This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Hey, it's Drew Franklin from NFL Cover Zero. The 2026 season is underway and we are loving football on TV. Here's what you can expect from the podcast in our second season. I would suggest for these preseason games, I think they should do what they do on the NFL draft. You know, when coverage of the NFL draft is basically for moms and they're just like, hey, he has a dog named Spark. Listen to NFL Cover Zero on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This just ends to our newsroom. A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Another plane seems to stay. An airplane has crashed into the World Trade Center. There appears to be a gaping hole. Oh, there it goes, there it goes, there it goes. The whole side has collapsed. The whole building has collapsed. By the light, she stands.
have crashed into the World Trade Center. We're not going to be cowered by it that we're not afraid. The freedom-loving nations of the world stand by our side. Proud to have the red, white, and blue. This country will not plant. Proud to be a part of this country.
I think about the families, the children. Freedom itself was attacked and freedom will be defended. The resolve of our great nation is being tested. We will not forget the 2,800 people. Police and fire, not only were heroes at the beginning, but they're still heroes. We're going to come out of this emotionally stronger. And the commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time. I don't think they've done a job for the people who've ever been. Those guys didn't move more than anyone ever expected of them. They messed with their own city, they messed with their own state. And I just don't want people to forget. They all had a sense of duty to protect us all.
We'll be steadfast in our determination. The rest of the country now understand who the true defenders are. May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enforce you. May the blessings of St. Patrick behold you. God bless Ireland and God bless the United States of America.
Now America's embracing a new ethic and a new creed. Let's roll. The phrase New York's finest and New York's bravest means something now, doesn't it? This is a time to reflect and be thankful for where we are today. We will rebuild New York City. Yet after America was attacked, it was as if our entire country looked into a mirror and saw our better selves. And of course, Michael W. Smith, there she stands. And today, 25 years ago.
the worst attack on U.S. soil in American history. I was in New York at the time, and it is, it's kind of hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it was 25 years ago. And it's, watching the coverage today has brought a level of sobriety to my thinking that I really can't, I don't know if I can express it and articulate it the way that I really want to, because it's on that day we saw the worst in humanity. You know, there's a line in that song that you just heard of Michael W. that, you know, when evil calls itself a martyr. And remember the people flying those airplanes recorded saying Allahu Akbar as they plowed into the towers with the knowledge that they're killing untold numbers of Americans because that's what their goal was. That's what their plan was. And I can't help but look at where we are today as a country. And there are many of you I know took the time and watched a lot of the coverage and we'll have coverage tonight. And we're doing it through the radio program throughout today. And just a reminder, but.
There really are two groups of people that existed then and exist today. And while some things have changed, many things have remained the same. And it's the part that remains the same that is inexplicable to me. And we saw the worst in humanity that day. We saw evil on display. And it's an evil that exists. I mean, there are people in this country that are mad that President Trump, you know, decided that the evil regime of Iran, and they are evil.
You know, when you chant death to America, death to Israel, and you go about funding and being the number one funder and sponsor of terrorism statewide, that's evil. You're killing innocent people in the name of some sick ideology that you believe in, or you're teaching young people that if they kill innocent men, women, and children, that God, Allah in this case, will reward them with 72 virgins in paradise. That still exists today. I know it's hard for good people to wrap their minds around the fact that evil does exist, but it does, and it exists today. And the pre-9-11, we just talked about pre-9-11 mindset and a post-9-11 mindset.
You know, we saw the worst in humanity and we saw the best in humanity that day and ever since. Like Frank Siller will join us later in the program. Others, you know, that are intimately involved. He lost his brother that day. His brother finished his shift. He was a firefighter in New York, one of 343 that died that day. We lost 2,977 Americans that day. We lost many others from 9-11 related illnesses. We had no idea it was like a toxic burn pit right there at ground zero and they didn't have the proper equipment and people are dying to this day.
