Roger Clemens remembers the electricity in the air when then-President George W. Bush stepped onto the mound at Yankee Stadium wearing a bulletproof vest to fire a perfect strike in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Clemens, the retired Yankee pitching legend, spoke about his role in the new Fox Nation special, “Never Forget: How Baseball Helped New York Heal,” and how America’s favorite pastime helped the nation overcome tragedy.

“He came out with a bulletproof vest on, threw a perfect strike. That stadium lit up,” Clemens said Friday on “America’s Newsroom.”

“Made you very, very proud to be an American. Let me tell you,” he added.

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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks that changed the country forever, killing nearly 3,000 people and thousands more from health issues caused by exposure to toxic dust and debris at Ground Zero.

Clemens met with victims’ families in the aftermath, describing their stories as a “punch in the gut.”

“When you meet the kids that lost their mom or dad, I can relate a little bit, I lost my dad when I was very young, but nothing compared to what happened in New York City then,” he said.

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Clemens described the uncertainty that gripped the country after the attacks, and the debate over whether the baseball season should continue after such a tremendous loss.

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“Once we were told we were [going to] play, we really embraced it and really tried to get out in front of it, give the fans, give the people in New York that lost loved ones maybe three hours of coming to the ball game and just getting away,” he added.

When the season resumed in New York City, Bush’s “perfect strike” became a symbol of national defiance. Clemens recalled how the entire crowd lit up as a wave of patriotism swept through the stadium.

The new one-hour documentary is produced by Tunnel to Towers and is streaming on Fox Nation. Actor and comedian Rob Riggle guides viewers through the aftermath of the attacks and shows how athletes, managers and fans offered support to each other and the country.

“Never Forget: How Baseball Helped New York Heal” is streaming on Fox Nation.

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A stay at Queen Elizabeth II’s Scottish castle may sound like a fairy tale, but for a royal bride-to-be, Balmoral can quickly turn into a high-stakes audition where every misstep is remembered.

Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who recently wrote a memoir, “The Royal Insider,” described the “Balmoral Test,” an unspoken assessment where senior royals size up newcomers to determine whether they truly belong within the family’s deeply private world.

“The ‘Balmoral Test’ was cruel,” wrote Burrell. “Outsiders, most importantly potential brides, were brought there like specimens to be inspected by the family to see if they came up to scratch and if they were suitable.”

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He noted that the rite of passage has “been this way since Queen Victoria’s day, which is no surprise, as the castle hasn’t changed much either.”

Royal commentator Amanda Matta described it as a silent compatibility test.

“Most modern families would probably recognize that dynamic, where newcomers are vetted against the existing family structures,” she explained. 

“The main difference between the ‘Balmoral Test’ and a barbecue at my family home would be the established, highly conservative standards of the extended family. Even in private family moments, hierarchy never fully disappears.”

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The royals aren’t just looking for impeccable manners, though that’s only the bare minimum. Guests are expected to roll up their sleeves and prove they can handle the grit of country life, with no exceptions.

“You were expected to shoot and hunt,” royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. “[In the past], there was the fox hunt, which involved foxes being chased on horseback, eventually being caught and torn to pieces by a pack of dogs, with blood everywhere.”

“Camilla was a regular fox hunter, while Diana would find these traditions barbaric,” he said. “I am quite sure both Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton may have been totally dismayed at the carnage, although Kate, being more used to country pursuits, may have endured some of the process. Fox hunting has been banned, but it is alleged that riding with hounds still exists.”

While hunting may no longer top the agenda, potential brides are still expected to tough it out and embrace the rougher side of country life.

“Balmoral remains the monarch’s most private sanctuary,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “It’s as remote and as private as it can be, and approval there by the family signals inner-circle status. It’s all about loyalty to the family and adaptability to their unique unwritten ways.”

“It’s totally country-oriented,” Fordwich stressed. “Those who do best are those who understand rural ways, such as Kate. Walking even in inclement weather came naturally to her. She was instantly at home. Being sporty and athletic, she enjoyed nature and hiking. She still relishes it. In contrast, Meghan reportedly took umbrage at hunting and wasn’t into any of the field sports.”

