least on the defensive, to then spread their mobile missile launchers, some of the drone launchers that they have out across more territory, more geography, which makes hitting those, which was already a very difficult task, even more and more difficult, as we're seeing sort of on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula in the Strait of Hormuz.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And you just referred to more territory.

You heard the Houthis spokesperson claim that they don't want more territory.

But it does seem like that they're pushing not only into Mokha, but down along the coast and could threaten these islands that are in the Bab al-Mandab, right?

GREGORY JOHNSEN: Yes, absolutely.

I think that's what the Houthis are going to do.

I mean, for a long time, for the past several years, they have been trying to move east inland to get some of the oil and gas reserves that Yemen has, because the Houthis, while they control a lot of territory in Yemen, they don't actually have sort of the economic base to survive long term.

What's changed recently is the Houthis looking at what Iran has done in the Strait of Hormuz and saying to themselves, we can do something similar.

So, now instead of sort of pushing all their resources east toward Marib, where the Saudi air defenses and the Saudi air force was able to sort of push them back, now the Houthis are pushing their forces south along the coast to try to really take control of most of the Bab al-Mandab.

And the Yemeni national forces, the sort of anti-Houthi coalition, which was in Mokha, has withdrawn, but they have not withdrawn south.

They have withdrawn inland, which means that the Houthis can continue their advance, and there's really not that much to stop them, at least on the ground.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So let's talk about how capable or not the Yemeni government and its allies are to be able to stop the Houthis.

A senior U.S.

government official pointed out to me today that the U.S.

had assumed that the particular militia guarding Mokha was actually one of the more capable allies of the Yemeni government.

So what does it say that that militia wasn't able to defend Mokha?

GREGORY JOHNSEN: Yes, there's a long backstory here, Nick.

So, the guy who is in charge of that force in Mokha is a guy by the name of Tareq Saleh.

That name may sound familiar to some of your viewers because his uncle was the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

For the first few years of this war, from about 2015 to 2017, Tareq Saleh actually fought with the Houthis.

It was only when the Houthis killed his uncle, the former president of Yemen, that he defected and joined this anti-Houthi coalition.

That's one piece.

The second piece is, that late last year, Saudi Arabia really pushed the United Arab Emirates out of Yemen.

And Saudi Arabia then basically tried to take all of the various militia groups that the UAE had been supporting in Yemen, one of which was Tareq Saleh's force, and bring them under the Saudi umbrella.

So, really, what's happening on the ground is that what we call the anti-Houthi coalition or these the Yemeni national forces or whatever term we want to apply to them, we think of them as one group.

They're not one group.

They're about eight to 10 different groups, all of which are riven with infighting and bickering.

They have diametrically opposed views about what -- the end state that they actually want to see in Yemen.

And so it's not at all surprising, at least to me, and I don't think it should be to the U.S.

official, that this group was driven out of Mokha.

They -- the Houthis are experts at exploiting some of these fissures and the fractures that exist within the anti-Houthi coalition.

They have been doing it for over a decade now, and now they're putting their forces south, and they were able obviously to take the port city.

And it looks like they're going to continue to advance farther south.

NICK SCHIFRIN: We heard the U.N.

today warn that Yemen is headed towards civil war.

At what point do the Saudis reenter this war?

At what point does this become yet again a regional conflict?

GREGORY JOHNSEN: Well, I think Yemen has been in a civil war for several years, and Saudi Arabia's been involved.

Saudi Arabia was bombing targets in Yemen in July and in August as well.

The real choice that Saudi Arabia faces right now -- and we're in September of 2026 -- it's the same -- it's the same choice that Saudi Arabia faced in March of 2015, when they initially made the decision to go into Yemen.

And that is, they want to defeat the Houthis.

They want to get the Houthis out of Yemen, or at least out of Sanaa, and put what passes for the internationally recognized government back in the capital.

What Saudi needs to do that, though, is actual troops on the ground, because the Yemeni forces, as we have seen overnight with their loss of Mokha, aren't capable of defeating the Houthis on their own.

Saudi airpower isn't capable of defeating the Houthis on their own.

