VOA – CONNECT 
EPISODE # 191  
AIR DATE: 09 10 2021    
TRANSCRIPT

OPEN ((VO/NAT)) 
((Banner)) 
Remembering 9/11 
((SOT)) 
((Ashley, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
Inside his helmet. He kept pictures of us. 
((Alyssa, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
This was actually the last picture I took with my dad. 
((Animation Transition)) 
((Banner)) 
An Afghan American View 
((SOT)) 
((Kernamudin Khairzada, Afghan American))   
We left Afghanistan back 1980 when the Russian invade. 
We’ve been living here since October ‘91. Thanks God, 
Mashallah Hamdullah, yes, we are having good life.  
((Animation Transition)) 
((Banner)) 
The Way Things Can Be 
((SOT)) 
((Masood Omari, Tabla Master)) 
Abigail playing harmonium this style. No one can play like 
this because she is playing very soft, graceful and gentle. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Open Animation))  
 

     BLOCK A 


((PKG)) 9/11 FIREMAN FAMILY  
((TRT: 06:30)) 
((VOA Russian)) 
((Topic Banner: A Firefighter of 9/11))  
((Reporter: Nina Vishneva)) 
((Camera: Alexander Barash, Natalia Latukhina)) 
((Editor: Natalia Latukhina)) 
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou)) 
((Map: New York City, New York)) 
((Main characters: 4 female)) 
((NATS throughout)) 
((Angela Alioto, Thomas Alioto’s wife))    
It started off on a beautiful day. The kids went off to school 
and then I came in, watching a little bit of the news and all of 
a sudden tragedy hit.  
((Courtesy: Reuters)) 
((Courtesy: RTVi))  
((Angela Alioto, Thomas Alioto’s wife))    
It was a terrible sight to see. He was all full of the white 
powder. 
((Amanda, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
147 is his firehouse which is what he loved. That's where his 
heart always was.   
((Courtesy: Reuters)) 
((Ashley, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
Inside his helmet, he kept pictures of us. 
((Courtesy: RTVi)) 
((Alyssa, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
This was actually the last picture I took with my dad. 
((Courtesy: Reuters)) 
((Angela Alioto, Thomas Alioto’s wife))    
And my husband had glass and pieces of black smoke and 
things in his chair and his lungs and little by little, he was 
taken from us. 
((Amanda, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
He was a fighter, but 9/11 never left him. 9/11 became him. 
He would do it all over again. 
((Courtesy: RTVi)) 
((Ashley, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
I was very young that I didn't fully understand and throughout 
the years, I started to understand more and more about how 
terrible it was. 
I still like smell the smoke. It makes me feel like my dad's 
here. I didn't really hear much about the stories that 
happened that day, but I did hear about all the other great 
stories that he wanted me to know. He didn't want me to 
know all the terrible things that happened. 
((Courtesy: Reuters)) 
((Angela Alioto, Thomas Alioto’s wife))    
He thought he was dead. I remember him telling me that he 
had no feeling. He thought something was biting him. I can't 
just explain it. He was bleeding inside his boots.   
His lungs, everything got bad on him. He had a lot of 
autoimmune diseases. He had Sjogren’s disease. He had 
Lupus. He had COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary 
Disease]. I mean, he was, he had asthma. He just went 
downhill from there.  
((Amanda, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
All the moms were crying and watching it on TV. So, once I 
started seeing the TV, the fire department, I had a feeling, 
you know, daddy was there.  
This is our father here kneeling down. 
You know, he was working down at the pile for months. 
When my father came home, even though he came home, it 
was there was, there was a lot of night terrors that he had, 
you know. We knew once August came, his terrors were 
going to start.  Even though he said he didn't really 
remember them, I think he just was trying to shield us.  
We couldn't really be in certain restaurants or certain parties, 
if they were too enclosed or if there was too much of a crowd 
because he had fear of being locked in. He was never like 
that. Certain smells of barbecue foods, he wouldn't eat or 
would have to walk away because it smelled like burnt flesh 
to him. And he, like bangs, it reminded him of the bodies 
hitting the floor. We lived a little bit different than other 
children around us. They didn't really understand, you know, 
our dad came home, but our dad didn't really come home as 
who he was. He was a completely different person after that. 
And he deteriorated over time. He was a fighter, but 9/11 
never left him. 9/11 became him. The battle continued and it 
got worse over time. But what he did was, you know, the 
ultimate sacrifice. And we're just really proud of him. 
((Ashley, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
This is the cross that he found at Ground Zero. He saved it 
all these years. 
((Amanda, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
He came home with that from the Trade Center.  
((Ashley, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
He loved it. I think it was just like a reminder of how blessed 
he was to make it out and see his family again. 
((Alyssa, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
I was four. I don't remember that day. I don't. 
((TEXT ON SCREEN:  
Thomas Alioto died December 17, 2019, six days before his 
daughter Alyssa graduated from the police academy.)) 
((Alyssa, Thomas Alioto’s daughter)) 
We fought a lot about it. He wanted me to be a teacher. He 
mainly just wanted me, you know, to get home at a normal 
hour, have weekends, a lot of summers off like he wanted 
that life for me. And I think, he was more scared of, you 
know, the stuff he saw. And you know, it's a different 
department but they work hand in hand. And I think he was 
trying to protect me from that. 
We fought tooth and nail but once I actually got into the 
academy, he was so happy. 
That was my last September 11th that I spent with him. I was 
a cadet at the time. I wasn’t a police officer yet.  
I sent him a helmet. He said, “It's sad,” I said, “Very.” He 
said, “Look for Mike Esposito,” which was his best friend that 
he lost that day. He had sent me a picture, that exact picture. 
He said, “I’ve been trying to find that.” He said, “Can we 
spend some time together tonight?” I said, “Yes.” And that 
was December 17, 2019 at 2 pm. And that was the last time 
I spoke to him because later that night, he lost his battle. 
((Angela Alioto, Thomas Alioto’s wife))    
That was his family. I mean he did have a family here, but he 
knew we were okay. But he tried to help all the other ones.  
He really did. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 

