9/11 anniversary TV programming 2014

Sept. 11, 2014, marks the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Once again, a number of television specials will air around this time to remember the events of 9/11, and their lasting impact on the United States, and the world.

9/11 Anniversary TV Programming 2014 (All Times Eastern; Titles in ALL CAPS Indicate Premieres)

Stopping the Second 9/11 — Sept. 7 at 12pm on National Geographic Channel. This real-life international drama recalls the summer of 2006, when as many as 18 conspirators planned to simultaneously blow up almost 10 airplanes by bringing hydrogen peroxide-injected soda bottles-turned-bombs onto flights bound from London to the U.S. and Canada. This documentary goes inside the true story of how they were thwarted.

Giuliani’s 9/11 — Sept. 7 at 2pm on National Geographic Channel. On Sept. 11, 2001, New York City’s mayor led a city struck by tragedy back from the brink — from the moment the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history began. Intimately involved and personally vulnerable, Rudy Giuliani revisits the day he was confronted by the assault on U.S. territory. Having secured unique access, National Geographic takes Giuliani back to moments indelibly marked by horror and heroism.

9/11: Science and Conspiracy — Sept. 7 at 3pm on National Geographic Channel. NGC conducts a forensic investigation to test some of the most common conspiracy theories of 9/11 and mysteries surrounding the attacks.

9/11: Voices from the Air — Sept. 7 at 5pm on National Geographic Channel. This special recalls the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 via radio transmissions between the cockpit and the control tower, and through sometimes heartbreaking cellphone calls between passengers and their loved ones. Along with archival film, dramatic re-creations and interviews with air traffic controllers, military personnel and the relatives of those on the planes, the documentary takes a new look at the confusion and terror of the morning’s events, beginning with the takeoff of American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles.

9/11: Day That Changed the World — Sept. 7 at 6pm; Sept. 11 at 1pm, 8pm & 11pm on Smithsonian Channel. This special looks at how key decision makers responded in the face of chaos and catastrophe on 9/11. Interviews include Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Rudy Giuliani, Andrew Card, Richard Clarke and others.

9/11: The Firemen’s Story — Sept. 7 at 6pm on National Geographic Channel. More than a decade after the horrific attack of 9/11, some of the usually stone-faced firefighters have come forward to bare their souls about what they experienced that devastating day.

9/11: Where Were You? — Sept. 7 at 7pm on National Geographic Channel. This special captures the life-and-death decisions people made amid the chaos of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath, decisions that affected not only individual lives but often the lives of others in unexpected and profound ways.

9/10: THE FINAL HOURS — Sept. 7 at 8pm & 11pm; Sept. 10 at 9pm & 11pm on National Geographic Channel. This two-hour program goes moment-by-moment through Sept. 10, 2001, considered America’s “last day of innocence” in a release for this special; certainly the day before many things changed for our country. Included is a look at the World Trade Center from the perspective of the artists who lived and worked on the 91st and 92nd floors of the North Tower. According to director Erik Nelson, “So many films have told the story of the unfolding tragedy of Sept. 11 that we decided to explore what happened on the eve of that moment ‹ a new look at the life, and not the death, of the World Trade Center and the men and women who worked there. Sept. 10, 2001, was just a day like any other, but of course, it was so much more than that. We’ve tried to construct a time portal back to that day, back to this now lost world.”

CROWNING NEW YORK — Sept. 7 at 8pm & 11pm; Sept. 11 at 10pm on Smithsonian Channel. This one-hour special looks at the rebuilding of One World Trade Center, and the installation of a 408-foot spire designed to emit beams of light visible for 50 miles. Featured in the film is never-before-aired footage of the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, as well as interviews with architect Daniel Libeskind, officials like former New York Governor George Pataki and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as well as many of the construction workers.

Inside 9/11: War on America — Sept. 8 at 7pm & 11pm on National Geographic Channel. This first part of the acclaimed Inside 9/11 series begins with the dramatic 1993 World Trade Center bombing and tracks terrorist activities aimed at U.S. targets throughout the 1990s leading up to the horrific morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

A GOOD JOB: STORIES OF THE FDNY — Sept. 8 at 9pm on HBO. Produced by actor Steve Buscemi, pictured below, and a former FDNY member himself, this documentary explores life in one of the most demanding and innovative fire departments in the world. Included in the film is, of course, a look at how the events of 9/11 have had a lasting impact on the FDNY.

Inside 9/11: Zero Hour — Sept. 8 at 9pm on National Geographic Channel. This installment captures the horror and the heroism witnessed on 9/11.

Zero Hour: “The Final Minutes of Flight 11” — Sept. 10 at 5pm on American Heroes Channel. Details from inside American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center, reveal the horrifying final moments that began the 9/11 attacks.

George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview — Sept. 10 at 8pm on National Geographic Channel. In an exclusive sit-down interview with former President George W. Bush, this documentary reveals first-person insight into the man at the epicenter of the U.S. government’s decisions in the face of the 9/11 attacks. Taped over the course of two days, the interview allows Bush to open up with personal experiences on the grueling hours and pressure-packed days following the attacks. Never-before-released archival footage and exclusive materials from the George W. Bush Presidential Library are also featured.