So we need some foreign ground troops.

But Saudi Arabia doesn't want to put foreign ground troops into Yemen for any sort of a long, bloody conflict with no guarantee of success.

And so they rely on the next best option, which is basically bombing and hoping.

And that appears to be what it is that we're headed back to, where Saudi will carry out some airstrikes, the Houthis will absorb some airstrikes, they will still make some gains on the ground, and the problem itself won't be solved.

So, essentially, we're in a situation where the Saudis know what it is that they want.

They know the objective, getting the Houthis out, but they are not willing to pay the price that it would actually cost to bring about that objective.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Gregory Johnsen, thank you very much.

GREGORY JOHNSEN: Thanks so much.

GEOFF BENNETT: Now two reflections on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, starting with the story of one survivor.

Twenty-five years ago, Navy Lieutenant Kevin Shaeffer was one of the few people to survive the attack in the Navy Command Center of the Pentagon.

Shaeffer and his colleagues were watching the attacks on the World Trade Center on television when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building, engulfing their section in a fireball.

The attack on the Pentagon killed 184 people, 59 aboard the airplane, and 125 inside the building.

Badly burned and struggling to breathe, Shaeffer crawled through the smoke and debris and began heading toward this hole blown out in the outer rings of the building.

That's when Army Sergeant 1st Class Steve Workman heard his calls for help, placed him on top of a maintenance cart, and wheeled him to one of the first ambulances to arrive.

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

), U.S.

Navy: It was quite -- quite terrifying.

It was black.

I was knocked down.

Knew I was on fire.

GEOFF BENNETT: What followed was a grueling recovery, one the "News Hour" chronicled at the time.

Shaeffer was rushed to the Walter Reed Medical Center initially and then treated for months in the burn unit at the Washington Hospital Center.

Shaeffer suffered second- and third-degree burns over nearly 50 percent of his body, along with severe lung damage from smoke and jet fuel.

He spent months in the hospital, much of that time on a ventilator, underwent nearly 20 operations and skin grafts, and twice came close to dying when his heart stopped.

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): I think I kind of knew that it wasn't my time, and I had to keep moving, and I had to find a way out.

GEOFF BENNETT: After he gained strength and mobility, Shaeffer returned to public service.

He was awarded the Purple Heart and became a staff member of the 9/11 Commission, helping investigate the attacks that nearly killed him.

Then, in 2007, Shaeffer joined the CIA, eventually becoming part of the team hunting the man who orchestrated the attacks, Osama bin Laden.

In the years since he retired, Shaeffer has become a motivational speaker, reminding Americans about the meaning and importance of September 11.

And Kevin Shaeffer joins us now.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): Thank you.

It's a pleasure and honor to be here.

GEOFF BENNETT: Twenty-five years later, does September 11 feel differently to you now?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): It does.

There's so much ground that's been covered since 9/11.

In many ways, it's visceral, the memories of that day, what I personally went through, what we went through as a nation, but also all of the reflections and memories of what we have been through since.

So, in that way, it's distinctly different.

And I think, on the 25th year mark, it's time to reflect and look back over those years with a special eye.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you have said that you don't want people to forget what happened on that day.

With every milestone anniversary, it means there are more Americans who weren't even alive on September 11.

What do you want the younger generation to know about that day and all that came after?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): Well, I personally often speak of never forgetting, and that's the mantra of our 9/11 generation is never forget.

Never forget what happened to us that day, and keeping the honor and memories of those lost in our forefront, and also remembering the loved ones who they left behind.

It's very hard to say never forget to a generation that wasn't born on 9/11 or was too young to ever remember it in the first place.

So we face those challenges.

And I think, thankfully, this year, I'm feeling a very tangible sense that many across the nation are making it a mission to make sure that we in the future take that as a serious challenge and want to overcome, that we never forget 9/11 and learn the lessons from it, but also really deeply share the meaning of it for future generations.

GEOFF BENNETT: If I may ask, what do you remember in the first moments after Flight 77 hit the Pentagon?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): My immediate reaction was, I knew it was a coordinated attack.

