Lara Spencer reflects on covering 9/11 on ‘GMA’ while six months pregnant (Exclusive)

Everyone remembers where they were on September 11, 2001.

Lara Spencer, who was a Good Morning America correspondent at the time, said in an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE that she was attending a New York Fashion Week show, but changed gears when the 9/11 terrorist attacks began.

Spencer, 56, occasionally speaks about her GMA team on ABC Morning Show’s 50th anniversary celebration in New York City on Nov. 3, 24 years after the tragic attack that killed 2,977 people.

She added, “I was six months pregnant and I was covering[the fashion show]for GMA and I was just watching how we switched gears from a normal news day.”

Now a mother of two, she recalls how “at a really important moment, I took it on and let the country know.”

“That’s a lot,” she emphasizes.

At the time, Spencer was pregnant with her first child, son Duff Haffenreffer, who was born in 2002. He is currently 23 years old. Spencer has two children, Duff, and daughter Katherine, born in 2004, with ex-husband David Haffenreffer.

Spencer is currently married to Rick McVeigh, whom she married in 2018.

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The longtime GMA star also tells PEOPLE about when the magic of GMA really hit her after 9/11, when she co-anchored the morning show and then stepped down from her position as a contributor to focus on other endeavors.

“Oh my god, that was tough. I’ve been working on this show for 20 years,” she recalls. “There were so many moments, and of course I think of all the good times where we were able to be our true selves and see who we really are.”

“Michael (Strahan) is Michael. Robin (Roberts) is Robin,” she added. “Everyone is so genuine and I think that’s why it comes across.”