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A2 UP FRONT
Saturday 12 September 2020
Comforting families, warning foes: Biden, Trump mark 9/11

Continued from Front a visit to the Shanksville Vol-
unteer Fire Department,
It was a different scene in delivering a Bundt cake,
Lower Manhattan as Biden pastries and refreshments.
attended the 9/11 Memori- Biden said the last time
al & Museum's annual com- he'd visited, he'd promised
memoration at Ground to bring beer — and he
Zero, along with Vice Presi- came through, presenting
dent Mike Pence. two six-packs to a group
In a rare moment of de- of firefighters, to cheers.
tente in a vitriolic cam- The National Park Service,
paign, Biden approached which co-hosts the annual
Pence after arriving and Flight 93 memorial event in
tapped him on the shoul- Pennsylvania, had original-
der to say hello. The current ly said it was planning an
and former vice presidents abbreviated ceremony this
then shared an elbow year with no speakers to
bump — the popular COV- minimize the spread of the
ID-era handshake replace- coronavirus. But after Biden
ment — as did Biden and and then the White House
Karen Pence. announced their plans to
Biden's running mate, Sen. visit, the agency's website
Kamala Harris, spoke at was updated to reflect a
a memorial ceremony in Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, center, greets Vice new schedule that includ-
Northern Virginia, a few President Mike Pence, right, as Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, far ed remarks from Trump.
miles from the Pentagon left, looks on at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in New In 2016, the 9/11 memo-
York.
where terrorists crashed yet Associated Press rial events became a
another plane on Sept. 11, flashpoint in the presiden-
2001. While public officials aunt in the 9/11 attacks. er, who lost her son in the experience, losing my wife, tial campaign after then-
were not part of the official She said Biden "wanted to attacks. He told her he, too, my daughter, my son, you Democratic nominee Hil-
program in New York, Bi- let me know to keep the had lost a son, a reference relive it, the moment as if lary Clinton abruptly left
den spent time at the cer- faith." He told her "he knows to his son Beau's death it's happening. It's hard. the Ground Zero ceremony
emony consoling families in what it means to lose some- from cancer. "It never goes ... So I admire the families and was seen stumbling
attendance. At one point, one. He wanted me to stay away, does it?" he lament- who come." In Shanksville as she tried to get into a

as the names of victims strong. And he's so sorry for ed, and handed her a rose. later Friday, Biden laid a van. Trump, who spoke re-
were being read, he spot- my loss." She said she ap- "It takes a lot of courage for wreath at the memorial peatedly of that during the
ted a woman crying in the preciated his comments someone that lost some- and greeted the families campaign, also spent the
crowd. Amanda Barreto, and would be voting for one to come back today," of several victims, voicing day in New York and paid
27, of Teaneck, New Jersey, him this fall. Biden also spot- Biden later told The Asso- respect for the sacrifices his own visit to the memo-
lost her godmother and ted 90-year-old Maria Fish- ciated Press. "I know from they'd made. He then paid rial in Lower Manhattan.q

U.S. judge: Saudi royals must answer questions in 9/11 lawsuit

NEW YORK (AP) — Two a former intelligence chief
members of Saudi Arabia's in Saudi Arabia and was
royal family will have to an- the kingdom's U.S. ambas-
swer questions about the sador from 1983 to 2005,
Sept. 11 attacks in what court papers said.
lawyers for victims call a Some relatives of Sept. 11
turning point in a long- victims claim that agents
running lawsuit, a federal of Saudi Arabia knowingly
judge ruled. U.S. Magis- supported al-Qaida and its
trate Judge Sarah Netburn leader at the time, Osama
in a written ruling unsealed bin Laden, before hijack-
late Thursday ordered ers crashed planes into
Saudi Arabia to make the New York's World Trade
royals — and other Saudi Center, the Pentagon and
witnesses, including cur- a Pennsylvania field. The
rent and former govern- nearly 3,000 deaths were
ment official — available commemorated Friday on
for depositions. It was un- the 19th anniversary of the
clear how and when the attacks. The families are
witnesses will be deposed, seeking billions of dollars
but the decision means in damages. Michael Kel-
"we can start uncovering logg, an attorney for Saudi
what they know," plaintiff's Arabia, declined to com-
attorney Jim Kreindler said ment on Friday. The Saudi
In this June 4, 2008 file photo, Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan is seen at his palace in Riyadh, Friday. The members of the government has long de-
Saudi Arabia. royal family include Prince nied involvement in the
Associated Press
Bandar bin Sultan, who is attacks.q