My command center, the Navy Command Center in the Pentagon, had been closely watching, like millions of Americans and millions around the world, the tragedies unfolding in New York.

We were watching on TV in the Navy Command Center.

And so we, watching those horrors unfold, knew that it was a terrorist attack, like everyone did, but never suspected that the Pentagon fortress would be at risk.

In the moment of impact, I was amazingly able to stay conscious, even though I was critically burned.

And - - but, in that moment, I thought, this is a coordinated attack.

My mind quickly shifted to survival, and I had to fight and escape to space.

GEOFF BENNETT: And your wife was active duty at the time as well.

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): Yes, my wife, Blanca, was an active duty Navy lieutenant.

She was out of town, did not know where I worked in the building, as most don't.

She was worried about me and didn't get word on my condition until later that evening.

GEOFF BENNETT: And by the time you got to Walter Reed, there was a nurse that you overheard say that you had a 50/50 chance of surviving.

What do you remember about that moment?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): I had been taken to Walter Reed, the original Army hospital, downtown Washington, D.C., and it was a harrowing journey to get there.

And I remember saying all along the way to Sergeant 1st Class Steve Workman, who helped save my life there, that: "I'm alive.

I'm alive."

And so I knew how important it was to have made it through the impact and made it out of that space.

When I heard someone say 50 percent, 50/50 chance, it made me so angry, I grabbed the nurse who I thought had said that kind of pulled her up on the gurney and read her a little bit of a riot act, telling her: "No, I'm alive, I'm alive."

And they calmed me down, got her off of me, and she kind of went away.

And they then turned their focus and attention to pulling and tugging at my rings that I wore on my left hand and my right hand, my wedding band and my class ring.

And they were causing me great pain.

And I heard in that moment someone yell out for the ring cutters.

And that also made me mad, and I yelled out: "Stop, stop, and they froze."

And really with all the strength that I could muster in that moment, I took off my wedding band on my left hand and my Naval Academy class ring on my right hand, and I handed them over to a near nurse nearby.

And I said, OK, to myself, now they can get on with saving my life.

And that was in my last memory of 9/11.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do you have a sense of where your resilience comes from?

You have endured catastrophic injuries, months of treatment, and then you ultimately returned to public service.

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): It comes from love.

It comes from being loved and supported and loving others.

I love my wife dearly, my family.

It comes from a love of this nation, of our country, wanting to serve our country and having that deep sense of service when I was young, and it led me to the Naval Academy and pursuing a life of service in the Navy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

And, after all of this, you joined the 9/11 Commission and later the intelligence effort to find Osama bin Laden.

What can you tell us about that yearslong effort to locate him?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): In many ways, I compare it to a marathon, a long marathon.

There were many runners in that marathon at various mile markers, great patriots, incredible professionals, full of courage, full of competency, full of determination and grit to see that mission through.

There were ups and downs, for sure.

There were failures and some successes.

And, ultimately, I feel thankful for being a runner along those last final mile markers in that marathon.

GEOFF BENNETT: In that moment you learned that bin Laden had been found and killed, how did that -- how did that strike you?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): In that moment, there was definitely a deep sense of closure for me.

It was not something that I wore on my sleeve, but it was an inner drive that kept me very much in the fight and kept me motivated.

GEOFF BENNETT: Twenty-five years later, how much of September 11 do you carry physically?

How much of it do you carry emotionally?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): I like to say that 9/11 is forever burned in the memory of our nation, or at least I hope it is and will be.

It's also quite literally burned into me.

I carry the scars of that day.

It was burned on nearly 50 percent of my body, second-, third-degree burns, deep inhalation injuries.

But I don't carry the physical detriment of that today.

I'm all about the best case.

I'm all about the optimism.

And so I have I have moved forward in my life every year since with that optimism and strength and trying to give that to others as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: Have you thought about how you might feel when you're at the Pentagon tomorrow?

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): There's going to be a lot of reflection.

There's going to be a lot of remembering.

There's going to be honor given to those who lost their lives there.

There's going to be love extended to the family members who have been suffering all of these years.

And we're together as a community.