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“What’s being evaluated isn’t just manners, though ideas of comportment and deference do matter,” said Matta. 

“But adaptability is another key point. Balmoral is famously informal by royal standards, but there are still schedules and rhythms that are observed. There are country walks, shoots, fishing expeditions and formal dinners. Newcomers will find themselves assessed on how they can ‘let their hair down’ and interact across generations, while still balancing the Firm’s unspoken rules.”

Matta said that despite Diana’s personal feelings, she ultimately passed the test “with flying colors,” thanks to her aristocratic upbringing. It meant she already knew exactly what the royals were looking for.

“She was perceived as an easygoing, ‘jolly’ presence who thrived in that country-house atmosphere,” said Matta. “Did that early success mask deeper incompatibilities that would later emerge in her marriage to Charles? Sure. Diana would eventually struggle because she was naturally more expressive than the senior royals. But in the beginning, the Balmoral setting rewarded her ability to perform the role expected of her.”

“Her experience highlights that passing the test doesn’t guarantee long-term success in the royal fold,” Matta warned. “The emotional realities of modern royal life can’t be summed up by a shooting weekend.”

British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that the “Balmoral Test” goes far beyond embracing the outdoors. For guests, especially love interests, it’s about fully grasping royal traditions and etiquette. Every move is quietly observed and silently judged.

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“You don’t simply click your heels three times and, by magic, happily blend in,” said Chard. “Believing in the monarchy is key, along with a dedication to royal duty, understanding hierarchy within the family, and realizing every member has their role to play. Yes, it is a learning curve and, at times, it may be challenging. However, it’s also a prerequisite to a successful, happy life within ‘The Firm.’”

“It only takes one black sheep to create havoc within a family or organization,” Chard continued. “Certain personalities may adapt to royal protocols more quickly than others. 

“However, many believe that time and a supportive partner willing to educate, give clear guidance, and help settle the ‘newbie’ into royal family life are key. It also highlights the love and strength of the relationship, preventing the ‘fish out of water’ feeling from creeping in.”

In his book, Burrell pointed out that even men faced judgment behind closed doors.

“Diana wasn’t the first to be scrutinized,” he wrote. “Even Princess Anne brought a cavalry officer called Mark Phillips here to meet the family.”

Famously, Kate passed the test with ease, quickly winning the royals over.

“Her reputation for being down-to-earth and outdoorsy translated well at Balmoral, where comfort in the natural landscape is highly valued,” said Matta.

“She was so well-received that her parents were invited to a shooting weekend the following year. Unlike Diana, Kate’s ‘Balmoral Test’ and subsequent visits might reveal her more durable alignment with the family’s dynamics, both in private and public. She has long been viewed as a royal partner who is willing to ‘go with the flow.’”

These days, the “Balmoral Test” has relaxed. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022. But the senior royals of today still keep a watchful eye on their guests.

“Any introduction to royal in-laws will naturally become a check on whether you understand the modern monarchy’s need for unity and discretion,” said Matta. “I do really think that the ‘test’ is better understood as a very elevated version of ‘meeting the family,’ where you’re quietly assessed on how well you mesh. It’s not decisive on its own, but it carries the weight of an extended first impression.”

On Thursday, March 19, an 18-year-old college student at Loyola University in Chicago named Sheridan Gorman was allegedly shot dead by an illegal alien from Venezuela, Jose Medina. The networks could barely touch the story, or talk about the immigration status of the alleged shooter. CBS only spent two minutes, followed by ABC at 79 seconds and NBC at 23 seconds. Searching for it on PBS or NPR found nothing.

PBS stations did waste 90 minutes on a documentary titled, “White With Fear,” about how Republicans use overtly racist tactics to win elections, and one of those, they claimed, was highlighting violent crimes by illegal immigrants. Their primary example was conservatives reporting on the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco.

The networks hate reporting on crime committed by illegal immigrants. They would insist it’s atypical. They love to proclaim that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans – if you’re willing to dismiss the crime of entering the country illegally or overstaying a visa. But this ignores the obvious logic for grieving families like Gorman’s – if the alleged illegal alien killer hadn’t been allowed into the country, their loved one would still be alive.