((PKG)) FALLEN SOLDIER 
((TRT: 03:20)) 
((Topic Banner: A War Widow Reflects)) 
((Reporter: Carla Babb)) 
((Producer: Elizabeth Cherneff)) 
((Camera: Mary Cieslak)) 
((Map: Washington, D.C.))   
((Main character: 1 female)) 
((NATS)) 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
This is him in Afghanistan. Chris was a man of honor. When 
I think about Chris in times like this, I think of everything he 
stood for and how much he loved this country. So, I think, 
this is the last picture we ever took together. We never 
thought anything would happen to him. And seeing the 
number plastered everywhere. 2,400 were killed. 2,400 were 
killed. It just blows my mind that my husband was one 
of 2,400 that was killed in Afghanistan. 
((NATS)) 
((TEXT ON SCREEN: 
Army Specialist Christopher Horton dies in 2011)) 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
It’s the funeral. And when I got that knock, I knew that this 
life is no longer about me. This life is about telling people 
about men and women that are willing to fight and die for 
them and that love them so much and love America so 
much, that they're willing to give everything.  
((NATS)) 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
You know, people are watching families of the fallen. People 
are afraid to approach us as people do care about us deeply. 
People haven't really stopped to ask, what actually happens 
after the knock at the door? What is the process? So, just 
working to make sure it stays on the mind of our people in 
power because my generation is at home being mom and 
dad to their kids. 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
And so, they don't have time to make sure that people are 
remembering or paying attention. And so, so I'm pretty 
relentless with it because it's not about me. And if I can 
make one day easier for these families, I'll do anything I can 
do. 
((NATS)) 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
Here's my first trip to Afghanistan. I got to meet General 
Austin, now Secretary Austin. I wanted to go to Afghanistan 
and I wanted to learn about the country because my 
husband's blood is in their soil. And General Dunford brought 
me for the first time, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff. And I was so excited to go. You know that trip really 
changed my life. And so, you know, throughout the years of 
being involved in Afghanistan and getting to know the 
Afghan people, I really feel like they've given me part of my 
heart back. And so, maybe we have to leave at a certain 
point, maybe we don't. I know we already did but we can do 
it better than we did. 
((NATS)) 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
So, the president said, “Would you send your sons or 
daughters?” You know. And I would say, we have. I would 
give my husband a thousand times over for this country and 
he would give his life a thousand times over. But what keeps 
me up at night and what haunts me is people don't know why 
he died. Why did he die in Afghanistan? And if we don't 
know that, then we really need to ask ourselves questions as 
a country on the why. 
((Jane Horton, US Military Gold Star Wife)) 
If my husband walked in here right now and sat by us, what 
would we tell him? You know. And so, as this is happening 
and the war is over now, everyone's asking Gold Star 
families this. Was it worth it? You know, how do you feel? 
And I'm like, how dare you ask us that? How dare you ask 
us, was it worth it, when that's the American people's 
question to answer? My husband wasn't mine. When I sent 
him off to war, I sent him off as America's. He was all of 
ours. And so, I shouldn't have to ponder that question all day 
long without my country pondering it with me. 
And so, I ask the American people to ask, was it worth it? 
((NATS))
 
 
TEASE ((VO/NAT)) 
Coming up 
((Banner)) 
Looking to the Future 
((SOT)) 
((Keramudin Khairzada, Afghan American)) 
We want good government. It’s time to work together, to take 
out the differences between different cultures that there are 
in Afghanistan.  

