H1 - On 9/11, Charlie James recalls the World Trade Center attacks, host discussions on radical ideology, and caller memories.

What this episode covers

Transcript: The Charlie James Show (Fri, Sept 11, 2026 – Hour 1) Charlie James: And welcome to the program on your Friday afternoon. It was a Tuesday morning. It was just a Tuesday morning like so many other Tuesday mornings. I was on the air at WCOS in Columbia, South Carolina, and my program director, Ron Brooks, stuck his head into the studio, and he said, "Did you see some idiot crashed his plane into the World Trade Center?" Now, from what he said, I was expecting a small private plane. So, because we had just gotten into the news break right at about 9:00, I walked down to the newsroom, and I looked at the monitor. And having been at the World Trade Center about a year before, I realized that that was no small plane. That was a large aircraft. It was at that time something happened that my mind could not wrap itself around. You know how sometimes when you see something, and you just can't comprehend what you have just seen? I saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center at 9:03, United Airlines Flight 175. I saw the fireball from that explosion. But in my mind, I was seeing a replay of what had just happened, even though I was looking at two burning buildings now. It was hard for me to really comprehend what I had just seen. But when I then realized what had happened, I went back into the studio, sat down, turned on the microphone, and I announced that the United States was under attack. That was the only explanation. If you were watching that, you knew that's exactly what was happening. Maybe you were watching Regis Philbin... Regis Philbin (Archival Audio): ...one. Our studio audience has been in here for at least the last 15-20 minutes, so you missed the big story of the day that's developing right now here in New York City. A plane has crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. You can see it now on the screen right there. And don't know what the intent was, whether it was deliberate... Co-host (Archival Audio): And if you can see those bits of debris, they're large. That's, if you can see it, it's large, because the World Trade Center is so immense... Regis Philbin (Archival Audio): ...bomber going in there... Co-host (Archival Audio): Well, it's such a target because it is such a well-known symbol of America and New York City. And so it can become a target, but I... with the kids, and we... Oh my gosh! Something... Something just exploded. Regis Philbin (Archival Audio): In a close-up view, I guess... Maybe that plane had something in it... As our phones going off... Co-host (Archival Audio): Are we getting... Regis Philbin (Archival Audio): I'll have to keep going back and forth. Co-host (Archival Audio): I guess it's being said that a second plane hit the other tower. Regis Philbin (Archival Audio): That looks, sounds like deliberate to me. I mean, I hate to say anything on live TV... A third plane... Oh yeah, this is really something. Charlie James: Now, that was the replay of the second plane that Regis saw on that one, but that was the moment we knew. That was the moment that everything changed. Everything changed in this country when we first realized exactly what was going on. And then, later on, the Pentagon was hit. Flight 93 went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All told, 2,977 innocent people were killed in 102 minutes. That's it. People went to work that morning expecting to go home that night, and they didn't. Spouses kissed their loved ones that morning expecting them to come home that night, and they didn't. People who never met each other were hugging. Churches filled. Blood donation centers were filled. Americans put flags on their cars; they put flags on their houses. People looked at each other differently. There was a sense that we were all in this together. We were great Americans on September the 12th. But here we are 25 years later, and you've got to wonder if we actually learned anything from it. We saw that—we saw all of the videos. I mean, we ...

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