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American Morning

Attendees of Washington Prayer Service Congregate

Aired September 14, 2001 - 11:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: I'm here outside the cathedral with the Reverend Franklin Graham. You were telling me a moment ago your father Reverend Billy Graham is in there. He was asked especially by President Bush to be here. And you were saying this was the first time he's spoken at a service like this since...

REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM: Well, the Oklahoma Bombing. He, of course, has been preaching in his crusades. He has one coming up in Fresno, California the week after next.

But I don't believe he's been involved in a public meeting like this. And this is a very -- it will be a very difficult and emotional time for him.

WOODRUFF: We're told Reverend Graham -- this is former -- yes, it is, former President Clinton arriving with his Daughter Chelsea. And I believe that is Al Gore although -- no, I'm not sure, with his back to the camera, yes.

And as we said to you earlier, we've learned yesterday President Bush called Mr. Gore while he was in Vienna, Austria for a meeting and asked him to come back to the United States last night, today, to be part of this service. Mr. Gore and his wife Tipper flew across the Atlantic Ocean. They landed in Newfoundland and drove from Newfoundland to Chappaqua, New York, joining up there with former President Clinton, and presumably then they flew down to Washington this morning.

Reverend Graham -- I'm talking with Franklin Graham -- what is your father -- what have you and your father said when you've -- what has he said about all this?

GRAHAM: Well of course my father, like everyone else, is distressed, he's brokenhearted. But he is looking at the spiritual. And of course today he wants to -- he hopes today will be the beginning of healing for this nation and that people -- their broken hearts will start to mend. And it's going to take a long time. It's not going to happen overnight; we know that.

But it -- there needs to be a beginning of healing. So this is his concern. I had a chance -- I was with him last night about 11:00; went to see him before he turned in. And I've just been praying for him, that God will give his message tonight -- this morning power and America will listen and that he'll hear is today -- God's voice, and that they'll turn again to God and seek him as a nation.

WOODRUFF: Of course, your father has ministered to so many American presidents. We just saw former President George Bush entering the National Cathedral. We know he and your father, together the current president George Bush and you and your father have been together.

What do you say to a political leader at a time like this when they are seeking some sort of spiritual strength because they have to make some very tough decisions?

GRAHAM: Again, Judy, it's -- I'm a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And to any political leader, whether it's my father or myself, we want to administer God's work to them; we want God to speak to them.

And I would want to read scripture and share scripture with the presidents so that they would hear from God and not from man, not from myself. But you want them to hear from God in a time like this.

And it's important that we read God's word. God;s word has power. It's a living word. And as we read God's word he speaks to our hearts; and we need our hearts spoken to today.

WOODRUFF: I hear you saying this Reverend Graham, and yet we know the people who were behind this presumably have a God that they believe in as well.

GRAHAM: They do.

WOODRUFF: And they would say, well our God tells us something different.

GRAHAM: yes, there's no question. Listen, there are lots of gods in this world and there's many religions in this world. And I'm aware of that.

But as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ I look at God's word the Bible, and I believe that to be his word. And there are people who say there are all kinds of roads to God and all kinds of roads to heaven; you can have your road and someone else can have their road. But Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the light; no man comes unto the father but by me. The Bible says that God so loved the world -- that's you and me, Judy -- that he gave only begotten son, and whosoever believes in him shouldn't perish but have everlasting life.

All of us, Judy, we're going in the same direction. All of us are going to face death one day. And we as a nation and as a people individually, we need to be ready and prepare to stand before almighty God and given him an account. We never know when our life is going to come to an end.

And there's thousands of people on Tuesday morning who did not know that their life was going to come to an end within minutes. And we need to be prepared. And I hope that many of those people were prepared -- all of them were prepared. But I don't know.

But that's a question we have to answer for ourselves individually in our hearts: Do we know God, do we know his son Jesus Christ; have we confessed our sins to him?

WOODRUFF: These are pictures of the United States capitol. The flag flying at half-staff as it has ever since Tuesday. Many of the leaders who normally would be working in that building are very close to it; are gathered several miles north of the capitol right now -- northwest Washington at the National Cathedral.

We've seen former presidents -- every former living president other than President Ronald Reagan who, of course, is at home and in California. But we've seen former President Carter, Ford; we also saw the first President Bush, now President Clinton. And we assume that President Bush will be arriving any minute now.

The families -- you know, we've been watching these families, Reverend Graham, on television the last few days in New York -- people wandering the streets of New York going from hospital to hospital, looking for some sign of hope that someone is alive. This is just wrenching for most of us to watch.

GRAHAM: It's wrenching, Judy, and the Billy Graham Association and Samaritan's Purse relief organization that I represent, we're sending teams of ministers to New York just to be on the street, just to love to people; just to pray with them, to comfort them, to help them. We're going to be up there for weeks. And as long as there's people out there on the street holding up those pictures looking for a loved one, looking for a friend, we're going to be there just to give them a little bit of comfort and share God's word with them.

This is time where we need to take time with each other. And you see on the streets up there -- you see African-Americans, Americans of -- white Americans, but people from all races on the street helping one another. This is going to unite this country and pull this country together, and the terrorists thought this would weaken America and that this would break our resolve. It's going to do the exact opposite. It's going to bring this country together in a way that we haven't seen since Pearl Harbor, and maybe even more than that.

This is a wonderful opportunity for America to come together and to work together and to be united and fight the enemy and defeat the enemy.

WOODRUFF: Having said that, Reverend Franklin Graham -- and we're watching the cathedral boy and girl choristers come in where they will sing.