We will be together at the Pentagon, we will be together in New York City, and we will be together in that field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, each different, but each special and -- in our way in our generation, and we will be together on 9/11.

GEOFF BENNETT: Retired Navy Lieutenant Kevin Shaeffer, thank you for your time this evening, and thank you for your service to our nation.

LT.

KEVIN SHAEFFER (RET.

): Thank you very much.

GEOFF BENNETT: Twenty-five years ago, George Pataki was governor of New York when the September 11 attacks transformed his state and the country.

In the hours that followed, Pataki was among those leading New York through an unimaginable crisis, as rescue efforts began in Lower Manhattan and the country confronted the enormity of what had happened.

Former New York Republican Governor George Pataki joins us now.

Thank you for being with us, sir.

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI (R-NY): Thank you, Geoff.

Nice being on.

GEOFF BENNETT: Take us back to that moment 25 years ago.

What do you remember most vividly about that morning and all that transpired?

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: Well, the first is the shock.

It was a beautiful day.

We were at peace, and all of a sudden it was clear we were under attack.

And that was just something no one could have anticipated.

And then, of course, the next thing is when the towers came down.

That was also something that I don't think anyone anticipated.

And you immediately understood the horror, the loss, the magnitude of the lives that had been murdered that morning.

And it was just something that it was impossible to prepare for, but there was no choice but to spring into action right away.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you recently shared that you're living with a respiratory illness connected to your time at Ground Zero.

Can I ask, how's your how's your health?

How are you doing?

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: You know, Geoff, I'm fine.

And I really am.

And I feel so badly for -- there are thousands of people who really have serious illness, cancers and other very significant illness from breathing that toxic air.

And I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

I still feel great.

Yes, I have some minor lung issues, but hopefully they won't be too problematic going forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, as you rightly point out, that experience is shared by thousands of first responders and recovery workers and other people who lived in that area who have become sick since 9/11.

It raises the question, what does the government owe to the people who put their health and their lives at risk when the country asks them to show up?

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: Well, first of all, we were told the air was safe.

I mean, I remember that unequivocally.

And having spent many, many days and hours at Ground Zero, the air was clearly horrible.

You could see the dust from river to river.

You could see smoke everywhere and paper and ash flying all over.

But we were told it was not toxic, it was safe, and we acted accordingly.

What really troubles me, Geoff, is that there were thousands of people working on that pile, the burning mass of twisted steel, trying to save lives and then trying to get us back to normal.

And the whole country looked at them as heroes, and they were, standing on this burning and smoldering debris for weeks to try to allow us to begin to move forward.

And they inspired a country with their courage.

And now it's our turn.

It's our obligation as Americans to stand with them and do whatever they need to make sure we meet their health requirements.

And there has been progress made.

The federal government has a good program.

I just want to make sure everything that can be done to save lives and to help those suffering is done by our government.

GEOFF BENNETT: Of all the people you encountered in those initial days and weeks, is there someone you still think of?

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: There's so many people I think of, and the family members.

We all 25 years later have a tremendous sense of loss and think of the friends and people that we knew really well who died that day.

But then, at Ground Zero on September 11, you will see the family members holding the pictures 25 years later of their loved ones.

And when you have lost a son or a daughter, a father or mother, the pain 25 years later is any not any less.

There's still this tremendous void.

So those family members who responded so courageously, they really did stand up and help us get through that, inspired me then, and they inspire me to this day.

GEOFF BENNETT: You helped oversee the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan amid what was then an enormous debate about what should rise from the place where nearly 3,000 people were killed; 25 years later, you walk through Lower Manhattan now, it is a vibrant residential and commercial community.

What strikes you the most when you go back down there?

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: Well, Geoff, I will tell you, I'm really proud of what we have done to bring Lower Manhattan back.

You said there was a lot of emotion around Ground Zero.

That's a dramatic understatement.

Virtually everyone in an America had an opinion as to what should be done at that site, and very strong opinions, particularly among family members and firefighters and people who had lost loved ones.