BREAK ONE                                                                    
BUMP IN ((ANIM))                       


BLOCK B   

 
 

((PKG)) AFGHAN AMERICAN WOMAN / RIGHTS   
((TRT: 02:00)) 
((Topic Banner: For The Rights of Women))  
((Reporter: Farkhunda Paimani))  
((Camera: Fahim Hoshang))  
((Map: Washington, D.C.)) 
((Main character: 1 female)) 
((NATS))
((Nazila Jamshidi, Social Justice & Human Rights 
Advocate)) 
My heart hurts for the people of Afghanistan. It hurts for the 
women and children in Afghanistan.  
For those who were born after 2001, we taught them human 
rights, human dignity and freedom of expression. We have 
given them hope and told them of making a new 
Afghanistan.  
All the hard-won gains of the 20 years were lost in two 
months. It took the Taliban to capture all the country in two 
months. The thing that bothers me the most is the silence of 
the international community.   
((NATS)) 
 
 
((PKG)) AFGHANISTAN – THE END OF WAR FROM 
AFAR  
((TRT: 04:11)) 
((Topic Banner: What Could Be Next))  
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Jeff Swicord)) 
((Map: Miramar, Florida))   
((Main character: 1 male))   
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kernamudin Khairzada, Afghan American))   
I was born in Afghanistan, Mazar-i-Sharif, back in 1968. And 
we left Afghanistan back 1980 when the Russian invade. 
Afghan people, they don’t like to be controlled by other 
countries. And we got on a plane and we got to be refugees 
in Germany. We’ve been living here since October ‘91. 
Thanks God, Mashallah Hamdullah, yes, we are having 
good life. We are happy. 
((NATS)) 
((Keramudin Khairzada, Afghan American)) 
We have family back home. We talk to them almost every 
day.  
((NATS)) 
((Zermina Khairzada, Wife of Keramudin Khairzada)) 
Eggplant. 
((Keramudin Khairzada, Afghan American)) 
The reason for Talibans to take over Afghanistan so easy 
because all the soldiers did not get paid for three months, 
four months, five months, six months.  
Now, if I’m a soldier and my families back home, they are 
starving, so now you think that I am going to stay there and 
fight?   
Corruption is the main problem. So, whatever places you 
have to go, whatever places you have to do, which is involve 
through governments, you couldn’t do it as easy as it was. 
Either you have to know someone or as you know as, you 
have to give them something so they can do your work. But 
during Taliban, when they said, because it was not, because 
Taliban was controlling all the corruption.   
((NATS)) 
((Keramudin Khairzada, Afghan American)) 
25 years ago, the Taliban appeared from small towns, from 
the mountains, to control a country.   
((NATS)) 
((Keramudin Khairzada, Afghan American)) 
They were not educated. They couldn’t even spell their 
name. As I heard from my families, they say this Taliban is 
not the same Taliban they used to be 20 years ago. So, they 
are more educated people. They are more peaceful people. 
And they want women and children to be in peace. We 
should believe that because we have to think positive. The 
Afghan people, they are not what they used to be like you 
say 20 years ago. 
Afghanistan, it’s a Muslim country. We do follow the religion, 
whatever the Sharia requires. When I was going to school, 
there was no schools, boys and girls together. A woman can 
go back to their job but in the tradition of Islam. They can 
work in the offices but not in the same office with another 
man.   
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Keramudin Khairzada, Afghan American)) 
Talibans don’t know what their plan in the future is. But we 
know what our plans in the future is. We want good 
government. It’s time to work together, to take out the 
differences between different cultures that there are in 
Afghanistan and live in peace together.   
((NATS/MUSIC))

TEASE  ((VO/NAT)) 
Coming up 
((Banner)) 
Together in Music 
((SOT)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
My most respected teacher, Masood Omari, he is originally 
from Afghanistan. 
((NAT of Music)) 


BREAK TWO                                                                   
BUMP IN ((ANIM))                          

 
BLOCK C  
 
 

