Chapter One

0:00Speaker 1:This series is based on the real events of 9-11. However, names, incidents, locations, and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes. This series contains strong language and profanity and scenes that some listeners could find disturbing.

0:14Speaker 2:I'm on the plane, honey.

0:20Speaker 3:Something's wrong.

0:21Speaker 4:We've been hijacked.

0:28Speaker 1:I can see people from first class and they're running to the back of the plane.

0:31Speaker 2:I think someone might be stabbed. I'm thinking of you and the baby.

0:35Speaker 3:Always. Always.

0:37Speaker 4:I don't know, honey.

0:45Speaker 5:Something isn't right here.

0:47Speaker 2:We're way too low.

0:53Speaker 6:What I said last night. I'm sorry. I just want you to know that.

0:57Speaker 4:The safe deposit number is in the top drawer of my dresser.

1:03Speaker 6:I didn't mean to hurt you.

1:04Speaker 4:Oh, my God.

1:05Speaker 2:We're heading towards the building.

1:06Speaker 6:I love you. You're the only one I love.

1:10Speaker 1:I love you, sweetheart.

1:18Speaker 7:Frank.

1:21Speaker 4:Where are you?

1:22Speaker 7:What?

1:23Speaker 4:Tell me where you are.

1:25Speaker 1:I was.

1:26Speaker 3:Back there.

1:28Speaker 7:At the towers. There were bodies. Pieces of them.

1:34Speaker 4:It was a dream, Frank. It was a fucking dream. You're here. You're home. With me.

1:41Speaker 7:I'm home.

1:45Speaker 4:And you're safe. You're safe.

1:50Speaker 7:They were despicable. The men who praised Allah's name while spilling American blood. But there were other villains in 9-11. And they were worse. They didn't fly the planes. They wore business suits. From the death of thousands of their fellow Americans, they set out to steal millions. I was there. I'm sorry. 25 years later, I still am. I said I'm sorry.

2:20Speaker 4:What for? Tonight we got two straight hours.

2:26Speaker 7:Can I get you something? Water. Ambient. What do you want from me?

2:41Speaker 4:I don't want anything from you. What I want is for it to be over. I want the dreams to stop.

2:50Speaker 7:So do I. You don't believe me? You think I enjoy this? Connie, you think I.

2:58Speaker 4:How would I know? You never talk about it. Since then, you never talk about anything.

3:05Speaker 7:That's the guy you married.

3:08Speaker 6:No.

3:09Speaker 4:That's who the guy I married became. Maybe you do enjoy it. Maybe that's why after all this time, you still won't get help. You choose that day over us. So do I believe you want the dreams to stop?

3:26Speaker 6:No.

3:28Speaker 4:I don't. Which one of us is going?

3:35Speaker 2:Where?

3:36Speaker 4:The den.

3:38Speaker 7:I will.

3:43Speaker 4:Do me a favor.

3:45Speaker 7:Whatever you need.

3:46Speaker 4:Shut the door.

3:51Speaker 7:Maybe Connie was right. Maybe I didn't want it to be over because... As horrible as living through those days were, nothing I've done before or since meant more to me.

4:08Speaker 5:Good morning. It's Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Primary day.

4:13Speaker 7:Frankie, you want eggs?

4:16Speaker 6:Sure.

4:17Speaker 7:What kind?

4:19Speaker 6:From a chicken.

4:20Speaker 7:We're growing a comedian.

4:22Speaker 4:Move it, or you're going to be late. What time you get in?

4:27Speaker 7:Ten after four.

4:29Speaker 4:God, you said you were through with all-nighters.

4:33Speaker 8:Frank.

4:34Speaker 7:Yeah?

4:35Speaker 4:It is what you said, isn't it?

4:39Speaker 7:I gotta justify the gold shield, don't I?

4:42Speaker 4:Only to you.

4:44Speaker 7:It was worth every minute. DA said it's as solid a Rico case as he's ever seen.

4:50Speaker 4:You gotta go in today?

4:53Speaker 7:Why wouldn't I?

4:54Speaker 4:Because you got in at ten after four. You could call in sick.