And so we just had to work very hard to come up with an intelligent master site plan that allowed the rebuilding of the 10 million square feet of office space that had been lost, so that Lower Manhattan could be a viable economic center, but also at the same time to preserve that sacred ground, the footprints where the towers had stood, the plaza around where the other buildings had stood, and to honor the memory of those we lost that day.

And I think we have done that very well.

Where the towers stood, there are now voids, so you can see the physical magnitude of what was lost.

And around those you have the names of every single person who was killed that day.

And below that, we have the museum telling their individual stories.

So we can show the magnitude of the loss.

We can show the courage of New Yorkers.

And then right next to it is the tallest building ever built in the Western Hemisphere, 1,776 feet tall.

And I'm proud that, when we decided to rebuild, we said we're not going to just build what was there, we're going to rise above it.

And we have done that 25 years later.

GEOFF BENNETT: As we mark this milestone 25 years, it strikes me that so much memory can become ritualized, the names, the bells, the moments of silence.

What are we in danger of forgetting, even as we promise never to forget?

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: Yes, the first thing is that we do forget.

You think of Pearl Harbor, and that was a horrible day in American history and had enormous consequences, the beginning of World War II.

And yet, yes, on December 7, people will stop and recognize it, but very few.

And I fear that people are going to forget what happened on September 11, the courage we showed, the loss that we suffered.

But I fear more, Geoff, that we're going to see people distorting that history.

We already do, someone like Hasan Piker saying we deserve those attacks.

This is utter nonsense.

We were at peace.

Three thousand people went to work that day on a beautiful fall day, and most of them were murdered.

And they weren't murdered by accident.

It was a calculated attack by Islamic jihadists.

And that's not to criticize Islam.

It's to criticize crazy people of whatever faith who would engage in terrorist and violent acts like this.

And I fear that not only might be forgotten, but it might even be distorted.

GEOFF BENNETT: Former New York Republican Governor George Pataki, thank you for your time and for your insights this evening, sir.

We appreciate it.

FMR.

GOV.

GEORGE PATAKI: Thank you, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we will have more coverage of 9/11 tomorrow right here on the "News Hour," as well as this weekend on "Horizons."

William Brangham speaks with John Feal, a longtime advocate for 9/11 survivors and first responders, about newly released records showing New York City officials misled the public about air safety after the attacks.

Here's a preview.

JOHN FEAL, Founder, FealGood Foundation: What they did was escalate a serious issue into something that now cannot be fixed because we are evolving for the worst.

And thank God we have doctors like Dr.

Crane (ph) and Love (ph) that have to evolve with us as we get on into our older years and deal with these cancers.

There's 155,000 people in the World Trade Center Health Program.

There's 57,000-plus people with a certified 9/11-related cancer.

That's one in three.

And, again, we have a higher survival rate than the general population.

But if the city just would have came clean, we knew we were sick.

You didn't have to hide anything.

There was a lawsuit in 2010.

There was legislation in 2010, again legislation in 2015, again in 2019, and again in April of this year.

You should have just came clean.

No one's going to get sued.

No one's going to jail.

There's going to be no investigation.

But for people like Rudy Giuliani, who's now sick and trying to get into the World Trade Center Health Program, or Governor Pataki, who has serious respiratory illnesses, who said it's from 9/11, it's karma.

It's full circle.

And these are the men who denied -- that everything was great, and the air was safe, the water was safe, and get on with your life.

Let's show the terrorists we're not scared of them, yadda, yadda, yadda.

But, at the end of the day, human life took a back seat to the almighty dollar, and we don't value human life like we used to.

GEOFF BENNETT: You can watch "Horizons" on our YouTube page, wherever you get your podcasts, and on your local PBS station this weekend.

Check your local listings.

Finally, tonight, when Jasson Howell Sr.

was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for heroin distribution, his incarceration upended the lives of his four children.

Our Brief But Spectacular team first spoke with the Howell family in 2019.

Seven years later, they returned to reflect on the toll of that separation, the years they lost, and how they have rebuilt their lives together.

MAN: I'm going to hit play.

JASSON HOWELL SR., Former Inmate: OK.

MAN: My son was snorting pain pills.

