August 31, 2026 • 36 mins
Hour 3 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focuses on the themes of moral responsibility, public empathy, faith, charity, the ongoing Lindsay Clancy trial, the approaching 25th anniversary of September 11, and the mission of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Hosting solo, Clay Travis continues several discussions from earlier in the program while also turning attention to remembrance, patriotism, and honoring first responders and military families.
The hour begins with follow-up discussion surrounding the state of American agriculture and food production after the previous hour's interview about the ranching industry. Clay reiterates concerns about declining U.S. cattle herds, food independence, domestic food production, and consumer awareness regarding American-made products. He argues that many consumers would prefer to support American ranchers and farmers if given greater transparency about where their food originates, tying the issue into broader conversations about economic self-sufficiency and national resilience.
A major portion of Hour 3 returns to the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, which remains one of the dominant news stories discussed throughout the broadcast. Clay addresses reactions from listeners and revisits what he sees as a growing cultural tendency to direct sympathy toward perpetrators rather than victims. He discusses the public debate surrounding the insanity defense, the jury's ongoing deliberations, and the visible support some individuals have shown for Clancy outside the courthouse. The conversation expands into broader questions about criminal responsibility, justice, victim advocacy, public morality, and how society responds to violent crimes involving children.
Throughout the hour, Clay repeatedly explores the concept of what he describes as "toxic empathy," arguing that public compassion is sometimes misdirected away from victims and toward those accused of committing serious crimes. He connects reactions to the Clancy case with public responses to other recent high-profile crimes and political acts of violence, raising concerns about cultural attitudes toward accountability, personal responsibility, and the normalization of extreme behavior. Listener calls and messages contribute to discussions about postpartum depression, mental illness, criminal punishment, and parental responsibility.
The hour also features a significant interview with Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, as the nation approaches the 25-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Siller shares the deeply personal story of his brother, New York City firefighter Stephen Siller, who sacrificed his life while responding to the attacks on September 11, 2001. The conversation reflects on the heroism displayed by firefighters, police officers, first responders, military service members, and civilians during and after one of the most consequential days in American history.
As part of the discussion, Siller explains the origins and mission of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, detailing its work supporting families of fallen first responders, military service members, catastrophically injured veterans, and Gold Star families. The interview highlights the organization's efforts to provide mortgage-free homes, fight veteran homelessness, fund education programs, and preserve the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the country. Clay and Siller also discuss upcoming events planned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11, including national remembrance initiatives, educational outreach, public ceremonies, and fundraising efforts.
Another key focus of Hour 3 is the importance of teaching younger generations about the events of September 11 and ensuring the history of the attacks is not forgotten. Siller describes educational programs, traveling exhibits, and curriculum initiatives designed to help students understand the significance of 9/11, the sacrifices made afterward, and the broader impact of the Global War on Terror. The discussion explores historical memory, civic education, patriotism, national unity, and the importance of preserving first-person accounts of major historical events.
The final segment broadens into reflections on modern political discourse, the role of history in shaping public understanding, and the dangers of cultural amnesia. Clay discusses comments made by various public figures about the United States and 9/11, arguing that historical ignorance can contribute to distorted understandings of national events and public policy. He encourages listeners to discuss history with younger generations and to remain engaged with civic and cultural issues that shape American society.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. It's just me today.
Buck will be back tomorrow. My thanks to Ben Spell
of Good Ranchers telling the story of American ranchers. And
a ton of you are weighing in who are in
the ranching industry and saying thank you for telling our story.
And I think a lot of people out there are staggered.
(00:21):
I'll put myself in this category. We're at 75-year lows
for herds.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
75-year lows? That doesn't feel good to me.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And again, if we want to be energy independent, which
we do, I think we also should be focused on
producing as much food as we possibly can inside of
this country. And to me, I think there are a
lot of you out there that would make decisions based
on what meat you're buying because you trust American production
standards more than you do foreign production standards. And so, again,
(00:55):
some of these laws that got passed, I didn't know.
And candidly, I'm not much of a shopper. A lot
of people out there, a lot of you are. I
am just happy when I can find whatever my wife
tells me I should have on my list when I
go into the grocery store. I feel like I scored
a touchdown when I can find the right product in
(01:16):
the right shelf, in the right aisle. So I am
not a savant when it comes to purchase of meats,
but Ben just told me that 5,000 of you were
on his website. And I just encourage you to do
your research. And it doesn't seem like a crazy decision
to make to say, hey, we should be doing more
(01:37):
to support American ranchers out there. So several different aspects
of that. If you have heard us, we are still
waiting for the verdict in the Lindsey Clancy case. And
I know that a lot of men... at least initially,
were not paying attention to this story. Every woman in
(01:59):
America is. I'm just going to be honest with you.
There is not a woman in America that has not
had a conversation, certainly not a mom in America, that
has not had a conversation about this Lindsay Clancy case.
And in hour one, I teed off because this data
out here that I talked about in the Wall Street
Journal from... all of these individuals having their empathy that
(02:26):
goes towards the wrong people, whether it's the UnitedHealthcare CEO,
Brian Thompson, whether it was Charlie Kirk, whether it's Lindsay Clancy,
how we decide to render empathy in this country is
a big part of, I think, the way the innate
goodness of this country typically comes through. For instance, In
(02:48):
the wake of Hurricane Helene, mercifully, by the way, very
quiet hurricane season. I'm knocking on the table here for
all of you in Florida out there. Mercifully, we've had
a very light hurricane season so far. When Hurricane Helene hit,
We wanted to shine a light on the people suffering
in Western North Carolina, in East Tennessee. And if you remember,
(03:12):
I went in on a helicopter because you couldn't otherwise
get into the Asheville area.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
We shared videos. We flew over.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Dolly Parton passed last week. One of the things that
she did such an amazing job of was helping people
in times of need. And the data actually reflects that
the states that most support Trump are the states that
typically are the highest donors when it comes to people
in need. That is, people who tend to vote conservative
(03:43):
tend to actually open up their wallets. I've talked about
this before with our friend Frank Siller, who's going to
be on with us as we come up on nearly
the 25th anniversary of 9-11. He said if you watch
Fox News, you probably see a lot of Tunnel to
Towers ads. If you listen to this program, you know
we're happy to be partners with Tunnel to Towers and
to not only be partners, but to have donated money ourselves.
(04:05):
I said, how come you don't advertise on MSNBC or CNN?
He said, we tried it. People there do not actually
support charities like ours.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I said, that doesn't seem very good.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
All you're doing is helping when cops get killed, when
first responders get killed, when the families of those who
lost their lives on 9-11 die. and 9-11-related illnesses, service members,
all of these people who are serving the country, trying
to make us all safer when they actually pass, all
you're doing is raising money for them.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
He said, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
He said, but our ads don't work on MSNBC. Really
kind of staggering.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
People on the left, they think that other people should
lend a hand. They probably think this is.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Why we should have 90% tax rates. The government should
do everything. Individuals shouldn't be responsible for helping other individuals.