4:59Speaker 7:But I'm not.

5:00Speaker 4:Who's going to know?

5:03Speaker 2:I will.

5:04Speaker 4:Frank, for once. Dad, turn the TV up. There's a fire at the trade center.

5:10Speaker 1:What?

5:10Speaker 4:What's going on? Turn up that TV.

5:13Speaker 5:We're hearing reports of a fire breaking out in the north tower of the World Trade Center.

5:18Speaker 7:What the? I told you.

5:19Speaker 6:I think we can.

5:21Speaker 5:Across to live coverage now. You're looking at my video from our news helicopter hovering near the North Tower. Flames are visible at roughly 100 floors up. Down at street level is our very own Tracy Marquez.

5:39Speaker 4:Tracy?

5:41Speaker 8:Michael, dark smoke is billowing out of the North Tower, all but obscuring the sun. Rescue personnel are racing in. People arriving for work are, of course, being turned away. But there's an unknown number of people already inside the North Tower, I'm being told. Some appear to be trapped on the floors just above the fire.

6:00Speaker 7:Do we know what caused the fire? Is there any indication?

6:03Speaker 4:Oh, my God, those poor people. Okay, well, keep me posted, Tracy.

6:07Speaker 6:Thank you, boo. Anybody hear me? Go ahead, sir.

6:17Speaker 5:I'm fire department operator. I'm calling from the north tower.

6:23Speaker 6:What floor are you on?

6:25Speaker 4:Well, it's smoky. We're in an interior stairwell. On what floor?

6:30Speaker 8:One sec, one sec.

6:31Speaker 4:What floor are we on?

6:33Speaker 6:105. We're on our way.

6:42Speaker 4:How many people are with you?

6:45Speaker 1:Uh, six or seven girls, four or five men, one's pregnant, one's a girl.

6:53Speaker 4:They'll have units there soon.

6:55Speaker 6:Just stay where you are.

6:57Speaker 4:Where else are we gonna go?

6:58Speaker 6:They're on their way.

7:01Speaker 8:Rescue personnel are racing in. People arriving for work are, of course.

7:05Speaker 4:You think it was a plane or.

7:06Speaker 2:Something, Dad?

7:07Speaker 7:Clear day like this? No, probably an explosion inside the building. Maybe....

7:15Speaker 5:Hi, Mom.

7:17Speaker 7:I don't know if you heard, but there's a fire in the North Tower.

7:21Speaker 6:I'm in the South, so I'm okay. They told us to sit tight until.

7:26Speaker 3:It's under control.

7:27Speaker 2:See you tonight at the theater.

7:29Speaker 4:The show starts at 8.

7:31Speaker 6:Love you.

7:32Speaker 4:Bye.

7:36Speaker 5:It's becoming an increasingly dire situation at the North Tower. We've seen several people fall or jump from the building.

7:45Speaker 8:Michael, Michael, sorry to interrupt, but we just heard that an American Airlines plane disappeared from radar at JFK 20 minutes ago at.

7:54Speaker 6:The same time the fire in a North Tower erupted.

7:56Speaker 5:Tracy, you broke up for a second. Did you say... A plane went off JFK radar as the fire began in the North Tower?

8:03Speaker 6:Yes, that's right.

8:04Speaker 8:American number 11, which took off from Logan International in Boston on a flight to Los Angeles. Now, we don't know why it diverted to the New York area. Perhaps a mechanical issue of some sort.

8:16Speaker 7:Tracy?

8:17Speaker 6:I'm sorry.

8:17Speaker 3:Are you there?

8:18Speaker 6:Sorry. Here's another plane towards the Trade Center. What? It appears to also be a commercial jetliner.

8:25Speaker 4:It's, uh.

8:26Speaker 6:Oh, God, it's banking towards the South Tower.

8:28Speaker 7:What?

8:29Speaker 6:Heading directly at it.

8:30Speaker 4:What's happening?

8:31Speaker 7:Oh, my God.

8:32Speaker 6:Tracy, are you okay?

8:33Speaker 7:What's going on?

8:34Speaker 6:Three units went right through the building.