Basically, heroin was cheaper, and that became his drug of choice.

He got sentenced to a mandatory federal prison sentence of 10 years.

Their mother had overdosed and was being taken to the hospital.

WOMAN: We were planning on getting all four of the children, and when the courts decided to split them up between grandparents, that was a really hard situation.

MARCUS HOWELL, Son: When I learned my dad was going away, it was -- it was hard for all of us.

Most challenging part, I'd say, was just learning how long he was going to be gone.

MAN: The joy that comes to our hearts knowing he's going to get out is also a mixed bag, because that drug is a tough one.

You hear about people relapsing all the time.

We hope that he will have this licked forever.

But also in the back of our mind, Kim and I both still kind of worry.

Are we -- do we have it?

Do we get to stop worrying now?

Are things going to be OK now?

Is he telling the truth now?

And I guess -- I guess time will tell.

JASSON HOWELL SR.

: To watch that back, it hurts more than anything.

It hurts to see the pain in my children's eyes and in my parents' eyes.

I have I have apologized to my children so many times, and I have broke down so many times and apologized to them, because I never wanted to leave them like that.

And when I left them, their life diminished, and it was hard.

JASSON HOWELL JR., Son: I'm looking forward to spending time with my dad and just, like, messing around and goofing around.

He just -- I can tell he feels a lot of guilt for not being around for us.

It's something that he will never be able to get back.

MARCUS HOWELL: And I just want to be able to do things with him and see him and not have any restrictions to that.

It will never be what I expected it to be and what it was before he went in.

But I'm slowly coming to terms with that.

JASSON HOWELL SR.

: So I got released from Milan Federal Correctional Institution September 9, 2021.

I had went to a halfway house in Janesville.

I stayed there for six months, but they did really help me there, help me get on my feet.

I had a counselor.

I got a job at All Metals Recycling, where we broke down TVs.

It was only $15 an hour, but it was nice just to get out and be able to work.

Then I did my six months on home confinement.

I got back to work in the painters union, Oak Ladle (ph) 2 painters union.

Got my son on as my apprentice.

I got back to making great money.

I had my own house.

My credit was good from being gone so long, so I had a nice vehicle.

As I get out into the world, I realize that there's a lot of setbacks.

JASSON HOWELL JR.

: When my father was released, it was overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.

You have all of these thoughts about what you want to do with your dad right when he gets out and all of these experiences you want to go through, but it has to be a very gradual take on it.

And so, right away, you can't accomplish all these things.

You realize that he hasn't adjusted to society yet.

JASSON HOWELL SR.

: I didn't make a lot of good choices.

I went to the bar and drank at times.

I started using methamphetamine for the first time in my life at 40 years old, and slowly things started to crack.

I did have a lot of run-ins with the law, and I almost got sent back.

I just go back in front of the federal judge.

He gave me a chance to go to a sober living house, and that situation, that really helped me start to build my life back.

MARCUS HOWELL: I don't feel like I need a lot from him, other than just to stay clean, stay out of trouble, just be productive member of society.

JASSON HOWELL SR.

: I'm still trying to prove to them that I can do this and be a father.

It's hard.

Life's hard.

I feel like I have let both my parents down, try to stay clean, fall again.

This has been the biggest rise that I have had right now.

I probably have the best relationship with my dad that I have ever had in my entire life.

What scares me now is possibly being done with probation, what life's going to be like when I don't have to be held accountable by anybody else, when I just have to hold myself accountable, so I got to make sure I'm strong enough.

MARCUS HOWELL: He can't get back the time that was wasted.

But he's making up for things now, and he's building himself back up again, which is really important to me.

JASSON HOWELL JR.

: Yes, if I had a message for my dad, I'd definitely tell him thank you for just trying to be present in all of our lives, regardless of the circumstances.

I'd also tell him that he has all of our support.

JASSON HOWELL SR.

: My name is Jasson Howell, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on my journey through life.

GEOFF BENNETT: You can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

And there's a lot more online, including a live fact-check of the Republican Midterm Convention.

You can find that at PBS.org/NewsHour.

That is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.