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Katie Couric: Sexism, Storytelling & Standing Up to Cancer
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Anchoring Through 9/11: Processing Terror Live on Air
At 9:55 · chapter starts 6:20
Asked about the most challenging live moment of her career, Katie returns to September 11, 2001. The first plane struck at 8:46 AM — while the Today Show was still on air — and she, Matt Lauer, and Al Roker had to narrate an incomprehensible catastrophe as it unfolded in front of a terrified nation [1] — Katie Couric "Katie Couric was live on national television when the first plane struck the World Trade Center on 9/11, trying to make sense of unfolding …" 06:47 . Katie recalls magical thinking: maybe it was just a small plane accident, like something that happened at the Empire State Building years before. Then the second plane hit, and her hand began to shake. She remembers running to the production area during a break to call her parents in Northern Virginia, telling them to get into the basement. She stayed on air all day, co-anchoring the evening news with Brian Williams, and didn't begin to process the horror for days. Alex, who was in second grade in Pennsylvania that morning, recalls watching Katie from her living room while her family — her aunt had lost someone in the towers — screamed and cried around her. Both women tear up, and the conversation expands into a reflection on collective national trauma, the 25-year anniversary approaching in September 2026, and the role storytelling plays in helping survivors honor those lost.
Katie Couric was live on the Today Show when the first plane struck the World Trade Center at 8:46 AM, processing the event in real time with Matt Lauer and Al Roker.
Katie Couric was live on national television when the first plane struck the World Trade Center on 9/11, trying to make sense of unfolding terror with Matt Lauer and Al Roker. Her hand was shaking on camera. She stayed on air all day and didn't begin to process what happened for days.
September 2026 marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks, which both Katie Couric and Alex Cooper reflect on as collective national trauma.