That's what big government is for. Most of you in
this audience, that's not what you believe. Well, I think
that's significant.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Now, 800-282-2882.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
We've had some moms that are mad at me. Because, frankly,
I have zero empathy whatsoever for Lindsay Clancy. Well, I'm
not going to apologize for it. I have empathy for
the five-year-old she strangled. I have empathy for the three-year-old
(05:41):
she strangled. I have empathy for the eight-month-old she strangled.
I have empathy for that dad who came back home.
I have empathy for those grandparents who lost their grandchildren.
I have empathy for all of those people. I have
zero empathy for Lindsay Clancy.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
She did it.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
And I think what we have seen is very often
there is toxic empathy. I was just watching on MSNBC.
There are women in pink standing outside the courtroom, the courthouse,
hoping to celebrate Lindsay Clancy being found not guilty by
(06:22):
reason of insanity.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Think about that for a minute.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Everything going on in the world today, there are lots
of women in Massachusetts today, maybe they're even driving in
across state lines, to show up and celebrate if a
mom of three who choked her kids to death is
(06:49):
found not guilty. There is a profound evil that has
settled on this country. So the New York Times says 20%, roughly,
1 in 6, right around 1 in 5, of Americans
support Luigi Mangione, who killed the health care CEO. They
(07:11):
support Tyler Robinson, who killed Charlie Kirk. They support Lindsay Clancy,
who killed her three kids. These are broken, broken, evil perspectives.
This is why I get fired up by the people
out there. And we got a lot of them in
this audience still. Ask the vice president about last time
(07:33):
we had him on. This is why I get upset
about all the people out there who say, oh, Charlie
Kirk wasn't killed by Tyler Robinson. It was Israel. It
was an exploding microphone. It was Erica Kirk. You know,
we're not having a conversation about far left wing violence
(07:54):
as it pertains to Charlie Kirk one year after his murder,
because so many people on the Internet have decided to
embrace crazy conspiracy theories that the fact that this guy
was sleeping with a dude pretending to be a chick.
And as a result, got radicalized by the trans agenda
so much that he wrote pro-trans messaging on the shell
(08:19):
casings of the bullets that he fired. And the story
isn't actually that at all. It is actually all of
the conspiracies. And as a result, when you look, hey, 20%
of Americans, you saw the video celebrating Charlie Kirk being killed.
There's going to be more people killed. Because for a
(08:39):
lot of people, Luigi Mangione's a hero. For a lot
of people, Tyler Robinson is a hero. And instead of
talking about that profound sickness for a lot of people,
Lindsay Clancy's not responsible for what she did. She's the
victim here.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
This is something we'll believe. You're all wrong.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
The victim here are the five-year-old, the three-year-old, and the
eight-month-old that she choked to death for minutes as those
babies desperately tried to survive as they looked up in
their mom's eyes as she choked them all out.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Awful.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Violent. With her own hands. Vile even by the standards
of murder.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You know, back in the day, they used to say,
Civil War soldiers, they didn't like to fight with bayonets.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Why?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
You ever notice those old rifles? You notice the way
they have the bayonet on the end, which is basically
just a knife on the end of those muskets? They
didn't like to fight that way. Because when you fought
that way, it was brutal and nasty death. You're stabbing
(10:10):
people to death face to face. You're seeing their eyes.
It's hand-to-hand combat.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
If you study.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Modern day, even back to as gunfire became more prevalent,
hand-to-hand combat is actually pretty rare. Because even soldiers who
are trained to kill, viscerally, when you kill people with
your own hands, it is nasty on a level that
(10:40):
is far more difficult than if you, from behind a
breastworks gun, if you're just firing a gun from distance.
So when you would have those charges back in the
Civil War, the actual hand-to-hand combat moments of fighting were
very rare and did not typically last very long because
(11:02):
killing up close, face-to-face, eye-to-eye is distasteful even to people
in armies who are trained to kill. That's how Lindsay
Clancy killed her kids. She didn't shoot them from some
far distance. She didn't even put them in a car
back in the day. Remember, put them into a car
(11:24):
and drive into the water, drive off a cliff. She
held them in her arms and choked them to death
as they watched the other siblings and as they begged
for their life from her, asking her.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Not to kill them. And she did it.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
So I'm sorry if you are out there and you're saying,
I have empathy for Lindsay Clancy. I think you are
allowing your empathy to be misguided, misdirected, and led in
a toxic direction.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Most people who.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Commit violent acts have mental illness. If Lindsay Clancy... had
slept with a 17-year-old as a teacher in Boston, she
would be strictly liable. It wouldn't matter any defense because
we believe that children should be protected from authority figures.
(12:30):
She would have no defense under Massachusetts law. The fact
that she's able to argue, I'm not guilty by reason
of insanity. I should be let right back out onto
the streets as soon as some doctor says, oh, she's
not mentally insane anymore. Let's let her go right back out.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Into the world.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And the fact that women are showing up in pink
shirts and celebrating her is, to me, evidence of a deep, dark,
sadistic sickness that has taken over the country, that connects
with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, that connects with the
assassination of Brian Thompson, and that leads us into a
very dark place.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Open phone lines.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
800-282-2882. I will allow all of you to weigh in
on a variety of different topics that we have dove
into today. Christine sends an email. She says, great talk show.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Appreciate it. Where's the justice for the children?
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I get so upset even when parents leave their kids
in a hot car. How do we know it was intentional?
It's actually a really good point. Parents get prosecuted all
the time for leaving kids in hot cars, often totally
without intent.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
And many parents get prosecuted in those cases. Awful stories.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
That's why we have backseat alerts now. For those of
you out there who've dropped off kids at school, who've
dropped off youngsters at daycares, your brain freezes, you get
outside of your normal routine, and you don't drop the
kids off, and you go to work, and then you
just think to yourself, oh my goodness, my kids are
(14:13):
still in that hot car. I mean, parents get prosecuted
for that. It's a totally inadvertent act. Lindsay Clancy intended
to do what she did.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
There is no defense.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Whatsoever for her, in my opinion, but I think this
jury is going to let her off. I think the
longer it goes on, the more likely it becomes that
they're going to say she's not guilty by reason of insanity.
And all those women in pink are going to be
celebrating like their team just won the Super Bowl. Tell
me that isn't sick. Businesses need protection of one kind
(14:55):
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(15:18):
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(15:39):
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Speaker 2 (15:48):
Looking for normal in a world of crazy? Clay and
Buck have your back. Welcome back in, Clay and Buck.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
We got loaded lines. We also have some talkbacks. Let's
hit podcast listener Melissa in Texas.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Cut L.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Hi, this is Melissa from San Antonio. When my daughter
was born seven years ago, I suffered from severe postpartum
depression to the point that I was planning to end
my own life. The only reason I didn't is because
something inside of me started reminding me that she needed
her mommy. That said, I believe any parent who decides
that their children do not deserve to live while they
get to continue to live on deserves the entire book
(16:25):
thrown at them. Full period.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Stop.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
No excuses. Lock them up.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
I agree with everything Melissa just said. Dina in Colorado,
thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You're up next.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Hi, Clay. First of all, thanks for taking my call.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
I wanted to say that I 100% agree with you
about the lady that killed her three babies. I have
zero empathy for her, and I.
