in a speech by king charles at the state opening of parliament. as well as pledges on economic growth, transport, energy and housebuilding the government says it s seeking to rebuild relations with the european union after years of tensions since the uk voted to leave the bloc in 2016. my my government will seek to reset the relationship with european partners and work to improve the united kingdom s trade and investment relationship with the european union. my ministers will seek any security pact to strengthen cooperation on the mutual threats faced by the united kingdom and the european union. well, prime minister sir keir starmer will have an opportunity to start that process as he hosts dozens of european leaders at blenheim palace in oxfordshire, the ancestral home and birthplace of winston churchill. on wednesday he met with irish taoiseach simon harris for talks ahead of the meeting of the european political community a group which brings together the leaders of t
if taliban understand that our families, parents, are in afghanistan, they will catch them until we show up. reporter: since many have already been to the u.s. for training and fought so closely with american forces, the visa process is expected to go smoothly. which would be a huge relief for the men who are forced to dramatically flee their native country and start life in a new one. i can t explain how happy i am. and it s a big pleasure not only for me but for all that were in uzbekistan. on top of the afghan air force personnel who have gotten out of uzbekistan, there are still around 140 more in neighboring tajikistan. general hicks has been tracking their cases as well and has told us that processing on them has started. john, between those two countries, around 60 planes and helicopters were flown out of afghanistan. what will happen to them remains unclear, but thanks to those pilots, the taliban will not get their hands on them. nice to get some good news.
recognized because of their covert status. it s those stars on the wall and those individuals who i knew very well personally and worked with who gave their lives, and i think that s something we always have to remember. we didn t do everything perfectly over the last 20 years, but i must say the fact that we prevented another horrific attack from al qaeda in the homeland here really is testament to the tremendous patriotism, skill and courage of so many men and women over so many years. thank you so much. stephanie and ali in new york, back to you. thank you to both of you. of course we ll be spending the next couple of hours together. it is just past the top of the hour, 12:00 noon as we continue special coverage of the 20th anniversary of the september 11th attack. all morning we ve been watching the poignant and moving images from the memorials that are taking place to mark this day. we saw president biden and first lady jill biden at ground zero this morning, along
of tomorrow s 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. the nation getting ready to mark this difficult milestone with tributes at the three sites where nearly 3,000 americans lost their lives. terrorists using planes as missiles, crashing into the twin towers at the world trade center in new york and here at the pentagon. their mission thwarted by passengers in a fourth plane who fought back, crashing down into a remote field in shanksville, pennsylvania, instead of the intended target, the capitol hill. in shanksville lanterns will be lit and placeed alongside the wall of names commemorating the 40 passengers and crew members. president bide listen visit all three memorial sites tomorrow. we re also expecting to hear from him in a few moments where he s expected to talk about how his administration is keeping students safe in the classroom during the pandemic. we re going to bring that to you live. this hour will be a busy one for us here. we ll look ahead at the lessons
america to the rescue there in texas? reporter: you know what they say, money talks. that type of action can have a big difference in legislation. now, this issue is somewhat controversial, somewhat emotional, and companies seem a little more hesitant to talk about this than, say, black lives matter even, or voting rights. but we have heard some companies speak out, yelp, for instance, match and bumble, those dating companies. both texas-based and women led. they have spoken out against this. uber and lyft, those ride sharing apps, american airlines, silicon laboratories, we re hearing a lot from celebrities as far as social sway. pink, reese witherspoon, cindy lopper even. hollywood isn t going to have the same impact in georgia when disney and netflix threatened to pull out. the tv industry puts millions of dollars in that economy. not so in texas. companies we haven t heard from, biggest employers, at&t, oracle, dell has a big presence here. those companies were quick to