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Gorman’s family put out a statement about their loss and the politics of it: “Sheridan’s death cannot be reduced to a general ‘tragedy,’ nor can it be explained away by broad references to failures somewhere else,” the family said. “We are not interested in political arguments or in watching responsibility shift from one place to another. If there were failures—as the Governor [J.B. Pritzker] himself has acknowledged—then every one of them must be identified, examined, and addressed directly.”

“Our daughter is not a policy debate. She is a life that was taken, and that demands accountability,” they added.

The networks could cover this story by leading with empathy and not politics, but they’re too defensive of the Democrats, and these stories feel like “pro-Trump” narratives, so they fear upsetting their liberal friends more than they fear looking insensitive to the victimized. They don’t want anyone to think that mass deportation will deter violent crime.

In a sad note for the future of journalism, the editors of Loyola’s student newspaper abjectly apologized for describing the alleged assailant accurately in the headline as an “Immigrant man.” They changed it to merely “man” and then described him as a “Rogers Park resident” instead of an illegal immigrant. “That headline didn’t reflect the most important elements in the story, and it was taken down minutes later to prevent any further harm to affected community members,” they wrote. As opposed to the “harm” the illegal immigrant is alleged to have done.

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Gorman is not alone. Stephanie Minter, age 41, was stabbed to death on February 23 at a bus stop near George Washington’s Mount Vernon in northern Virginia. The alleged killer is Abdul Jalloh, an illegal alien with more than 30 arrests. “Jalloh is currently being held in Fairfax County on murder charges in Minter’s death,” according to WJLA in Washington, D.C. We didn’t find that story on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS or NPR.

But they will pounce on the immigration enforcers when someone dies while obstructing their enforcement. The ICE agent shooting Renee Good as she drove into him was a national cause for weeks, drawing hours of coverage. But Laken Riley and Rachel Morin and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray were skipped over as MAGA talking points. Riley and Morin’s convicted murderers were illegal immigrants. The alleged attackers charged in Nungaray’s murder are also illegals.

Last year, at the Media Research Center, we found that ABC, CBS, and NBC had spent 143 minutes from April 1 to 23 championing the cause of accused MS-13 gang member and “Maryland man” Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, who Trump deported to a “notorious” prison in El Salvador. But the trial of the illegal-alien assailant of Morin, a mother who was raped and murdered in Maryland during a jog, drew a mere 12 seconds on NBC, and nothing on CBS or NBC.  The networks spent 717 times more coverage on Abrego-Garcia.

Rachel Morin’s mother’s condemnation of Maryland Democrat Sen. Van Hollen — in front of the White House press corps — could not spur network coverage. But ABC’s Mary Bruce did promote the “remarkable image” of Van Hollen’s visit in El Salvador with “wrongfully deported” Kilmar-Garcia.

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Also in Maryland, an illegal immigrant named Hugo Hernandez-Mendez was charged with the murder of 19-year-old Black woman DaCara Thompson last September, to zero coverage on the networks. The alleged perpetrator had been arrested in April and charged with driving under the influence by the U.S. Park Police, but was let go pending his trial in that case.

Thompson’s mother said she was “very disappointed” to learn that her daughter’s alleged killer had been released in April instead of being remanded to ICE custody. “We may not be here today if they did what they were supposed to do.”

This underlines that the “nightly news” on these elitist networks is not an objective assessment, but a carefully manufactured narrative, where the “news” they favor helps the politicians they favor. No one was seeking to embarrass Maryland’s members of Congress or Maryland Democrat Gov. Wes Moore for these murder victims.

In this midterm election year, journalists will try to keep immigration as a negative issue for Trump and the Republicans. They imply everything Trump touches turns into disaster. They helpfully promoted Democrats claiming ICE might kill people when they helped out the TSA with security at American airports. The “news” feels upside down – that ICE is “lawless” and the illegal immigrants are all nonviolent and “law-abiding.”

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