I just like when you look into her eyes, they're
like black. She is some kind of evil, I believe.
(17:05):
And I like you said the other day that I
think she deserves to die. Like, that's my opinion.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Thank you for the call. Look, I will be honest
with all of you. If my three boys weren't here,
I wouldn't want to continue to live. Just being honest.
And God forbid I had something to do in any
way with their death. What is she fighting for? Not
(17:37):
guilty by reason of insanity. She goes out into the world.
Are women going to be paying her to come speak
as if she's some.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Sort of hero? It's a dark story.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
When we come back, a dark story of 9-11 that
has been helped by, as we come up on the
25th anniversary, an incredible, great business that helps so many
Tunnel to Towers, the charitable organization.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
We're going to tell you about.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
More of them, but I want all of you to
hear about all the work that Tunnel to Towers does
and everything that they have meant for everyone out there
for the 25th anniversary. In honor of the 343 members
of the New York City Fire Department who made the
ultimate sacrifice, the foundation's delivering 343 mortgage-free homes to heroes
(18:27):
and their families while continuing an effort to eradicate veteran homelessness.
Throughout this historic year, the foundation's holding hundreds of runs, walks, climbs,
golf outings, not to mention the iconic tower climb in
a 5K event. I'm going to be up in Washington, D.C.
for a gala event to raise a ton of money
next week for Tunnel to Towers. Frank Siller will tell
(18:48):
us all about it next. You can join the donators
at T2T. org. That's T2T. org. Appreciate all of you hanging out
with us. Buck will be back tomorrow. He's with his
family today. We are joined now by our friend Frank Siller, chairman, CEO,
Tunnel to Towers Foundation, author of a new memoir, Let
(19:09):
Us Do Good. We are coming up on the 25th
anniversary of 9-11. And Frank, I just want to give
you an opportunity. I'm going to be up in D.C.
next week helping to raise money at a gala event
in Washington, D.C., I'll let you tell people about that event,
what they can do to help in their own worlds
(19:32):
for the 25th anniversary of 9-11, which is next Friday,
a week from Friday, just about 12 days from now-ish. Frank,
that day, I do think it's important to remind people,
what was your 9-11 like 25 years ago today? and
what inspired you to create tunnel to towers.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Well the last part's easy to answer what inspired me
was my brother stephen who gave his life up on
9-11 and um we were uh so everyone remembers that's
old enough where they were on september 11 2001 for
my family, my brother, uh, Steven was a firefighter. We
just finished his night tour and squad one in Brooklyn
(20:15):
was an elite, an elite firehouse. And he was going
to play golf with my brother, Russ, my brother, George
and myself. And he was already left work. He was
on his way home. And he heard on his radio
scanner that the North tower was hit by a plane. He, uh,
called his wife up. He said, Sally, tell my brothers,
I'll try to catch up with them later. Starting this
truck around, drove back to the firehouse, got his gear. And, uh,
(20:40):
His company had already responded, so he just drove to
the mouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, a tunnel for
you listeners that might not know. It connects downtown Brooklyn
with downtown Manhattan. It's almost two miles long, and it
was closed for security reasons. So he strapped his gear
on his back, 60 pounds, ran through that Brooklyn Battery Tunnel,
(21:01):
went up West Street into what we believe was the
South Tower because that's where other FDNY Squad 1 members
were recovered. And while going up those stairs, saving people,
he gave up his life. And, you know, on 9-11
that day when we, you know, we were we gathered,
you know, we gathered as a family at one point
(21:23):
at 9.59 a.m. on September 11th, 2001, when the South
Tower came down, second tower hit, first tower that collapsed.
I turned to my mother-in-law, who was up at my
house at this time, and I said, Nancy, I think
I just lost my brother. and overcome with emotion, I
left my house. I drove around different firehouses. I tried
(21:44):
to find out, you know, everybody heard about Stephen. I
eventually heard he was on a list of missing firefighters.
And then later in the afternoon, after I asked my siblings,
you know, Stephen was the youngest of seven of us.
He was our little miracle. He was born, my oldest
brother was 24 years old when my brother Stephen was born.
(22:05):
I was the closest in age. I was 14. And when, um,
and so we gathered at my house, all my siblings.
And in the afternoon, I got a phone call from
a firefighter, Richie Obermeyer, who lived a couple of doors
from my brother, Steven. And he called me up and
he said, Frank, I'm down at ground zero. It's really
(22:26):
bad down here. And I said, yeah, Rich, I know
I'm sitting in my living room, watching TV, my whole family,
my sisters, my brothers, um, and we're watching. And, um,
He goes, no, Frank, it's really bad down here. I said, Rich,
I can't imagine. We're praying for you guys. He goes,
you know, Stephen's on a list of missing firefighters. I said,
(22:47):
I'm aware of that, Rich. And he hesitated. And he says, Frank,
it is bad. I said, Rich, I know. He said, Frank,
you don't understand. Nobody's coming home. And my heart dropped.
I had to walk in the other room. And tell
(23:08):
my siblings that our little brother was not coming home.
But you have to understand, my brother was orphaned by
the time he was 10 years old. My mom and
dad died by the time he was 10 years old.
And we raised him. And we couldn't believe that... now
he's gone.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
And his kids are not going to know this glorious,
outrageous human being who suffered so much as a child and, and,
and grew up to be this outrageous human being to
make this ultimate sacrifice. And of course we didn't know
a hundred percent what he did that day until later
on when we pieced it together. But to do that,
to do what he did and so many great heroes,
(23:51):
what they did on that day, we started, we decided
as a family to start a foundation and, Here we
are 25 years later, making sure we do good and
not just his name, but in honor of so many others.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Frank, what's your reaction when you hear what is becoming
somewhat commonplace? People like Hassan Piker say America deserved 9-11.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Well, it's so, you know, I've stayed apolitical for 25 years.
All right. But that's my brother. He's talking about. I
am so angry at him and people like him that
might say something like that or or say something as
ridiculous as that with the greatest country that ever existed
(24:36):
in the world. We've helped so many countries and so
many people. You know, it's incredible that somebody could say
that people like that hate America. They don't even understand. Meanwhile,
he's got he's got plenty. He's made plenty. And he's
got the nerves to talk about. you know, capitalism or
whatever it may be. But I'm going to stay in
(24:57):
my lane to help all these families that pay the
ultimate sacrifice that gives him the right to say these outrageous,
ridiculous things and gives anybody else in America the right
to speak and freedom of speech. But most Americans, they care.
After 9-11, we saw America come together on 9-12. We
(25:18):
saw it. Anytime in America's history, When something horrific has happened,
we all come together as Americans. And we do that
as a foundation. We bring both sides of the aisles together.
