Bill O'Reilly to Newsmax: Recounting 9/11

Bill O'Reilly spoke with Newsmax about the tragedy that befell the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

Appearing Wednesday on "Spicer & Co.," O'Reilly said he was watching the news for work when he saw the first plane crash into the World Trade Center. "Some people said it was an accident. I knew it wasn't. And then it was followed by the second plane crashing into the Twin Towers."

But what was amazing, O'Reilly recalled, was that "within an hour, New York police had shut down every avenue into the city — into Manhattan. You could get to the outer boroughs, but you could not get into Manhattan. They sealed up the bridges and the tunnels in lightning quickness."

As the day drew on, it became apparent that many Long Island residents who worked as first responders were not coming home.

"I knew. ... I would say dozens of them. And the heartbreaking thing that week was their children who went to school that day, and they came home, and their mother or father, or uncle or aunt, brother or sister ... were dead. And that was just a crusher for the whole community. And the community has not recovered, even 20 years after. Because that kind of impact never leaves you," O'Reilly said.

"But on the positive front, everybody in New York came together. It was a heroic moment" for the first responders and everyone else involved, he said.

"And now to this day," O'Reilly concluded, "we help the families that were affected by the terror attack.''

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