((PKG)) TABLA FOR TWO   
((Previously aired February 2020))  
((Banner: Harmony)) 
((Reporter/Camera: June Soh) 
((Map: Washington, D.C.))    
((Main characters: 1 male; 1 female)) 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
I think that it's a very big deal culturally what we're doing to 
bring these, especially Afghanistan and America, together in 
music because music speaks all languages. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
I am from Erie, Pennsylvania and living here in the 
Washington, D.C. area. My most respected teacher, Masood 
Omari, he is originally from Afghanistan. 
((NAT of Music)) 
Our band is called Tabla for Two. The tabla that Masood is 
playing and I also play, the tabla is an Eastern percussion 
instrument. It’s a drum. 
((Masood Omari, Tabla Master)) 
This is the goat skin. And the middle part, the black here, the 
burning the steel and it’s coming from the steel powder and 
then pasting with a strong glue and put it in the center here. 
And it makes a cosmic sound, you can see. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
We play three different kinds of music. We play classical 
music. And we play traditional music of Afghanistan and 
India. And we play New music for the New World, we call it.  
It's our signature music and it is composed by Masood. It's 
for two tabla players. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
Throughout this downstairs, which we call the Tablasphere, 
we create the music and practice the music and occasionally 
have guests.   
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
I met Masood approximately eight years ago here in 
Washington.  
And it was a showroom of beautiful Afghan antiques and 
clothing and rugs and jewelry. I had never in my life seen 
their culture in that way.  
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
And I realized that he was this amazing tabla player and I 
asked for lessons. I didn't know at the time where this was 
going. All I knew is that I had a huge desire and a force 
pushing me to learn to play the instrument. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
After a life as a visual artist and coming from a family of 
artists, I grew up listening to classical music and American 
Jazz. And my father was a classical violinist. I really was 
very close to music. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Masood Omari, Tabla Master)) 
When I saw first Abigail, she doesn’t understand the 
language of Afghanistan. She understand the beat and 
melody. She was very exciting to learn. She learned quickly. 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
I felt this amazing challenge and I wanted to play the music. I 
just couldn't. I wasn't getting there fast enough for me. I 
wanted to get there now. I practiced many, many hours. I 
practiced every day. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
And then, he said I should learn to play the harmonium. I 
never thought I would be playing the harmonium. So, I had 
my first lesson on the harmonium. I fell in love with it. 
((Masood Omari, Tabla Master)) 
Abigail playing harmonium with this style. No one can play 
like this because she is playing very soft, graceful and 
gentle. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((TEXT ON SCREEN:   
Omari fled Afghanistan to Islamabad, Pakistan when he was 
15 where he studied to receive his tabla mastership before 
coming to the United States in 2002))  
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
What's really extraordinary is that Masood is singing on top 
of his playing. He sings on top of the classical songs. He's 
singing any song and playing tabla at the same time.  
((NAT of Masood Omari singing)) 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)) 
We play at the embassies often. We play at the museums, at 
universities. And we play here in the Tablasphere for special 
invited guests.   
((Courtesy: YouTube)) 
People can see us on our YouTube channel, which is our 
same name, Tabla for Two. 
((NAT of Music)) 
((Masood Omari, Tabla Master)) 
I believe that I have an important role playing and preserving 
the music of my country, Afghanistan, and sharing it with the 
world. 
((Abigail Adams Greenway, Visual Artist/Musician)))) 
It's just the beginning. I've just started learning about a place 
that I knew nothing about that has been so ravaged. And I'm 
thrilled to show Afghanistan in a positive, beautiful light. 
((NAT of Music))

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NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))                             
((Banner)) 
In coming weeks 
Life in the Everglades 
((SOT)) 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Maurice Cullen, Owner, Everglades Airboat 
Expeditions)) 
Started running tours seven years ago. Started my business 
three years ago. Definitely a blessing to be out here. It’s a 
very, very beautiful place at the end of the day, holds a 
special place in my heart.   
((NATS)) 
((Maurice Cullen, Owner, Everglades Airboat 
Expeditions)) 
A lot of people actually think the Florida Everglades is, you 
know, marsh, wetlands which it is. But it’s actually the 
world’s slowest moving river. Even when Native Americans 
lived out here, it was also named ‘The River of Grass’ 
because the sawgrass on the outside area dominates the 
majority of the area on the marsh. There are certain sloughs 
out here in the Everglades that can be a little bit deeper than 
the prairies and the outside area and the water only moves 
about a 100 foot [30 m] throughout the entire day. 
((NATS: Maurice Cullen)) 
Morning! 
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BREAK THREE 
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NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))                             
((Banner)) 
????? 
((SOT)) 
?????
 
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((PKG))  FREE PRESS MATTERS  ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) 
((Popup captions over B Roll)) 
Near the Turkish Embassy 
Washington, D.C. 
May 16, 2017 
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters  
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten” 
“They should not be protesting our president” 
“They got what they asked for” 
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it  
reliably 
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wherever the news matters 
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((PKG))  FREE PRESS MATTERS  ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) 
((Popup captions over B Roll)) 
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When we unmask terror
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