Nobody asks if somebody gives their limbs, is a Republican
or a Democrat? Nobody cares. We want to take care
(25:39):
of them. Somebody dies in the line of duty, we
don't say, oh, what religion was he? What color is he?
Nobody cares. We want to be there for every American
that puts their life on the line. to protect our country.
And that's where we're going to stay as a foundation.
But does it get me angry? I'd be lying if
I told you it didn't, because it does.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
We're talking to Frank Siller. Frank, it's been 25 years.
For those of us most in this audience, I think
that can remember exactly where we were on 9-11. I
got an 18-year-old kid. He just went off to college.
you remember when you're a young guy, young gal, whatever
(26:24):
happened before you were born felt like ancient history. A
lot of times, as you know, and I'm a history guy,
we start off teaching history and we've run out of
the school year. A lot of teachers out there know
exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe you make it.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
To World War II.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
There's not a lot of discussion about quote-unquote modern history.
How important is it for kids to understand what happened
on that day? How well do you think people are
being instructed about that day? And what are you trying
to do to make sure that they are aware of it?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
So it's so important. And thank you for saying this.
So one of the reasons why we have a piece
of ground zero steel beam weighing almost 17,000 pounds over
20 feet long in this beautiful truck that we built
to So so we take care of it in a
sacred way because it's a sacred piece of steel and
(27:19):
it's going all around the country. We're going to be
I'm going to be West Point tomorrow. I'll be at
West Point with that piece of steel with so many
great heroes. Then we're going down to the the ellipse
down in D.C. and we're going to have so many.
Great Americans join us there, including the president on September 8th.
(27:43):
And then we're back on September 11th. We'll be walking
through the tunnel with that steel with my family, my kids,
my grandkids, my siblings, Stephen's wife and his and some
of his children will be going through that with that
steel on that day to remember that what happened, the
sacrifice that was made. But we have a curriculum K
through 12. You can go to T2T. org. Hit a button.
(28:06):
You can go right to 9-11 Institute. You can request.
We have a museum, a 93-foot tractor-trailer truck that goes
all across America all year long. Opens up to 1,100-square-foot
museum with 9-11 artifacts in it. New York City firefighters
are with it to tell the story of 9-11. We
do that all year long. But I'm going to tell
(28:26):
you right now, and this is a promise. that you're
going to hear here and America is going to hear
for quite a while. We are going to make such
a concerted effort to teach that the one third of
America that wasn't even born on September 11, 2001, what
happened that day and what could happen again if we
ever forget. And why we're the greatest country, why 343
(28:48):
firefighters and why we delivered 343 mortgage free homes this year,
why they had the courage to run in. and give
their lives. 60 police officers, 7,000 men and women that
went to war because of what happened on 9-11. on
the global war on terror, gave their lives for us.
There's 7,000 families that don't have their mom and dad
or their husband or wife because of what happened on 9-11.
(29:10):
Those are the dying in 9-11 illnesses continuously because they
went to ground zero and they got on their hands
and knees and they dug through that dirt, muck and
dust and steel looking for survivors and then looking to
recover these bodies. We have to tell those stories now.
And that's what the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, we're not
just going to build all these houses. Now that it's
(29:32):
a just, delivering all these mortgage-free homes, it's a lot
more than that. It's what we do. You know what
we do. You talk about it all the time. Clay,
and I do appreciate it. But we must make sure
people never forget what happened 25 years ago.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
All right.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
I'm going to be with you next week in D.C.
on September 8th, just a few days in advance of
that 25th anniversary for people that are listening to you
right now. And I mentioned earlier that one reason you
advertise on this program, one reason you advertise on Fox
News is people respond. They want to extend a hand
(30:07):
and help. For people out there that are listening right now,
what can they do to help you honor your brother's legacy,
the legacy of over 3,000 people who gave their lives,
and ensure that they are not forgotten and we continue
to do good in their honor?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
So, you know, Clay, we ask for $ 11 a month.
Go to t2t. org, t2t.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Org.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I don't think we're asking for a lot. You know,
the fire department says many hands makes light work. When
we bring millions and millions of people together, which we
are doing We're able to keep all these promises where,
you know, we delivered over 2,000 mortgage-free homes over the last,
I'd say, 25 years, but we've really only been doing
that part of the programs over the last 15 years.
(30:48):
It's remarkable. In 15 years, we delivered over 2,000 mortgage-free
homes to catastrophic leisure service members, Gold Star families, fallen
first responder families, died in the line of duty that
leave young children behind, eradicating homelessness amongst our veterans, and,
of course, last but not least, the Mayor of George Silla,
scholarship program where we're paying off scholars uh college tuitions
(31:10):
for the great kids that you know parents have paid
the ultimate sacrifice we're doing all that 11 at a
time 11 at a time so t2t. org um it makes
a tremendous difference frank.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Thanks for everything you do i look forward to seeing
you next week i know it's going to be a
very challenging time for a lot of people out there
that lost loved ones but let's all try to do
a little bit better uh to make the world a
little bit better, T2T.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Org. We appreciate the time, sir. Thanks for the work.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
God bless you.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
That is Frank Siller. And again, the work that he
and his organization do is absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I want to tell you about our friends at Chalk.
If you're out there right.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Now, and maybe Monday you don't have the energy that
you would like to have.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Maybe you've been chasing around the kids or the grandkids.
Maybe you're like me.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Going to head out to a football game, and it's
going to be 110 degrees. This afternoon, it feels like, well,
you're sitting there baking in the bleachers, and you're going
to be thinking to yourself, boy, I am just seeing
all my energy just vanish right out of my body.
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(32:24):
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(32:55):
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Speaker 2 (32:57):
Get hooked up today. Miss the show while you're on
the go?
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Wind down your day with the Daily Review Podcast. Find
it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. Buck will be back
with me tomorrow. If you don't hear Frank Siller telling
that story about his baby brother, 24 years younger than
(33:24):
his other siblings, 14 years younger than him, gave his
life sprinting through that tunnel. For those of you in
the New York City area, 60 pounds of gear. We're
coming up on the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And I
know for a lot of you, you will have the
same reaction that I have, which is I can't believe
(33:46):
it's been 25 years. Because you can still go back
in time and remember exactly how it felt for you
in that moment when you saw what happened on that day.
For those of us out there that maybe you got
young kids and they don't remember, the entire cell phone grid,
(34:09):
remember this? It was basically impossible to make a phone call.
You could not make a phone call on the eastern
half of the United States. I was a first-year law student.
I was in my torts class. We didn't have at
(34:29):
that point in time, and now everybody's got Wi-Fi and
they got their laptops and their cell phones. You have
the ability to know everything instantaneously. We didn't have it
at that point in time. I remember walking back out.
They had wheeled in televisions, which they typically did not
have at that point in time in the center of
Vanderbilt Law School. And I watched the towers collapse right
(34:55):
there standing in the center of the foyer of Vanderbilt
Law School. 25 years now, it has been since then.
