Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
FNC; CNN
September 11, 2008
Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRIT HUME: On this anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes, there were memorial ceremonies at the three attack sites, New York, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin shows us how that historic and fateful day was remembered.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JENNIFER GRIFFIN: A place of grace built upon the site where terrorists struck at the heart of U.S. power on a clear September morning seven years ago, and amazement from family members that the first 9/11 memorial is now completed. Service members from all branches lifted the covers off the flag-draped benches, 184, each representing a single victim that day, arranged from youngest to oldest, from three-year-old Dana Falkenburg to 71-year-old retired Navy Captain John Yamnicky (ph). A somber President Bush dedicated the memorial.
PRESIDENTBUSH: As we walk among the benches, we will remember there could have been many more lives lost. On the day when buildings fell, heroes rose.
GRIFFIN: As "Taps" emanated from the Pentagon's roof, a row of first responders stood above the American flag, a flag placed not far from where Marines spontaneously placed their own flag, amidst the smoldering ruins that day, and a reminder --
BUSH: There has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days.
GRIFFIN: Simultaneous ceremonies were held in New York at Ground Zero where the names of each victim were read one by one, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 and its hijackers were overtaken by those brave passengers unwilling to become the fourth plane to slam into any more American symbols. Then silence to mark the moment that American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the west side of the Pentagon.
DONALD RUMSFELD, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: This building stands as a silent monument to the resolve of a free people.
GRIFFIN: It was the first time former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke publicly at the Pentagon since stepping down in 2006. He and his wife Joyce privately donated $250,000 to help build the memorial.
RUMSFELD: In the darkest of times, we stood together. In defiance, our nation has pressed on toward morning.
BUSH: The president, flanked by Rumsfeld and the current defense secretary, Robert Gates, then inspected the memorial, a place filled with symbolism, its benches floating above small pools of running water, placed in the same direction as the trajectory of Flight 77. The sound of feet walking on gravel drowning out the sound of cars and planes that still fly above. The names of each victim placed on each bench by the designers, two then graduate students chosen from 1,100 entries from around the world.
JULIE BECKMAN, PENTAGON MEMORIAL ARCHITECT: We oriented those in the Pentagon in such a way that when they read their names, the Pentagon is in the background of your view and conversely, those who were aboard Flight 77, you see the sky. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: In one hour's time, the public will be able to view this memorial. It will then remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- Brit.
HUME: Jennifer, thank you.
The Situation Room (CNN), 5:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: Over at the Pentagon, a new memorial was unveiled at the site where American Airlines flight 77 crashed that day. CNN’s Jamie McIntyre is over at the Pentagon at the new memorial watching all of this.
I remember in your reports from that day how moving they were, Jamie. You were there then and you’re there right now.
JAMIE MCINTYRE: That’s right, Wolf. And seven years to the hour, there was a very moving dedication ceremony for a powerful memorial.
President Bush was flanked by his wartime defense secretaries and top military advisor as he stood in silent tribute. With a dramatic flourish, the 184 individual benches, each engraved with the name of a person killed September 11th, were smartly unveiled by an honor guard from all the military services. It was as if a sea of blue parted to reveal the sanctuary below.
PRES.BUSH: The day will come when most Americans have no living memory of the events of September the 11th. When they visit this memorial, they will learn that the 21st Century began with a great struggle to between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror.
MCINTYRE: The memorial is intended to serve as a place of quiet contemplation. Its design details are laden with symbolism. Each cantilevered bench is engraved with the name of a victim. They are aligned along the path the plane followed, the orientation toward or away from the building depending on whether the person died on the plane or in the Pentagon. The running water beneath each bench is intended to foster reflection, and in years to come the park will be shaded by a dense canopy formed by what are now young saplings of paperbark maple trees.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, now 76, called the memorial a silent monument to the resolve of a free people.
DONALD RUMSFELD [Former Defense Secretary]: We have been acquainted with the We have taken its measure. In the darkest of times, we stood together.
MCINTYRE: Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon, the seat of military power, is also now a place of remembrance.
DEFENSE SECRETARY GATES: We as a nation will not bow to those who so cruelly took them from us. These are not the ruins of attackers. They are the fortifications of memory, of love, and of resolve.
MCINTYRE: And Wolf, as you noted, I was here that day seven years ago. You can read more of my personal reflections at my blog at ac360.com, and there, Wolf, you will also see the picture I took that day that got me arrested. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Jamie. Thanks very much. Jamie McIntyre, our man at the Pentagon.