And more people have died from that than actually died on 9-11 the day itself. And there's still this evil that has not been eradicated. And then there are people that somehow, some way, some bizarre way of thinking, you know, when October 7, 2023 happened, 1,200 Israelis were murdered in cold blood and many more were kidnapped and tortured and raped and many beheaded. You know, then all of a sudden, what was the response of some and many? you know, around the world, in the halls of Congress, on college campuses, on airwaves, you know, they're blaming Israel for defending itself. Well, they have a small population. That's like the equivalent of killing 40,000 Americans in a day. Here it is 25 years later, we're talking about 2,977 Americans. And I think that the stakes are high. And in light of, you know, I'm looking at an election before us.
And I truly, honestly believe that when I listen to the radicals that have now taken over the Democratic Party and they nominate somebody like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan without going through his history of extremism and radicalism, I mean, there's plenty that I can tell you about him even today, you know, and, you know, James Tallarico visiting a mosque after 9-11 to show solidarity with Muslims. No, not every Muslim is a radical extremist. There is a distinction. You know, 9-11 hero's father sounded the alarm over Abdul Syed. David Beamer is a member of Flight 93 that went down in a field in Pennsylvania, and he came up with the line, let's roll, called on Michigan to vote American this time, warning that he believes Democratic socialists pose an existential threat to the nation. And I think of, you know, the 250 DSA candidates on the ballot in 53 days. Hannity, why are you talking about this? Why are you connecting it to 9-11? They want to defund the Department of War. That's why. Because they don't understand the nature of the threat that we are currently facing.
Or the strongest critics of Donald Trump when he neutralized the potential of radical mullahs in Iran getting nuclear weapons and the threat that that would pose to the entire world. And he's got nothing but criticism for it. You know, or I look at, you know, the DSA's, you know, this is now a fight, this election for Western civilization itself. Without America, let me tell you, you see the decline all over Western Europe. We've talked about that exhaustively.
They have neglected their defenses, both collectively as a continent and individually as nations. They've embraced radical climate alarmism and radical socialism. They've had unfettered illegal immigration without assimilation. Never thought I'd see 100 Sharia courts in Great Britain, but there they stand. Or, you know, no-go zones in other parts of Europe like France. That's all there. And I think of, you know, America, the beacon of hope, the shining city on the hill.
And a stated printed policy, 250 elected DSA members in 40 different states and 40 plus more on the ballot in 53 days. And these people want to eliminate the U.S. Senate, prevent you from choosing your president. They want to pack the courts. And you want to talk about a national security nightmare under Biden-Harris Mayorkas if that was not the most preventable national security disaster in our history?
You know, you have over 12 million that we know about. We don't know how many gotaways also got across the border. We do know they we've identified people from over 200 countries. Many of the countries have terror ties. And and this new radical group of Democrats that now owns the Democratic Party wants amnesty for illegals and to abolish borders. And they want to lash out and abolish ICE. And they want to end all deportation. And I repeat, want to defund the Department of War, formerly known as the Department of Defense. Then in terms of law and order and safety and security, well, they'd like to abolish the police, abolish prisons, eliminate cash bail.
And on top of that, their economic philosophy and ideology is one of public ownership of corporations. And, you know, they want to you want they want you to empower them to take other people's money. That's called, you know, wealth tax. Well, that's the people that moved out of New York and California, New Jersey and Illinois will just move out of the country if they start confiscating their money, which some talk about. And then, of course, they want you to believe that the people that spend more money on education per capita per child in the industrialized world with the worst results, that they can provide you free childhood daycare, you know, babysitters for date night for couples, guaranteed government jobs and guaranteed government salaries and guaranteed government healthy food and guaranteed government retirement and guaranteed government health care. And they can't even run the post office right. But that's where this is it.