And you heard how fired up Frank got. There are
now people out there publicly saying America deserved it. For
(35:16):
all of you out there listening, in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed
campaigned alongside of Hassan Piker, who said, America deserves 9-11.
Can you imagine, if you were a politician, begging for
(35:37):
the support of someone's followers who was saying something that awful?
We started off the show by talking about evil and
how it takes root in the country. I mean real evil.
The kind of, I'm going to murder my kids evil.
The kind of, I'm going to shoot a dad in
cold blood on the street in Manhattan. I'm going to
(35:59):
kill another dad in Utah when he's sitting talking about
the importance of free speech and debating issues like Charlie
Kirk was, like Brian Thompson, the healthcare CEO was. I
would submit to you, It's when evil is voiced and
people accepted. When you hear people say America deserved 9-11
(36:22):
and then you have Democrat Senate candidates in states like
Michigan on the stage together saying, hey, support me. When
you have Mom Donnie who can't even explain who killed
all those people. Islamic terrorists who hate Western civilization and America.
(36:44):
History Matters. Teach it to your kids. We'll be back
with all of you tomorrow.
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. It's just me today.
Buck will be back tomorrow. My thanks to Ben Spell
of Good Ranchers telling the story of American ranchers. And
a ton of you are weighing in who are in
the ranching industry and saying thank you for telling our story.
And I think a lot of people out there are staggered.
(00:21):
I'll put myself in this category. We're at 75-year lows
for herds.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
75-year lows? That doesn't feel good to me.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And again, if we want to be energy independent, which
we do, I think we also should be focused on
producing as much food as we possibly can inside of
this country. And to me, I think there are a
lot of you out there that would make decisions based
on what meat you're buying because you trust American production
standards more than you do foreign production standards. And so, again,
(00:55):
some of these laws that got passed, I didn't know.
And candidly, I'm not much of a shopper. A lot
of people out there, a lot of you are. I
am just happy when I can find whatever my wife
tells me I should have on my list when I
go into the grocery store. I feel like I scored
a touchdown when I can find the right product in
(01:16):
the right shelf, in the right aisle. So I am
not a savant when it comes to purchase of meats,
but Ben just told me that 5,000 of you were
on his website. And I just encourage you to do
your research. And it doesn't seem like a crazy decision
to make to say, hey, we should be doing more
(01:37):
to support American ranchers out there. So several different aspects
of that. If you have heard us, we are still
waiting for the verdict in the Lindsey Clancy case. And
I know that a lot of men... at least initially,
were not paying attention to this story. Every woman in
(01:59):
America is. I'm just going to be honest with you.
There is not a woman in America that has not
had a conversation, certainly not a mom in America, that
has not had a conversation about this Lindsay Clancy case.
And in hour one, I teed off because this data
out here that I talked about in the Wall Street
Journal from... all of these individuals having their empathy that
(02:26):
goes towards the wrong people, whether it's the UnitedHealthcare CEO,
Brian Thompson, whether it was Charlie Kirk, whether it's Lindsay Clancy,
how we decide to render empathy in this country is
a big part of, I think, the way the innate
goodness of this country typically comes through. For instance, In
(02:48):
the wake of Hurricane Helene, mercifully, by the way, very
quiet hurricane season. I'm knocking on the table here for
all of you in Florida out there. Mercifully, we've had
a very light hurricane season so far. When Hurricane Helene hit,
We wanted to shine a light on the people suffering
in Western North Carolina, in East Tennessee. And if you remember,
(03:12):
I went in on a helicopter because you couldn't otherwise
get into the Asheville area.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
We shared videos. We flew over.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Dolly Parton passed last week. One of the things that
she did such an amazing job of was helping people
in times of need. And the data actually reflects that
the states that most support Trump are the states that
typically are the highest donors when it comes to people
in need. That is, people who tend to vote conservative
(03:43):
tend to actually open up their wallets. I've talked about
this before with our friend Frank Siller, who's going to
be on with us as we come up on nearly
the 25th anniversary of 9-11. He said if you watch
Fox News, you probably see a lot of Tunnel to
Towers ads. If you listen to this program, you know
we're happy to be partners with Tunnel to Towers and
to not only be partners, but to have donated money ourselves.
(04:05):
I said, how come you don't advertise on MSNBC or CNN?
He said, we tried it. People there do not actually
support charities like ours.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I said, that doesn't seem very good.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
All you're doing is helping when cops get killed, when
first responders get killed, when the families of those who
lost their lives on 9-11 die. and 9-11-related illnesses, service members,
all of these people who are serving the country, trying
to make us all safer when they actually pass, all
you're doing is raising money for them.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
He said, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
He said, but our ads don't work on MSNBC. Really
kind of staggering.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
People on the left, they think that other people should
lend a hand. They probably think this is.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Why we should have 90% tax rates. The government should
do everything. Individuals shouldn't be responsible for helping other individuals.
That's what big government is for. Most of you in
this audience, that's not what you believe. Well, I think
that's significant.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Now, 800-282-2882.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
We've had some moms that are mad at me. Because, frankly,
I have zero empathy whatsoever for Lindsay Clancy. Well, I'm
not going to apologize for it. I have empathy for
the five-year-old she strangled. I have empathy for the three-year-old
(05:41):
she strangled. I have empathy for the eight-month-old she strangled.
I have empathy for that dad who came back home.
I have empathy for those grandparents who lost their grandchildren.
I have empathy for all of those people. I have
zero empathy for Lindsay Clancy.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
She did it.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
And I think what we have seen is very often
there is toxic empathy. I was just watching on MSNBC.
There are women in pink standing outside the courtroom, the courthouse,
hoping to celebrate Lindsay Clancy being found not guilty by
(06:22):
reason of insanity.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Think about that for a minute.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Everything going on in the world today, there are lots
of women in Massachusetts today, maybe they're even driving in
across state lines, to show up and celebrate if a
mom of three who choked her kids to death is
(06:49):
found not guilty. There is a profound evil that has
settled on this country. So the New York Times says 20%, roughly,
1 in 6, right around 1 in 5, of Americans
support Luigi Mangione, who killed the health care CEO. They
(07:11):
support Tyler Robinson, who killed Charlie Kirk. They support Lindsay Clancy,
who killed her three kids. These are broken, broken, evil perspectives.
This is why I get fired up by the people
out there. And we got a lot of them in
this audience still. Ask the vice president about last time
(07:33):
we had him on. This is why I get upset
about all the people out there who say, oh, Charlie
Kirk wasn't killed by Tyler Robinson. It was Israel. It
was an exploding microphone. It was Erica Kirk. You know,
we're not having a conversation about far left wing violence
(07:54):
as it pertains to Charlie Kirk one year after his murder,
because so many people on the Internet have decided to
embrace crazy conspiracy theories that the fact that this guy
was sleeping with a dude pretending to be a chick.