How do Americans keep, though, from targeting their anger on those of -- who may look Arab -- Arab-Americans and others?

GRAHAM: We have to be careful of that, Judy.

WOODRUFF: How do you make sure that you're not misdirecting the anger? GRAHAM: And that's very easy to do; and I know that's happened. There's been, on the media, reports already of mosques that have been attacked and threats against different Muslim people.

Most Muslims are totally against what we have seen here. It's just fanatics. And you cannot broad-brush and say this is representative of Islam. It's not, just like white separatists are not representative of Christians.

And so this is a segment of religion, of the Islamic faith that goes outside the bounds of the Koran and that supports murder, supports terrorism. And this is the group of people we're going to have to defend against as a nation. We're going to have to go after them; and it's going to take months, maybe years; and we're going to have to declare war, maybe, on some of these nations that have been backing them and supporting them.

And there are quite a few out there that have backing these groups. I've been to most of these countries; I have seen these people. And I hope the United States this time will take it seriously. When the Cole was bombed nothing was done. When Pan-Am 103...

WOODRUFF: The USS Cole...

GRAHAM: Yes -- when Pan-Am 103 -- we put the Libyan agents on trial. These are agents of Libya. Why did we ignore Libya?

WOODRUFF: Why did we?

GRAHAM: I don't understand that; that's a mystery to me, that we try agents and not the nation that these agents represent.

And then, of course, when the embassies were bombed we lobbed a few missiles and blew up an Aspirin factory, but we did nothing to continue and sustain our attack on them. We just -- I don't understand it.

But I believe President Bush does understand. And he is a man who is going to take some decisive action.

WOODRUFF: Well, there were those who said it would take something horrible for this country to come together and to understand what the threat of terrorism is all about. And we're now looking at President Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush entering...

GRAHAM: God bless them.

WOODRUFF: ... the National Cathedral here in Washington.

GRAHAM: God bless them.

WOODRUFF: But there were those, Reverend Graham, who said it was going to take something really just unimaginable for Americans to realize and take seriously the threat; and that's what's happened. GRAHAM: That's what's happened. It's happened. Never before, Judy -- I cannot remember where the nation has come together like this. You have not only all of our...

WOODRUFF: Not since World War II, is that what...

GRAHAM: I don't think so. And in my lifetime I've never seen a country like this come together. And churches have come together; people of different faiths have come together. And in this service today when you look at the programs you have in your lap, there's a lot of scripture, a lot of God's word.

WOODRUFF: There is. We -- this is the cathedral boy and girl choristers singing. We'll shortly see a presentation of colors. We will hear from the soprano Denyce Graves a little bit later.

And Reverend Graham, your father Reverend Billy Graham will be speaking.

GRAHAM: He will.

WOODRUFF: Have you talked to him about what he wanted to say today?

GRAHAM: A little bit. He was still working on his message last night. Of course he realizes the importance of this day. And he has not been in good health in recent months...

WOODRUFF: I wanted to ask you, how is he doing?

GRAHAM: He's doing much better; he really is. My mother is doing better. And so he's -- when the president called and asked he accepted without hesitation. He knew this was something he had to do. And I'm glad he's here. I'm glad for America that he's here, because he is seen by so many people as America's pastor. And he needs to be here. And so he'll bring a lot of comfort, I believe, to many people just to see him here today.

WOODRUFF: We are just five minutes away from the -- just a few minutes away from the beginning of this service -- prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington. A service called by President Bush to symbolize, today, a national day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of the terror attacks on September 11, just four days ago. It seems like 100 years ago in many ways...

GRAHAM: It does, doesn't it?

WOODRUFF: .. Reverend Graham, because so much has changed in our country since then.

GRAHAM: It has changed; but the change that I see, Judy, is this spiritual change, what we're seeing right here today -- America coming, seeking God.

This is the strength of America. Our nation was built on faith in God and our faith in his son Jesus Christ. That's the foundation of this nation. And we have gotten away from that, and now America is coming back.

WOODRUFF: The president today called on Americans to go to the place of worship of their choosing. He said go to your church, your synagogue, your mosque -- whatever place you choose. And he called on employers to let people have time off to do that.

We're told in just a few minutes the New York Stock Exchange will ring a bell to observe the national day of prayer and remembrance. And the president has called on churches all over the country to ring bells.

We do not see Vice President Dick Cheney. I think -- I believe -- we know that yesterday it was reported he had been remaining at Camp David, and it's my understanding that he's still there. But he is not -- we haven't seen him here today. It's part of a security step taken by the White House after more threats on the White House.

GRAHAM: One thing I've noticed, Judy, it seems as though everyone is in place but the ministers who'll be -- they have not yet come in. And we're still waiting for someone.

WOODRUFF: I believe that's Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. This is pretty much the entire Cabinet of President Bush.

As Reverend Graham and I are watching the presentation of colors, representing all the branches of the armed services of the United States, the sun is beginning to come out here, so...

GRAHAM: The skies are clearing.

WOODRUFF: ... God is watching over this all.

GRAHAM: The skies are clearing, Judy.

As we pray for, you know, the victims, we need to be praying today for our military. So many of these young men and women will be required to put their life on the line for this nation and for our freedom. And we need to remember them and their families and their loved ones and the job that they have to do in front of them.

WOODRUFF: So many of them already called to sacrifice after the plane that went into the Pentagon on Tuesday.

But you are right, given the fact that the government -- the president is seriously considering military action.

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