So it's, you know, that's why I keep saying it doesn't matter if you're in Michigan and you'd vote for El Syed or in Texas and six gender Tellurico or the guy with a vile temper, Graham Plattner 2.0, Troy Jackson in Maine. Any congressman that has a Democrat next to their name or any, you know, Senate candidate that has a D next to their name, they're going to give in to these radicals. And that is an existential threat. They will shred our, what I just described to you that they have in writing would shred our constitution, destroy our country and our way of life. And we'd have no way to defend ourselves and our country as we know it ceases to exist. That's on the ballot in 53 days. 30 seconds. In that time, you can check your phone, reheat a cup of coffee, or decide to skip songs.
In 30 seconds, we can confirm an unknown identity, lock on to a distress signal, and switch course to respond. When every second counts, the Canadian Armed Forces is ready. It's every time. It's all the time. It's our time. Learn more at forces.ca slash our time. A message from the Government of Canada.
Football's back. Hey, it's Drew Franklin from NFL Cover Zero. Enjoy the NFL season while listening to NFL Cover Zero. We have storylines, predictions, and lots of silliness. Here's what you can expect from the podcast in our second season. When you meet people and you say your job's a sports announcer, it's always interesting to see what the first thing they say is. I did have one of the more difficult questions, though. He sits next to me and he sees I'm on my computer and he goes, big sports fan. And I was like, yeah, actually. And he goes, we think about my Jaguars this year. I realized like no one's ever asked me that question ever about anything. And I was like.
Listen to NFL Cover Zero on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll never forget. This is the Sean Hannity Show. You know, you can't talk about 9-11 25 years ago and not recognize the heroism on display that day. 343 firefighters died.
Twenty three police officers died. Many other emergency responders died. And, you know, where they all knew when they were going in that building and they were going up and everyone else was racing down that they were putting their lives in jeopardy. You can hear it in the phone calls, the final calls that they made to loved ones and voicemails that they left. And, you know, that is the best of humanity. You know, when when people were digging through the rubble at 9-11, where this took place and all of the restaurants that gave free food to the first responders was beyond inspiring. So many people chipped in.
one thing you can always count on. Sean Hannity is back on the radio. I-25 till the top of the hour, this 25th anniversary of 9-11-01. By the way, just to be clear and to clarify, we lost 2,977 Americans that day, 343 firefighters we lost that day, 23 police officers did die that day, and 37 Port Authority police officers died as well. And they often work in the area in and around where the World Trade Center once existed.
It is it's really remarkable when you think about all that has taken place since then and where we are today. You know, it's mind numbing to know we have candidates that, you know, made comments about 9-11 that are so morally bankrupt and corrupt. And they have a chance to win, which is, you know, spectacularly, you know, ignorant to me. Americans do not yet have the distance of history, but our responsibility to history is already clear to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil. I hear people say.
We don't need this war. We protest this war. But I say there's some things worth fighting for. We are very grateful and thankful that we live in a country where there's freedom of speech, that people who are either for or against a war can speak out. What about our freedom? Everything just went black. And this piece of ground. Everything came down. We didn't get to keep them by backing down. Glasses are popping and people got hurt. They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in. Oh, there it goes, there it goes, there it goes. When you start your preaching, let me ask you this, my friend. Have you forgotten?
Oh, my God. Oh, there's another one. Oh, my God. Another plane just flew in. I feel the heat. The explosion is incredible. Have you forgotten? I saw this plane come out of nowhere and just breathe right into the side of the Twin Tower, exploding through the other side. There's been an act of war declared upon America by terrorists. Have you forgotten?
Dozens of residents that are sitting on the hill behind the Pentagon, almost like they're waiting for the 4th of July fireworks, but instead they're staring dumbfounded at what looks like a war zone. I mean, you see bodies flying out of the sky and you can't do nothing about it, you tell me. There's no words to describe what's going on out there. Have you forgotten? America's a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for, but we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America. Because we are freedom's home and defender. Have you forgotten? And the commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time. USA! USA! USA!