And as a result, got radicalized by the trans agenda
so much that he wrote pro-trans messaging on the shell
(08:19):
casings of the bullets that he fired. And the story
isn't actually that at all. It is actually all of
the conspiracies. And as a result, when you look, hey, 20%
of Americans, you saw the video celebrating Charlie Kirk being killed.
There's going to be more people killed. Because for a
(08:39):
lot of people, Luigi Mangione's a hero. For a lot
of people, Tyler Robinson is a hero. And instead of
talking about that profound sickness for a lot of people,
Lindsay Clancy's not responsible for what she did. She's the
victim here.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
This is something we'll believe. You're all wrong.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
The victim here are the five-year-old, the three-year-old, and the
eight-month-old that she choked to death for minutes as those
babies desperately tried to survive as they looked up in
their mom's eyes as she choked them all out.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Awful.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Violent. With her own hands. Vile even by the standards
of murder.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You know, back in the day, they used to say,
Civil War soldiers, they didn't like to fight with bayonets.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Why?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
You ever notice those old rifles? You notice the way
they have the bayonet on the end, which is basically
just a knife on the end of those muskets? They
didn't like to fight that way. Because when you fought
that way, it was brutal and nasty death. You're stabbing
(10:10):
people to death face to face. You're seeing their eyes.
It's hand-to-hand combat.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
If you study.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Modern day, even back to as gunfire became more prevalent,
hand-to-hand combat is actually pretty rare. Because even soldiers who
are trained to kill, viscerally, when you kill people with
your own hands, it is nasty on a level that
(10:40):
is far more difficult than if you, from behind a
breastworks gun, if you're just firing a gun from distance.
So when you would have those charges back in the
Civil War, the actual hand-to-hand combat moments of fighting were
very rare and did not typically last very long because
(11:02):
killing up close, face-to-face, eye-to-eye is distasteful even to people
in armies who are trained to kill. That's how Lindsay
Clancy killed her kids. She didn't shoot them from some
far distance. She didn't even put them in a car
back in the day. Remember, put them into a car
(11:24):
and drive into the water, drive off a cliff. She
held them in her arms and choked them to death
as they watched the other siblings and as they begged
for their life from her, asking her.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Not to kill them. And she did it.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
So I'm sorry if you are out there and you're saying,
I have empathy for Lindsay Clancy. I think you are
allowing your empathy to be misguided, misdirected, and led in
a toxic direction.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Most people who.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Commit violent acts have mental illness. If Lindsay Clancy... had
slept with a 17-year-old as a teacher in Boston, she
would be strictly liable. It wouldn't matter any defense because
we believe that children should be protected from authority figures.
(12:30):
She would have no defense under Massachusetts law. The fact
that she's able to argue, I'm not guilty by reason
of insanity. I should be let right back out onto
the streets as soon as some doctor says, oh, she's
not mentally insane anymore. Let's let her go right back out.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Into the world.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And the fact that women are showing up in pink
shirts and celebrating her is, to me, evidence of a deep, dark,
sadistic sickness that has taken over the country, that connects
with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, that connects with the
assassination of Brian Thompson, and that leads us into a
very dark place.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Open phone lines.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
800-282-2882. I will allow all of you to weigh in
on a variety of different topics that we have dove
into today. Christine sends an email. She says, great talk show.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Appreciate it. Where's the justice for the children?
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I get so upset even when parents leave their kids
in a hot car. How do we know it was intentional?
It's actually a really good point. Parents get prosecuted all
the time for leaving kids in hot cars, often totally
without intent.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
And many parents get prosecuted in those cases. Awful stories.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
That's why we have backseat alerts now. For those of
you out there who've dropped off kids at school, who've
dropped off youngsters at daycares, your brain freezes, you get
outside of your normal routine, and you don't drop the
kids off, and you go to work, and then you
just think to yourself, oh my goodness, my kids are
(14:13):
still in that hot car. I mean, parents get prosecuted
for that. It's a totally inadvertent act. Lindsay Clancy intended
to do what she did.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
There is no defense.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Whatsoever for her, in my opinion, but I think this
jury is going to let her off. I think the
longer it goes on, the more likely it becomes that
they're going to say she's not guilty by reason of insanity.
And all those women in pink are going to be
celebrating like their team just won the Super Bowl. Tell
me that isn't sick. Businesses need protection of one kind
(14:55):
or another to operate effectively. If your business has a
lot of consumer foot traffic, you need insurance for the
customer that trips and falls. If your business moves a
lot of cargo, vehicles need to be insured too. Just
the cost of doing business. Do you have the right
insurance for your business? If you're a business owner or
operator with business insurance, you've likely got an agent. How
do you make sure that you've got the right insurance
(15:18):
for your business? You need to get connected with SuperSure.
If your company has more than 25 employees, whether you're
the owner, CFO, HR manager, it can be too complex
to just buy a policy online. You want to talk
to someone, understand what you're buying. That's why you need
to go to SuperSure.com slash Clay. One super agency, one
(15:39):
powerful platform. SuperSure.com slash Clay. Paid for by SuperSure Insurance Agency, LLC,
a licensed insurance agency.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Looking for normal in a world of crazy? Clay and
Buck have your back. Welcome back in, Clay and Buck.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
We got loaded lines. We also have some talkbacks. Let's
hit podcast listener Melissa in Texas.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Cut L.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Hi, this is Melissa from San Antonio. When my daughter
was born seven years ago, I suffered from severe postpartum
depression to the point that I was planning to end
my own life. The only reason I didn't is because
something inside of me started reminding me that she needed
her mommy. That said, I believe any parent who decides
that their children do not deserve to live while they
get to continue to live on deserves the entire book
(16:25):
thrown at them. Full period.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Stop.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
No excuses. Lock them up.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
I agree with everything Melissa just said. Dina in Colorado,
thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
You're up next.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Hi, Clay. First of all, thanks for taking my call.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
I wanted to say that I 100% agree with you
about the lady that killed her three babies. I have
zero empathy for her, and I.
I just like when you look into her eyes, they're
like black. She is some kind of evil, I believe.
(17:05):
And I like you said the other day that I
think she deserves to die. Like, that's my opinion.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Thank you for the call. Look, I will be honest
with all of you. If my three boys weren't here,
I wouldn't want to continue to live. Just being honest.
And God forbid I had something to do in any
way with their death. What is she fighting for? Not
(17:37):
guilty by reason of insanity. She goes out into the world.
Are women going to be paying her to come speak
as if she's some.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Sort of hero? It's a dark story.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
When we come back, a dark story of 9-11 that
has been helped by, as we come up on the
25th anniversary, an incredible, great business that helps so many
Tunnel to Towers, the charitable organization.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
We're going to tell you about.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
More of them, but I want all of you to
hear about all the work that Tunnel to Towers does
and everything that they have meant for everyone out there
for the 25th anniversary. In honor of the 343 members
of the New York City Fire Department who made the
ultimate sacrifice, the foundation's delivering 343 mortgage-free homes to heroes
(18:27):
and their families while continuing an effort to eradicate veteran homelessness.