8:36Speaker 4:Christ.

8:37Speaker 2:How?

8:37Speaker 6:There's a huge explosion.

8:43Speaker 4:Frank, oh, my God.

8:45Speaker 7:Oh, my.

8:49Speaker 6:God.

8:52Speaker 4:Holy shit.

8:55Speaker 3:Christ.

8:57Speaker 8:Frank, oh, my God.

9:02Speaker 7:Jesus Christ, I gotta go.

9:04Speaker 4:Dad, no, Dad, don't.

9:05Speaker 7:You're gonna need all of us. I'll call you when I can.

9:07Speaker 4:Frank, be careful.

9:17Speaker 7:On a normal day, it would have been 15 minutes from my house to lower Manhattan. But as soon as I got to the Brooklyn Bridge, thousands of people in full panic were coming the other way. I left my car and ran toward the towers, even though I had no idea what I'd do when I got there.

9:42Speaker 6:A plane hit the building a couple of floors down from me.

9:45Speaker 7:The elevator's not working and there are flames coming up the stairwell. I just wanted.

9:51Speaker 6:To hear your voice. You've been the best mom. And if this is the.

9:57Speaker 7:End, I hope it's quick.

9:59Speaker 4:I hope it's quick.

10:01Speaker 6:And I'll see Dad in heaven.

10:08Speaker 7:Connie, it's me. I'm crossing the bridge.

10:11Speaker 6:It's completely blocked.

10:14Speaker 3:I don't know if you're getting this. Most of the cells are down. I see the smoke from the towers. Keep Frankie home. Keep Frankie home in case something happens to me.

10:25Speaker 7:I want you to be together. Connie, can you hear me?

10:30Speaker 5:Recapping this morning's stunning events, two commercial jets have crashed, apparently deliberately, into both towers of the World Trade Center. The fires they've ignited are out of control, and we've seen... Several people jumped to their deaths as emergency vehicles and rescue workers have raced to the scene. President Bush is currently in Florida, but will be leaving for a top-secret location. The White House says the president has placed the United States military on the highest state of preparedness.

11:06Speaker 7:When I got to the site, the first thing I saw was SWAT vehicles on fire.

11:10Speaker 2:Hey, Frank, over here.

11:13Speaker 6:Lenny.

11:13Speaker 7:Ben Fineman, an officer I trained at the academy base.

11:17Speaker 2:Good to see you. Good to see you too, my friend.

11:19Speaker 7:A narco detective. His nickname was the Hebrew Hammer.

11:24Speaker 2:Frankie, what are you doing with that stuff?

11:27Speaker 7:What, this? Ben pointed to the pick and shovel I was carrying. I thought it would be useful. I didn't remember taking them from my car. They must have looked ridiculous, but they were all I had.

11:39Speaker 2:Give me the shovel, Frankie.

11:42Speaker 6:Fred, get out!

11:43Speaker 4:Get out!

11:45Speaker 7:Those were the last words Ben ever said.

11:48Speaker 2:Benny!

11:49Speaker 7:Jesus Christ, I need a medic!

11:51Speaker 2:Over here!

11:51Speaker 7:Where's the firing coming from? It's the ordnance inside that SWAT truck. It caught fire.

11:56Speaker 2:Help my buddy, will ya?

11:58Speaker 7:I'll do what I can. But when I looked at Ben, I knew nothing would help. Oh, jeez. One of those bullets took off the top of his head.

12:11Speaker 6:Honey?

12:12Speaker 5:Mom?

12:13Speaker 8:I can't believe you got through.

12:15Speaker 5:I have been trying for an hour. You're wishing for me?

12:19Speaker 6:Yes, yes, I am. With all the fire department people there, I'm sure they're going to get to you soon, okay?

12:25Speaker 2:Mom!

12:25Speaker 5:Take a deep breath, okay?

12:27Speaker 3:I just wish I was holding you like when you were little.

12:31Speaker 1:I'm so sorry I'm not there.

12:33Speaker 6:Honey?

12:47Speaker 7:Tracy, go ahead.

12:48Speaker 5:What's happening there?

