Remembering 9/11. And, Vance, Trump urge voters to back Republicans in the midterms

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Twenty-five years ago today, a terrorist attack changed American life forever. Four planes were hijacked by al-Qaida; two struck the World Trade Center in New York, one struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9/11 attacks killed at least 2,977 people, and a Brown University study found that an additional 7,000 U.S. service members died in post-9/11 wars, while thousands more suffered from illnesses linked to toxic debris after the collapse. Today, communities across the U.S. are gathering to remember, honor and grieve.

• There will be seven moments of silence today, one more than in previous years, NPR’s Brian Mann tells Up First. The additional moment to honor those who have died from 9/11-related illnesses over the past 25 years after being exposed to toxic air in Manhattan following the attacks. This week, New York City officials released nearly 170,000 documents showing that government researchers knew the disaster had made the air unsafe but withheld that information from the public. Tens of thousands of people, including first responders and Manhattan residents, later developed 9/11-related illnesses.
• Rocco Fertoli was a captain with the New York City Fire Department on 9/11 and for the first time he is telling his story of that day.
• U.S. intelligence changed dramatically after 9/11. Sources & Methods host Mary Louise Kelly interviewed key national security leaders from that time to explore how the tragedy reshaped America and its intelligence agencies.
• NPR has curated a playlist of stories marking Sept. 11. It can be found on the app here.

President Trump and Vice President Vance closed out the first-ever midterm Republican convention by urging their supporters to vote in November. Vance did not mention the president’s promise to send every adult American $5,000 if their party maintained control of Congress, but Trump was quick to remind the room. The next Republican convention will be in 2028, when the party will have a new presidential nominee and Trump will no longer be its standard-bearer.

• Vance framed voting Republican as a matter of common sense, as opposed to the extreme Democratic Party, which is how the GOP has been framing the upcoming election rather than as a referendum on an unpopular president, NPR’s Tamara Keith says. While the president appeared to be in his element onstage, Keith added that it remains uncertain whether his party is in a better position now than before the convention. Although there will be more rallies in the fall, this convention might represent Trump’s last hurrah as a dominant political figure.

Missouri’s Republican redistricting plan was blocked yesterday due to a series of court rulings. The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal order requiring use of the GOP map, while the Missouri Supreme Court found Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt for telling local election officials to use it despite an earlier court order. Hoskins said the state would revert to the map used in the last two elections.