Throughout this historic year, the foundation's holding hundreds of runs, walks, climbs,
golf outings, not to mention the iconic tower climb in
a 5K event. I'm going to be up in Washington, D.C.
for a gala event to raise a ton of money
next week for Tunnel to Towers. Frank Siller will tell
(18:48):
us all about it next. You can join the donators
at T2T. org. That's T2T. org. Appreciate all of you hanging out
with us. Buck will be back tomorrow. He's with his
family today. We are joined now by our friend Frank Siller, chairman, CEO,
Tunnel to Towers Foundation, author of a new memoir, Let
(19:09):
Us Do Good. We are coming up on the 25th
anniversary of 9-11. And Frank, I just want to give
you an opportunity. I'm going to be up in D.C.
next week helping to raise money at a gala event
in Washington, D.C., I'll let you tell people about that event,
what they can do to help in their own worlds
(19:32):
for the 25th anniversary of 9-11, which is next Friday,
a week from Friday, just about 12 days from now-ish. Frank,
that day, I do think it's important to remind people,
what was your 9-11 like 25 years ago today? and
what inspired you to create tunnel to towers.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Well the last part's easy to answer what inspired me
was my brother stephen who gave his life up on
9-11 and um we were uh so everyone remembers that's
old enough where they were on september 11 2001 for
my family, my brother, uh, Steven was a firefighter. We
just finished his night tour and squad one in Brooklyn
(20:15):
was an elite, an elite firehouse. And he was going
to play golf with my brother, Russ, my brother, George
and myself. And he was already left work. He was
on his way home. And he heard on his radio
scanner that the North tower was hit by a plane. He, uh,
called his wife up. He said, Sally, tell my brothers,
I'll try to catch up with them later. Starting this
truck around, drove back to the firehouse, got his gear. And, uh,
(20:40):
His company had already responded, so he just drove to
the mouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, a tunnel for
you listeners that might not know. It connects downtown Brooklyn
with downtown Manhattan. It's almost two miles long, and it
was closed for security reasons. So he strapped his gear
on his back, 60 pounds, ran through that Brooklyn Battery Tunnel,
(21:01):
went up West Street into what we believe was the
South Tower because that's where other FDNY Squad 1 members
were recovered. And while going up those stairs, saving people,
he gave up his life. And, you know, on 9-11
that day when we, you know, we were we gathered,
you know, we gathered as a family at one point
(21:23):
at 9.59 a.m. on September 11th, 2001, when the South
Tower came down, second tower hit, first tower that collapsed.
I turned to my mother-in-law, who was up at my
house at this time, and I said, Nancy, I think
I just lost my brother. and overcome with emotion, I
left my house. I drove around different firehouses. I tried
(21:44):
to find out, you know, everybody heard about Stephen. I
eventually heard he was on a list of missing firefighters.
And then later in the afternoon, after I asked my siblings,
you know, Stephen was the youngest of seven of us.
He was our little miracle. He was born, my oldest
brother was 24 years old when my brother Stephen was born.
(22:05):
I was the closest in age. I was 14. And when, um,
and so we gathered at my house, all my siblings.
And in the afternoon, I got a phone call from
a firefighter, Richie Obermeyer, who lived a couple of doors
from my brother, Steven. And he called me up and
he said, Frank, I'm down at ground zero. It's really
(22:26):
bad down here. And I said, yeah, Rich, I know
I'm sitting in my living room, watching TV, my whole family,
my sisters, my brothers, um, and we're watching. And, um,
He goes, no, Frank, it's really bad down here. I said, Rich,
I can't imagine. We're praying for you guys. He goes,
you know, Stephen's on a list of missing firefighters. I said,
(22:47):
I'm aware of that, Rich. And he hesitated. And he says, Frank,
it is bad. I said, Rich, I know. He said, Frank,
you don't understand. Nobody's coming home. And my heart dropped.
I had to walk in the other room. And tell
(23:08):
my siblings that our little brother was not coming home.
But you have to understand, my brother was orphaned by
the time he was 10 years old. My mom and
dad died by the time he was 10 years old.
And we raised him. And we couldn't believe that... now
he's gone.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
And his kids are not going to know this glorious,
outrageous human being who suffered so much as a child and, and,
and grew up to be this outrageous human being to
make this ultimate sacrifice. And of course we didn't know
a hundred percent what he did that day until later
on when we pieced it together. But to do that,
to do what he did and so many great heroes,
(23:51):
what they did on that day, we started, we decided
as a family to start a foundation and, Here we
are 25 years later, making sure we do good and
not just his name, but in honor of so many others.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Frank, what's your reaction when you hear what is becoming
somewhat commonplace? People like Hassan Piker say America deserved 9-11.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Well, it's so, you know, I've stayed apolitical for 25 years.
All right. But that's my brother. He's talking about. I
am so angry at him and people like him that
might say something like that or or say something as
ridiculous as that with the greatest country that ever existed
(24:36):
in the world. We've helped so many countries and so
many people. You know, it's incredible that somebody could say
that people like that hate America. They don't even understand. Meanwhile,
he's got he's got plenty. He's made plenty. And he's
got the nerves to talk about. you know, capitalism or
whatever it may be. But I'm going to stay in
(24:57):
my lane to help all these families that pay the
ultimate sacrifice that gives him the right to say these outrageous,
ridiculous things and gives anybody else in America the right
to speak and freedom of speech. But most Americans, they care.
After 9-11, we saw America come together on 9-12. We
(25:18):
saw it. Anytime in America's history, When something horrific has happened,
we all come together as Americans. And we do that
as a foundation. We bring both sides of the aisles together.
Nobody asks if somebody gives their limbs, is a Republican
or a Democrat? Nobody cares. We want to take care
(25:39):
of them. Somebody dies in the line of duty, we
don't say, oh, what religion was he? What color is he?
Nobody cares. We want to be there for every American
that puts their life on the line. to protect our country.
And that's where we're going to stay as a foundation.
But does it get me angry? I'd be lying if
I told you it didn't, because it does.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
We're talking to Frank Siller. Frank, it's been 25 years.
For those of us most in this audience, I think
that can remember exactly where we were on 9-11. I
got an 18-year-old kid. He just went off to college.
you remember when you're a young guy, young gal, whatever
(26:24):
happened before you were born felt like ancient history. A
lot of times, as you know, and I'm a history guy,
we start off teaching history and we've run out of
the school year. A lot of teachers out there know
exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe you make it.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
To World War II.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
There's not a lot of discussion about quote-unquote modern history.
How important is it for kids to understand what happened
on that day? How well do you think people are
being instructed about that day? And what are you trying
to do to make sure that they are aware of it?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
So it's so important. And thank you for saying this.