Well, those words ring true today. It's the calling of our time and the enemies. There are enemies of human freedom and we see them all over the place. And it exists in manifests itself in many forms. You know, and it's relevant in this sense to where we are as a country. We certainly learned lessons from from post 9-11 in terms of.
you know, conflicts and battles and war. And, you know, in fairness, 25 years ago, we didn't have the military technology that we have today and the ability to, you know, strike with pinpoint accuracy distances that are much further than anyone imagined. But we do have that capability now. And, you know, I think that's where the whole concept and my belief in no boots on the ground whenever possible, hopefully never, can go forward. But we got to also understand that, you know, evil nations themselves are developing their own technologies and trying their level best because they are enemies of freedom.
You know, we as Americans, if you look at our founding documents and listen to listen to our founders and framers, they talked a lot about, you know, life being, you know, that we're created by God. We're endowed by a creator. We believe in natural rights and that this creator designed every man, woman and child on this earth. And then people get to choose throughout their life or get indoctrinated to and lose their minds and, you know, captivated by whatever sick, twisted, ugly ideology that might drive them or motivate them. It is it's remarkable the similarities that I see between then and now.
And I never would have imagined the after October 7th, the rise of virulent anti-Semitism, for example, in this country. I wouldn't have imagined what we saw on college campuses or what we're hearing in the halls of Congress or what we're hearing on the airwaves from certain, you know, ignorant morons that, you know, have a microphone. And it is it's it takes your breath away. You know, back in 2004, when I wrote a book called Deliver Us From Evil, defeating terrorism, despotism, and liberalism, it was misunderstood. It was controversial in the sense that, oh, you're calling us evil. No, I'm saying that if you have the wrong people in power, that evil has the ability to expand. And that evil will not be confronted if you don't have the moral clarity and understanding that it does exist. And what form of manifestation it might take on or what country it may be at any given moment doesn't matter.
You know, we find ourselves divided as a country over the whole issue of preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons. I've repeated this often. And I am a full supporter of the Trump doctrine. Trump doctrine now is more possible because of the next generation of weaponry that we have. And we're developing another generation of weaponry that we're beginning to see glimpses of it. We read about reports of lasers shooting drones out of the sky, out of Mexico. That is now preventing the drug cartels from being able to monitor the border and see any threat that exists so they can bring deadly drugs into our country. They've been enormously effective. Bunker buster bombs that were used during Operation Midnight Hammer.
effectively destroying Iran's nuclear facilities, their enrichment facilities, you know, followed up by epic fury because they still, their desire, their blind hatred and ambition didn't stop them from wanting to acquire and build out a nuclear weapons program. You know, for all the talk about the difficulties that we have confronted over the Strait of Hormuz, and there is legitimate, you know, discussion and debate to be had, but oil is getting through the strait. But putting all of that aside, imagine a nuclear-armed Iran, the Strait of Hormuz would be in full and total control of them. What would we be able to say to them? The president brought this up last night in Dallas.
when we were in the stadium. And, you know, I've got to tip my hat. My memory, you know, takes me back to this day watching all of the coverage today. And I just, one of the things that really stood out in my mind, and I've mentioned it I think every year since, I'll mention it again today, is, you know, while we saw the worst in humanity and the worst evil, and yes, a state of shock that most people went in, we saw the best of humanity also. You know, starting with those people that went into those buildings knowing that they would likely die.
and knowing and making phone calls to their families to that effect. I mean, just, you know, what does the Bible tell us? You know, man had no greater love than to lay down his life for another. There is no greater love. The example of Jesus, you know, being crucified and on a cross to reconcile mankind to God the Father.
It is the ultimate sacrifice. They do it knowingly. You know, I have so many friends over the years that have been in either the NYPD or in, you know, the transit police people, the port authority police people, my friends that are firefighters. I used to, you know, for fun and kicks and giggles, I'd give them a hard time. And, you know, I'd say, ah, well, what is this rack time thing that you guys have?