September 11, 2008
Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRIT HUME: On this anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes, there were memorial ceremonies at the three attack sites, New York, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin shows us how that historic and fateful day was remembered.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JENNIFER GRIFFIN: A place of grace built upon the site where terrorists struck at the heart of U.S. power on a clear September morning seven years ago, and amazement from family members that the first 9/11 memorial is now completed. Service members from all branches lifted the covers off the flag-draped benches, 184, each representing a single victim that day, arranged from youngest to oldest, from three-year-old Dana Falkenburg to 71-year-old retired Navy Captain John Yamnicky (ph). A somber President Bush dedicated the memorial.
PRESIDENTBUSH: As we walk among the benches, we will remember there could have been many more lives lost. On the day when buildings fell, heroes rose.
GRIFFIN: As "Taps" emanated from the Pentagon's roof, a row of first responders stood above the American flag, a flag placed not far from where Marines spontaneously placed their own flag, amidst the smoldering ruins that day, and a reminder --
BUSH: There has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days.
GRIFFIN: Simultaneous ceremonies were held in New York at Ground Zero where the names of each victim were read one by one, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 and its hijackers were overtaken by those brave passengers unwilling to become the fourth plane to slam into any more American symbols. Then silence to mark the moment that American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the west side of the Pentagon.
DONALD RUMSFELD, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: This building stands as a silent monument to the resolve of a free people.
GRIFFIN: It was the first time former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke publicly at the Pentagon since stepping down in 2006. He and his wife Joyce privately donated $250,000 to help build the memorial.
RUMSFELD: In the darkest of times, we stood together. In defiance, our nation has pressed on toward morning.
BUSH: The president, flanked by Rumsfeld and the current defense secretary, Robert Gates, then inspected the memorial, a place filled with symbolism, its benches floating above small pools of running water, placed in the same direction as the trajectory of Flight 77. The sound of feet walking on gravel drowning out the sound of cars and planes that still fly above. The names of each victim placed on each bench by the designers, two then graduate students chosen from 1,100 entries from around the world.
JULIE BECKMAN, PENTAGON MEMORIAL ARCHITECT: We oriented those in the Pentagon in such a way that when they read their names, the Pentagon is in the background of your view and conversely, those who were aboard Flight 77, you see the sky. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: In one hour's time, the public will be able to view this memorial. It will then remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- Brit.
HUME: Jennifer, thank you.
The Situation Room (CNN), 5:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: Over at the Pentagon, a new memorial was unveiled at the site where American Airlines flight 77 crashed that day. CNN’s Jamie McIntyre is over at the Pentagon at the new memorial watching all of this.
I remember in your reports from that day how moving they were, Jamie. You were there then and you’re there right now.
JAMIE MCINTYRE: That’s right, Wolf. And seven years to the hour, there was a very moving dedication ceremony for a powerful memorial.
President Bush was flanked by his wartime defense secretaries and top military advisor as he stood in silent tribute. With a dramatic flourish, the 184 individual benches, each engraved with the name of a person killed September 11th, were smartly unveiled by an honor guard from all the military services. It was as if a sea of blue parted to reveal the sanctuary below.
PRES.BUSH: The day will come when most Americans have no living memory of the events of September the 11th. When they visit this memorial, they will learn that the 21st Century began with a great struggle to between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror.
MCINTYRE: The memorial is intended to serve as a place of quiet contemplation. Its design details are laden with symbolism. Each cantilevered bench is engraved with the name of a victim. They are aligned along the path the plane followed, the orientation toward or away from the building depending on whether the person died on the plane or in the Pentagon. The running water beneath each bench is intended to foster reflection, and in years to come the park will be shaded by a dense canopy formed by what are now young saplings of paperbark maple trees.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, now 76, called the memorial a silent monument to the resolve of a free people.
DONALD RUMSFELD [Former Defense Secretary]: We have been acquainted with the We have taken its measure. In the darkest of times, we stood together.
MCINTYRE: Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon, the seat of military power, is also now a place of remembrance.
DEFENSE SECRETARY GATES: We as a nation will not bow to those who so cruelly took them from us. These are not the ruins of attackers. They are the fortifications of memory, of love, and of resolve.
MCINTYRE: And Wolf, as you noted, I was here that day seven years ago. You can read more of my personal reflections at my blog at ac360.com, and there, Wolf, you will also see the picture I took that day that got me arrested. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Jamie. Thanks very much. Jamie McIntyre, our man at the Pentagon.