So one of the reasons why we have a piece
of ground zero steel beam weighing almost 17,000 pounds over
20 feet long in this beautiful truck that we built
to So so we take care of it in a
sacred way because it's a sacred piece of steel and
(27:19):
it's going all around the country. We're going to be
I'm going to be West Point tomorrow. I'll be at
West Point with that piece of steel with so many
great heroes. Then we're going down to the the ellipse
down in D.C. and we're going to have so many.
Great Americans join us there, including the president on September 8th.
(27:43):
And then we're back on September 11th. We'll be walking
through the tunnel with that steel with my family, my kids,
my grandkids, my siblings, Stephen's wife and his and some
of his children will be going through that with that
steel on that day to remember that what happened, the
sacrifice that was made. But we have a curriculum K
through 12. You can go to T2T. org. Hit a button.
(28:06):
You can go right to 9-11 Institute. You can request.
We have a museum, a 93-foot tractor-trailer truck that goes
all across America all year long. Opens up to 1,100-square-foot
museum with 9-11 artifacts in it. New York City firefighters
are with it to tell the story of 9-11. We
do that all year long. But I'm going to tell
(28:26):
you right now, and this is a promise. that you're
going to hear here and America is going to hear
for quite a while. We are going to make such
a concerted effort to teach that the one third of
America that wasn't even born on September 11, 2001, what
happened that day and what could happen again if we
ever forget. And why we're the greatest country, why 343
(28:48):
firefighters and why we delivered 343 mortgage free homes this year,
why they had the courage to run in. and give
their lives. 60 police officers, 7,000 men and women that
went to war because of what happened on 9-11. on
the global war on terror, gave their lives for us.
There's 7,000 families that don't have their mom and dad
or their husband or wife because of what happened on 9-11.
(29:10):
Those are the dying in 9-11 illnesses continuously because they
went to ground zero and they got on their hands
and knees and they dug through that dirt, muck and
dust and steel looking for survivors and then looking to
recover these bodies. We have to tell those stories now.
And that's what the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, we're not
just going to build all these houses. Now that it's
(29:32):
a just, delivering all these mortgage-free homes, it's a lot
more than that. It's what we do. You know what
we do. You talk about it all the time. Clay,
and I do appreciate it. But we must make sure
people never forget what happened 25 years ago.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
All right.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
I'm going to be with you next week in D.C.
on September 8th, just a few days in advance of
that 25th anniversary for people that are listening to you
right now. And I mentioned earlier that one reason you
advertise on this program, one reason you advertise on Fox
News is people respond. They want to extend a hand
(30:07):
and help. For people out there that are listening right now,
what can they do to help you honor your brother's legacy,
the legacy of over 3,000 people who gave their lives,
and ensure that they are not forgotten and we continue
to do good in their honor?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
So, you know, Clay, we ask for $ 11 a month.
Go to t2t. org, t2t.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Org.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I don't think we're asking for a lot. You know,
the fire department says many hands makes light work. When
we bring millions and millions of people together, which we
are doing We're able to keep all these promises where,
you know, we delivered over 2,000 mortgage-free homes over the last,
I'd say, 25 years, but we've really only been doing
that part of the programs over the last 15 years.
(30:48):
It's remarkable. In 15 years, we delivered over 2,000 mortgage-free
homes to catastrophic leisure service members, Gold Star families, fallen
first responder families, died in the line of duty that
leave young children behind, eradicating homelessness amongst our veterans, and,
of course, last but not least, the Mayor of George Silla,
scholarship program where we're paying off scholars uh college tuitions
(31:10):
for the great kids that you know parents have paid
the ultimate sacrifice we're doing all that 11 at a
time 11 at a time so t2t. org um it makes
a tremendous difference frank.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Thanks for everything you do i look forward to seeing
you next week i know it's going to be a
very challenging time for a lot of people out there
that lost loved ones but let's all try to do
a little bit better uh to make the world a
little bit better, T2T.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Org. We appreciate the time, sir. Thanks for the work.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
God bless you.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
That is Frank Siller. And again, the work that he
and his organization do is absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I want to tell you about our friends at Chalk.
If you're out there right.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Now, and maybe Monday you don't have the energy that
you would like to have.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Maybe you've been chasing around the kids or the grandkids.
Maybe you're like me.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Going to head out to a football game, and it's
going to be 110 degrees. This afternoon, it feels like, well,
you're sitting there baking in the bleachers, and you're going
to be thinking to yourself, boy, I am just seeing
all my energy just vanish right out of my body.
Chalk can make a difference for you. That is C-H-O-Q,
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(32:24):
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Speaker 2 (32:27):
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Speaker 1 (32:29):
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(32:55):
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Speaker 2 (32:57):
Get hooked up today. Miss the show while you're on
the go?
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Wind down your day with the Daily Review Podcast. Find
it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. Buck will be back
with me tomorrow. If you don't hear Frank Siller telling
that story about his baby brother, 24 years younger than
(33:24):
his other siblings, 14 years younger than him, gave his
life sprinting through that tunnel. For those of you in
the New York City area, 60 pounds of gear. We're
coming up on the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And I
know for a lot of you, you will have the
same reaction that I have, which is I can't believe
(33:46):
it's been 25 years. Because you can still go back
in time and remember exactly how it felt for you
in that moment when you saw what happened on that day.
For those of us out there that maybe you got
young kids and they don't remember, the entire cell phone grid,
(34:09):
remember this? It was basically impossible to make a phone call.
You could not make a phone call on the eastern
half of the United States. I was a first-year law student.
I was in my torts class. We didn't have at
(34:29):
that point in time, and now everybody's got Wi-Fi and
they got their laptops and their cell phones. You have
the ability to know everything instantaneously. We didn't have it
at that point in time. I remember walking back out.
They had wheeled in televisions, which they typically did not
have at that point in time in the center of
Vanderbilt Law School. And I watched the towers collapse right
(34:55):
there standing in the center of the foyer of Vanderbilt
Law School. 25 years now, it has been since then.
And you heard how fired up Frank got. There are
now people out there publicly saying America deserved it. For
(35:16):
all of you out there listening, in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed
campaigned alongside of Hassan Piker, who said, America deserves 9-11.
Can you imagine, if you were a politician, begging for
(35:37):
the support of someone's followers who was saying something that awful?
We started off the show by talking about evil and
how it takes root in the country. I mean real evil.
The kind of, I'm going to murder my kids evil.
The kind of, I'm going to shoot a dad in
cold blood on the street in Manhattan. I'm going to
(35:59):
kill another dad in Utah when he's sitting talking about
the importance of free speech and debating issues like Charlie
Kirk was, like Brian Thompson, the healthcare CEO was. I
would submit to you, It's when evil is voiced and
people accepted. When you hear people say America deserved 9-11
(36:22):
and then you have Democrat Senate candidates in states like
Michigan on the stage together saying, hey, support me. When
you have Mom Donnie who can't even explain who killed
all those people. Islamic terrorists who hate Western civilization and America.
(36:44):
History Matters. Teach it to your kids. We'll be back
with all of you tomorrow.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show News
Hosts And Creators
Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
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