The Flight That Fought Back — Sept. 11 at 6am & 7am on American Heroes Channel; Sept. 11 at 12pm on Discovery Channel. This docudrama looks at Flight 93, and the story of the legacy of that dramatic and tragic flight. Two episodes air back-to-back.

Hero Dogs of 9/11 — Sept. 11 at 6am on Animal Planet. This special details the stories of three World Trade Center survivors, and the working dogs that saved lives at Ground Zero. More than 300 dogs were used in the rescue and recovery operation following the attack. One of the survivors profiled, who is blind, was led out of the building by his seeing-eye dog. Another, who had been working at the scene with a bomb-sniffing dog, was pulled from the rubble by a rescue dog. The third was the last survivor to be discovered by a dog and pulled from the rubble — 27 hours after the center collapsed.

FOX News Channel 9/11 coverage — Sept. 11 beginning at 6am on FOX News Channel (FNC). FNC presents special live programming of the 9/11 anniversary beginning with FOX and Friends and continuing throughout primetime. FNC’s weekday anchor team will present 9/11 — 13 Years Later, which includes live coverage of ceremonies and memorial events. Additional reporting will be provided by Rick Leventhal from Ground Zero in New York City, as well as National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin from the Pentagon. Victims’ names will be displayed throughout the morning on the Fox News ticker located on the lower part of the screen. Foxnews.com will host a live event page covering all aspects of the 9/11 anniversary.

The Day the Towers Fell — Sept. 11 at 7am on History. Never-before-told stories of eyewitnesses, including amateur and professional photographers, caught in the horror of the World Trade Center tragedy. Images captured by many of the photographers are seen for the first time on television.

9/11: The Towers and the Pentagon — Sept. 11 at 8am on American Heroes Channel. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, resulted in the swift and total collapse of the Twin Towers. But the Pentagon, which suffered the same kind of blow, largely withstood it. World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed only hours later, even though it had not been directly targeted. What were the unique forces inside each building that determined whether it stood or crumbled, and how? The world’s leading forensic engineers have spent years analyzing the structural consequences of the attacks, and this program looks inside their investigations to explain why the results were so drastically different for each building.

Countdown to Ground Zero — Sept. 11 at 8am on History. A look at not only Sept. 11, 2001, but also how the day came about, through dramatic stories of people whose lives converge at a moment when history turns.

9/11: After the Towers Fell — Sept. 11 at 9am on American Heroes Channel. When the Twin Towers Collapsed on September 11th, 2001, thousands were feared trapped beneath the tons of steel and rubble. These are the stories of the rescue workers and civilians who raced to Ground Zero to rescue the buried.

September 11 Remembrance Ceremony at the Pentagon — Sept. 11 at 9:30am on C-SPAN. President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Martin Dempsey, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel attend a ceremony at the Pentagon to honor those lost in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Voices from Inside the Towers — Sept. 11 at 10am on History. This film documents the many harrowing and heartbreaking stories — some never heard before — of love and loss on 9/11. This documentary uses audio records, such as recorded phone calls from people inside the World Trade Center buildings — some of whom perished, some who survived — as they contacted family members, friends and 911 dispatchers to provide a chillingly clear mental picture.

CIA Declassified: “The Real Zero Dark Thirty” — Sept. 11 at 11am on Discovery Channel. With testimony from those directly involved from the start, this program looks at the truth behind the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Grounded on 9/11 — Sept. 11 at 12pm on History. In response to the attacks on September 11, 2001, the FAA orders all planes out of the air. U.S. and Canadian air traffic controllers face a calamity of epic proportions — how to safely re-route and land 6,500 planes carrying close to a million people. For individual air traffic controllers, the work is chaotic, intense, and deceptively simple: pick a new route for each flight; radio instructions to turn; listen for pilot confirmation; hold traffic to keep airways from overcrowding. From Cleveland, Ohio, to Gander, Newfoundland, controllers on September 11 searched for alternate airports to land large jets even as their traumatized colleagues stream back from break rooms after watching the attacks on TV.

9/11 State of Emergency — Sept. 11 at 1pm on History. This ground-breaking documentary tells the story of 9/11 in the words of key political and military leaders, and ordinary men and women who suddenly found themselves on the frontlines of a new kind of war. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dick Myers, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and a host of other top officials take viewers deep inside the corridors of power during this dramatic day.

Killing Bin Laden — Sept. 11 at 2pm on Discovery Channel. An intimate account of the Bin Laden operation, from the time the crucial intelligence was gathered through the burial at sea.

Secrets of Bin Laden’s Lair — Sept. 11 at 3pm on Discovery Channel. When SEAL Team Six killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011, they scooped up a prize far more valuable than Bin Laden himself: a hoard of hard drives, computers, and personal papers.

The Miracle of Stairway B — Sept. 11 at 3pm on History. This is the story of how 12 firefighters, three office workers, and a Port Authority cop lived through the devastating collapse of the North Tower, survived for hours under half-a-million tons of debris and were rescued when all hope seemed lost.

