"The Looming Tower" dramatizes events leading up to 9/11
It's been more than a decade and a half since the 9/11 attacks, but the stars and producers of "The Looming Tower" say it's a good time to revisit the events leading up to the tragedy. Lawrence Wright, who is an executive producer of the new series and wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book on which the show is based, told CBSN's Reena Ninan that there is still much to learn.
"I think the thing we haven't learned, which is such a profound lesson from this series, is that division is dangerous," he said, referring to the fact that Washington is still divided over how to protect the country from outside threats. "The Looming Tower" follows the rise of Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and asks if the FBI and CIA could have been more effective in protecting the nation from terror attacks if they had not been involved in a rivalry. The 10-episode drama takes viewers back to the years leading up to 9/11 from the perspective of several key players in the American intelligence community.
"They were on their turf," said executive producer Dan Futterman. "And so there was suspicion and animosity because of that and there were arguments about who should be rightly in charge."
Jeff Daniels stars in the show as John O'Neill, the head of the FBI's counterterrorism squad, while Peter Sarsgaard plays the fictional Martin Schmidt -- O'Neill's counterpart at the CIA.
Wright says the agencies "should have learned the lessons of how important it is for them to work together," but he's concerned they have not.
Daniels agrees that the message of "The Looming Tower" is still relevant today, and he leveled criticism at the Trump administration.
"Let's start at the Oval Office, let's start up top -- you can take out brilliant, you can take out knowledgeable, you can take out experienced, you can take out competent," he said. And he added, "We're more divided now than ever."
"The Looming Tower" premieres Wednesday on Hulu.
