10 things you need to know today: September 11, 2016

The rubble of the World Trade Center smoulders following a terrorist attack 11 September 2001 in New York

(Image credit: Alex Fuchs/Getty Images)

Jump to category:

1. Americans commemorate 9/11 after 15 years
2. Clinton partially apologizes for 'basket of deplorables' remark
3. Syrian government and rebels welcome U.S.-Russia cease-fire deal
4. About 100 killed in Syria since truce announcement
5. Polls narrow Clinton's lead over Trump
6. San Bernardino shooting report: 'It was the worst thing imaginable'
7. North Korea calls U.S. sanctions 'laughable,' demands nuclear recognition
8. Nurse in iconic V-J Day kiss photo dies at 92
9. Six Flags theme park closed after false bomb threat
10. New Miss America to be crowned Sunday evening

last updated 11 September 2016

1. Americans commemorate 9/11 after 15 years

Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The day will be commemorated with special services at each of the places the four hijacked planes were crashed, with President Obama speaking at the ceremony at the Pentagon, which may be viewed online via the Department of Defense. Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are expected to visit Ground Zero in Manhattan, where the family members of 9/11 victims will read aloud every name of those who died, pausing six times to mark the four plane crashes and the fall of the two World Trade Center towers.

Democrat Hillary Clinton partially apologized Saturday afternoon for saying on Friday that "half" of Republican Donald Trump's supporters are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic" people who belong in a "basket of deplorables." After Trump demanded she recant, Clinton released a statement that apologized for saying "half" but refused to back down from the broader critique of Trump's candidacy and the alt right persepctive it has helped elevate to the national stage. "It's deplorable that Trump has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices," Clinton said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime says it agrees with the cease-fire deal reached between the United States and Russia early Saturday morning. "The Syrian government has approved the agreement, and a cessation of hostilities will begin in Aleppo for humanitarian reasons," said Syria's state-run media outlet, SANA. The report cited "informed sources" and applauded the deal's goal of "reaching the necessary political solutions for Syria." The truce has also been welcomed by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Iran, and Turkey, as well as Syria's primary opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition. "We in the Syrian National Coalition are always with any initiative or agreement that aims to protect civilians and end the suffering of the people [especially] in besieged areas," said the group's president, Anas Abdah.

About 100 people, including at least 28 children, have been killed in Syria since the United States and Russia announced a truce agreement Saturday morning. Though a 10-day cease-fire is not slated to begin until Monday evening, the weekend's attacks are indicative of the depth of suffering in Syria, where news of the deal has been met with both hope and skepticism about its enforcement. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized the agreement's provision that the Syrian air force will no longer be allowed to fly over opposition-controlled areas, a change that should substantially lower civilian casualties.

A selection recent of polls from NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist and Reuters/Ipsos sees Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump closing in on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a number of battleground states, narrowing her national lead. Though Reuters still calculates an 83 percent chance of a Clinton win with nearly 50 more Electoral College votes than her rival, it also finds Florida and Ohio — two key swing states — are no longer certain to go blue. The NBC survey, meanwhile, found Clinton and Trump neck and neck in four states which were not much in dispute for the last two elections. Arizona and Georgia were previously Republican strongholds while Nevada and New Hampshire both went for President Obama in the last two cycles, but this year they are competitive for both parties.

The Justice Department and the Police Foundation released a report Friday on 2015's mass shooting by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, in San Bernardino, California. The 141-page document describes the attack in detail and recounts the accomplishments and challenges of first responders on the scene. "It was the worst thing imaginable — some people were quiet, hiding, others were screaming or dying, grabbing at your legs because they wanted us to get them out, but our job at the moment was to keep going," said one officer. "That was the hardest part, stepping over them." The report concludes that though the police response was "exemplary," it could be streamlined by better coordination and protocols.

The North Korean government on Sunday called American threats of additional sanctions in response to its nuclear ambitions "laughable" and "meaningless." "As we've made clear, measures to strengthen the national nuclear power in quality and quantity will continue to protect our dignity and right to live from augmented threats of nuclear war from the United States," said a statement from a foreign policy official in state-run North Korean media. The isolated country also likened itself to the sun and America to a leaf, demanding formal recognition as "a legitimate nuclear weapons state."

The woman believed to be the nurse kissed by a jubilant American sailor in Times Square on V-J Day in 1945 has died at the age of 92. Though several people have claimed to be the woman shown in the iconic photo, Greta Friedman was deemed the mostly likely. Just 21 at the time of the snapshot, Friedman didn't know the sailor, George Mendonsa, when he kissed her. "The excitement of the war bein’ over, plus I had a few drinks," Mendonsa later said, "so when I saw the nurse I grabbed her, and I kissed her."

Miss America 2017 will be crowned in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Sunday evening in a live televised event beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern on ABC. The pageant has run since 1921 in the seaside town, and this year's winner will be chosen from among 52 contestants representing each state plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. This year's contest has made headlines for including the first openly gay contestant, Erin O’Flaherty of Missouri. The 96th Miss America will receive a $50,000 scholarship with her crown.

Explore More

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.