The Hunt for Bin Laden — Sept. 11 at 3pm on Smithsonian Channel. The inside story of the 20-year hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Secrets of SEAL Team 6 — Sept. 11 at 4pm on Discovery Channel. This special looks at the secrets behind the special forces group that killed Osama Bin Laden.

9/11: The Days After — Sept. 11 at 4pm on History. This documentary from the makers of 102 Minutes That Changed America examines what happened following the tragic day that terrorists attacked America. Telling the story exclusively through archival audiovisual materials collected from more than 50 sources — footage shot by professional news media and amateurs alike — the film takes a look at what happened after the tragedy, examining the texture of life in a post-9/11 world.

The 9/11 Tapes: Chaos in the Sky — Sept. 11 at 5pm on Discovery Channel. Audio recordings reveal the emotion and panic from those who responded to each attack, in real time. Through the voices of air traffic controllers, military commanders and those on hijacked planes, this special relays the chaos, confusion and courage of frontline civilians reacting to the 9/11 attacks.

9/11: The Heartland Tapes — Sept. 11 at 5pm on Smithsonian Channel. The events of September 11, 2001, are retold from the point of view of television and radio broadcasts from local affiliate stations around the country.

The 9/11 Surfer — Sept. 11 at 6pm on Discovery Channel. Willie Geist of NBC narrates this one-hour special that purports to report what could be one of the last, untold survival stories from Sept. 11, 2001. It’s a tale that was long regarded as an urban legend, because its subject had not come forward to the press. But now, for the first time on national television, survivor Pasquale Buzzelli recalls how he “rode” a blizzard of falling debris from the 22nd floor inside the North Tower as it collapsed. Mr. Buzzelli, a structural engineer with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was in his office on the 64th floor of the North Tower as the 9/11 attacks began. He spoke to his wife several times on the phone before he began his evacuation after the South Tower fell. As he evacuated, the 110-story-tower began to collapse, leading him to crouch down and hug the stairwell wall. His next memory was waking up hours later on “the pile” — a stack of debris seven stories high. The firemen who rescued Mr. Buzzelli shared his story of survival, but it was not originally believed.

REBUILDING THE WORLD TRADE CENTER — Sept. 11 at 6pm on History. Marcus Robinson’s film chronicles the reconstruction of the World Trade Center and the restoration of the New York City skyline. The two-hour special, eight years in the making, covers the lay ing of the first foundation to triumphantly topping the gleaming, now-1084-story One World Trade Center with its spire. The film focuses on the construction workers who performed the massive task.

9/11: Stories in Fragments — Sept. 11 at 6pm on Smithsonian Channel. Belongings gathered by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History recall the personal tragedies of 9/11. Included are a phone used in the last calls between a husband and wife; the nametag of a hero; and a briefcase found in a pile of rubble at Ground Zero, undamaged.

9/11 Firehouse — Sept. 11 at 7pm on Discovery Channel. This one-hour special is narrated by Willie Geist, and documents the inspirational and heroic story of the FDNY firefighters from “Ten House” — who were the first to enter the Twin Towers and the last to leave during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Surviving firefighters recall their pivotal role at Ground Zero and how “Ten House” became a symbol of refuge and safety during that dark day.

9/11 RESCUE COPS — Sept. 11 at 8pm & 11:03pm on Discovery Channel. Tony Harris narrates this look at the heroism and sacrifice of the NYPD’s elite Emergency Service Unit (ESU) and the E-Men heroes who were tasked with rescuing as many people as possible, by any means possible, on 9/11.

Hotel Ground Zero — Sept. 11 at 8pm on History. There is an untold story from 9/11 — the incredible tale of the 940 tourists, visitors and staff in the Marriott WTC Hotel, located beneath and between the Twin Towers, who found themselves at the epicenter of a terrifying disaster. Despite jet engines and burning debris raining down on the building, somehow almost all of the hotel guests escaped. Of those who were still trapped inside, 14 miraculously survived the towers’ devastating collapse. Hear the remarkable story of their escape, and the courage and heroism of the victims and their rescuers.

THE HORNET’S NEST — Sept. 11 at 9pm on American Heroes Channel. This is the world television premiere of the feature-length documentary that follows Emmy-winning journalists Mike Boettcher and his son, Carlos Boettcher, as they are embedded with U.S. forces fighting on the front lines in Afghanistan.

102 Minutes That Changed America — Sept. 11 at 9pm on History. This acclaimed documentary uses rarely seen and heard archival material to document the 102 minutes between the first attack on the World Trade Center to the collapse of the second tower. Also seen is footage broadcast outside the United States, electronic messages and voicemails, and “outtakes” culled from raw network footage.

The Man Who Predicted 9/11 — Sept. 11 at 11:03pm on History. In 2001, Rick Rescorla was the 62-year-old head of security at the Morgan Stanley Bank situated high up in the South Tower at the World Trade Center. Rescorla was convinced that Osama Bin Laden would use jet planes to try and destroy the World Trade Center. Long before September 11, he developed an evacuation plan for the bank, hugely unpopular amongst the city whiz kids who worked there who thought he was mad. His evacuation plan, however, ultimately saved 3,000 of their lives.