Meaning, you know, if it's a slower night and they're working a 24-hour shift, which they often do, then, you know, if they have a slow period, they might get an hour, a couple hours that they get to sleep. And then they cook the best of the most delicious and most extravagant meals in the world. And I'd give them a hard time over it. I'd be like, come on. I mean, you get paid to sleep. You get paid to cook these great meals that you're telling me about all the time that I'm not able to participate in. And, you know, trust me, they were friends. They would get me more than I got them. And then they'd always come back with, you know, and then what happens on a day like 9-11?
you know, checkmate, case closed, issue over, or if somebody's in need, they're there. And they put themselves in harm's way for us. And then on a side note, you had all of these New Yorkers volunteering to go down in the search and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. And then you had the aftermath and the conflicts and the war and all the people that would take care of all of our injured soldiers. Or try, you can never fully, but try and comfort the families that lost their loved ones. You know, fighting and defending and trying to prevent another attack on our homeland.
And then you had, I'll never forget being down at ground zero and, you know, seeing, you know, pop-up tents from the day. I'll never forget. I don't know why I don't forget this. You'd have bodegas and you'd have, you know, well-known pizza places and Campbell's soup. And they set up all of these, these tents around the area outside of ground zero where first responders and people and workers can go and get fed for free. And, and, and they, they did it lovingly and generously. And again, you saw the worst in humanity. You saw the best in humanity. You saw good and you saw evil. And I guess.
You know, there's always going to be a hatred of who we are as a country and what it is that we stand for. But I guess I never anticipated in my life when I started this career in broadcasting, I don't think I ever anticipated that we would have an entire party taken over by people that would have a stated position to defund our Department of War, formerly known as the Department of Defense. I mean, because it is a total capitulation to evil. I mean, there's nothing that evil would like more than to abolish the Department of Defense, the Department of War. Or the idea that we, you know, we'll shred our Constitution. Because they don't like our way of life. They don't like our framers and our founders and the principles that built this country into the greatest country God gave man and the greatest well-producing country God gave man. Barry Farber, one of the pioneers of talk radio, famously said, there's never been a country like the U.S. that has accumulated more power and abused it less than us. And I add, there's never been a country in the history of man that has accumulated more power, abused it less, and used it for the advancement of good more than the United States.
And we saw, you know, our generosity knows no bounds whenever there's something going on in the world. But they want to eliminate the Senate, your ability to choose a president. They want to pack the courts. They want to have open borders, abolish borders, you know, amnesty for illegals, you know, end all deportation, get rid of ICE, get rid of the police, get rid of prisons, you know, get rid of cash bail, establish a wealth tax, steal other people's money for their power, and then promises that will never be fulfilled. It's on the ballot in 53 days. It is literally an inflection point for this country.
And I say that on 9-11 because if you think it can't happen, it can. Everything can happen. It's all at risk. 800-941-SHAWN is our number if you want to be a part of the program. Quick break, right back.
All right, remembering 9-11, Frank Siller will join us, Tunnel to Towers Foundation. If you haven't heard the full story of his brother, Stephen, we'll tell you about that on the other side. Patrick Sullivan, he was a Secret Service agent, and he literally was hired, and in the days leading up to 9-11, was able to get 20 grenades into airports to bring on airplanes prior to 9-11. How did we not wake up knowing that? John Andrasik will join us, and we'll get to your calls coming up as well, 800-941-SHAWN. Our prayers are with the families that lost loved ones 25 years ago today.
Hey, it's Drew Franklin from NFL Cover Zero. The 2026 season is underway and we are loving football on TV. Here's what you can expect from the podcast in our second season. I would suggest for these preseason games, I think they should do what they do on the NFL draft. You know, when coverage of the NFL draft is basically for moms and they're just like, hey, he has a dog named Spark. Listen to NFL Cover Zero on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.