12:49Speaker 6:The South Tower is collapsing.

12:52Speaker 7:What?

12:53Speaker 8:Pancaking down floor after floor.

13:01Speaker 6:Oh, my God.

13:05Speaker 7:Oh, my God. How could this be happening? I... There are no words. This way.

13:16Speaker 2:This way. Come on.

13:17Speaker 6:This way.

13:17Speaker 2:Over here.

13:19Speaker 6:Get into any building you can find.

13:23Speaker 7:Any door that's open and you can close behind it. This way.

13:26Speaker 2:Oh, my God.

13:30Speaker 3:Hey, Frankie.

13:32Speaker 4:Hold me. Then pray for your dad. He'll be all right. He'll be all right. I mean, He asked to. He'll be fine.

13:54Speaker 7:I grew up in New York. Thought I knew every inch of it. But after walking blindly through that dust, I didn't know where I was. Then I realized I was closer to the North Tower than I was to the South, which should have meant I was on safer ground.

14:14Speaker 1:We have units in the building.

14:16Speaker 6:Just try and hang in there. Sir. Sir, can you hear me?

14:18Speaker 5:Sir. And the North Tower, having survived the South by half an hour, now joins its twin in a heap of flaming rubble.

14:56Speaker 7:There are things in life that fundamentally change you. Your kids are born. Your parents die. And when I watched those people, thousands of people, walking like ghosts through the dust of those collapsed towers, I knew however long I live, I'd never be the same. Do you know what.

15:22Speaker 2:The plan is? Okay, okay, ladies and gentlemen, listen up, settle down, please. We got a lot to cover in a short time. I'm NYPD Deputy Chief Mickey Cronin. I'm working in conjunction with the City Office of Emergency Management. On behalf of Mayor Giuliani, I want to briefly talk about the challenges we're facing. After that, we'll talk about your individual assignments.

15:49Speaker 7:We've suffered.

15:51Speaker 2:incalculable loss. But there's no time to mourn, because there's as much as 200 million tons of debris out there, and we've got to clean it up. To do that, we're going to need a small army of iron workers, structural engineers, truck drivers, boiler makers, pipe fitters, riggers, carpenters, cement masons, Red Cross volunteers, and as many K-9 units as we've got. Hey, Frank. Hey, Mick. Listen, I'm sorry about Ben Feynman. I liked him.

16:31Speaker 7:He was the best.

16:35Speaker 2:I was thinking about making you third in charge of the cleanup behind the mayor and me.

16:41Speaker 7:No thanks.

16:42Speaker 2:You know all the construction companies, the cartage outfits that carry away the debris? You've been vetting them for years. I need someone who'll do the job right. Someone like you, Frank.

16:54Speaker 7:Then get someone like me.

16:56Speaker 2:The genuine article's right here, pissing on my shoe.

16:59Speaker 7:People know we're close.

17:00Speaker 2:I'm not asking people.

17:03Speaker 7:I don't want it, Mick.

17:05Speaker 2:Because you're afraid you'll never come home?

17:06Speaker 7:Because I'm afraid I will. Only I'll be a guy my wife and kid don't even know.

17:16Speaker 2:You were made for this, Frank. Two reasons. When Frankie Jr. asked you what you did on that day the towers fell, you wouldn't have to say you were directing traffic on Queens Boulevard.

17:28Speaker 7:Reason two?

17:30Speaker 2:What if it was Connie out there, trapped in all that rubble, dying slowly, wondering why no one was coming to save her?

17:38Speaker 7:Flush, zip, and take the fucking job. Put that way, Mickey knew I would. And I knew he knew it. I flushed, I zipped, but what I didn't know was that at the same time on Staten Island, a meeting was coming to order. Called by guys who represented the Genoveses, the Colombos, Gambinos, Lucchesis, the crime families in New York. They had plans to turn a national tragedy into the greatest profit maker since Prohibition. And it would be up to me to stop them. This is Underground Zero, 9-11 and the Mob.

18:27Speaker 1:Underground Zero, 9-11 and the Mob is a production of Thoroughbred Studios, Goldhawk Productions, and iHeart Podcasts.