Watch Live: A Day Of Remembrances And Reflection: 20 Years After The 9/11 Attacks

Enlarge this image

A man mourns Saturday at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mike Segar/Pool/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Mike Segar/Pool/Getty Images

People were gathering in lower Manhattan. President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, former President Barack Obama and Michele Obama and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, arrived Saturday morning for a ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial at the spot where the twin towers once stood.

Enlarge this image

Port Authority Police officers attend the annual commemoration ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Sept. 11, 2021 in New York City.

Chip Somodevilla/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The 20th Anniversary Of The 9/11 Attacks
Her Brother Died On Flight 93. She Still Sees Him Surfacing In Small Ways

The 20th Anniversary Of The 9/11 Attacks
They Don’t Remember Their Parents Dying On 9/11. But They’ll Never Forget

The Bidens were also expected to attend wreath-laying ceremonies at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed. Former President George W. Bush was also due at the Pennsylvania memorial.

Former President Donald Trump released a video message Saturday morning, largely lambasting Biden’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump, who visited Shanksville on Friday, is also expected to visit ground zero Saturday afternoon.

See more NPR coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Enlarge this image

Claudia Castano (right) touches the name of her brother German that is etched at the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J., on September 11, 2021.

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

The 20th Anniversary Of The 9/11 Attacks
Opinion: United We Stood

In London, acting ambassador to the United Kingdom Philip Reeker, attended a special changing of the guard at Windsor Castle, where the U.S. national anthem was performed. Reeker said Americans would be «forever grateful for the «enduring friendship between the two countries.

Speaking on Friday, Biden said in the days after the attacks in 2001, «we saw heroism everywhere — in places expected and unexpected.

«We also saw something all too rare: a true sense of national unity, he said.

Enlarge this image

A rose lays on a bench at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial on Sept. 11, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Win McNamee/Getty Images

A rose lays on a bench at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial on Sept. 11, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia.

Win McNamee/Getty Images