Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

3,000 Attend Runnion Memorial Service

Aired July 24, 2002 - 22:00   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.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening again, I'm Aaron Brown.

Things as you can tell are going to be a bit different than usual tonight. The funeral for Samantha Runnion is about to begin at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. And we'll devote the next hour or so to that event, rather than bringing you our regular NEWSNIGHT program.

Samantha, as I'm sure you recall, is the five-year old who was kidnapped from her apartment complex in Stanton, California in Orange County, and later sexually assaulted and murdered. Her alleged kidnapper, Alejandro Avila, is under arrest tonight in jail in Orange County.

Prosecutors trying now to decide if they will ask for the death penalty in the case. And we'll talk some in the course of the hour about the case with our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, as time allows and it is appropriate.

Also joining us tonight from California is Dennis Prager. Dennis is an author and a lecturer. He hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk show. And he caught our eye today with an op-ed piece that he wrote in "The L.A. Times," which talks about the effects of fear on ourselves and our children, about the messages we're sending our kids these days. And in moments like this, and we are quite pleased that he's with us as well.

But for the most part we will let the service just play out. In so many ways, what happened to Samantha seems to have touched people not simply in Orange County, California, but around the country. Those of us who are parents cannot imagine the pain that her family must feel. This is was a child who was just weeks from the second grade, who will never know the most simple things of life, a new bicycle, a first date, the anxiety of a final examination or a broken heart.

The sheriff last week said at some point she became our child. And that seems to be true. So we will share this moment with the people who really knew her, and really loved her, because we know that but for the grace of circumstance it could have been us.

David Mattingly has been covering this story, this tragedy for us, for some days now in southern California, the investigation, the search for the suspect, and now the memorial service.

And David is outside -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, just an outpouring of love tonight, just a few moments ago there was a sky writer overhead drawing hearts and Samantha's initials in the sky. There was a capacity crowd here about a half hour ago. Now there's hundreds of people still standing outside. Talked to many people in line today, all of them saying they want to be here to support the family.

All those emotions of fear, apprehension and anger that surfaced last week still very much a part of this. But today sadness prevails throughout southern California. We're going to be learning a lot more about Samantha Runnion tonight. This was being passed out to everyone who went in from the family. In it, words directly from Samantha and a picture that she drew at one time.

I'll read a little bit of it to you. She says "I love my family a lot more than anything in the whole world. I love the way you do stuff. I love you more than anything. A lot of people like me." This girl obviously growing up in a very happy home. She drew this picture. Zoom in close for it so you could get a look it here.

She drew a picture herself standing next to her home with the words, "Be brave." And talking to acquaintances of the family, they tell me that Samantha was indeed a very smart and brave little girl. They tell me she got the traits from her mother. And we're going to be hearing from her mother tonight. Her mother going to be speaking to the group tonight, giving us a presentation on Samantha's life -- Aaron.

BROWN: David, thank you.

We have seen now family members come in. And we will wait now for the service to begin. Dennis Prager, and I may end up interrupting you. What is it about this particular tragedy, do you think, that has touched southern California so profoundly and in many ways, the country?

DENNIS PRAGER, SYNDICATED RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The truth is as you said it best yourself. Because everyone one of us, especially everyone of us with kids like you and me, know that exactly as you put it there, but for the grace of God, it is totally a matter of fate. There is nothing that anybody could have done to prevent this, except perhaps, the previous trial for which he was held accountable for child molestation. And that is really something that Jeffrey will want to talk to. But it's just a matter of bad luck.

BROWN: Thank you, Dennis.

A series of songs now that were Samantha's favorites.

(SINGING)

BROWN: The church, the Crystal Cathedral is very well known. Not just in California but around the country. It is where Robert Schuller, Dr. Robert Schuller is the pastor. His son will also participate today.

(SINGING)

BROWN: From "The King and I", these are children's songs in one of those moments that is not about children. It's very adult and very sad. It centers on a five-year old, almost six next week, as I recall, entering the second grade.

Her mother used to call her Cielito Lindo. And that's the next song that you'll hear. There are number of them, still. And there will be -- her mother will speak and there will be a slide presentation. And again, you're looking at a building that seats almost 3,000 people, 2,800 people.

(SINGING)

BROWN: That's the Hispanic Choir of the Crystal Cathedral Church. I want to try, I'm not sure we'll be successful here, how much time we'll have to bring Dennis back in. Well, we'll wait and try again in a moment.

(MUSIC)

BROWN: There are about 2,800, 3,000 people inside. Outside the Crystal Cathedral, this is the scene. People, it's this glass building, quite large, as you could tell. And people pressed up against the glass looking in, wanting to be a part of it.

Dennis, oddly this -- this has become the summer of the missing child, it seems. Elizabeth Smart in Salt Lake, Alexis Patterson in Milwaukee, the child yesterday in Philadelphia.

Somehow, Samantha has come to symbolize all of them in some ways. And I think leaving the impression that we're in the midst of some sort of epidemic.

PRAGER: Well, it seems like an epidemic. As you cited, the article that I wrote today for "The L.A. Times", I'm worried that parents will panic and put fears into their children about strangers.

I have long advocated on my radio show and elsewhere and in my own personal life that we tell kids exactly the opposite. You should be aware of danger, but not be aware of strangers. Strangers are not dangerous. Statistically relatives and friends of the family are far more dangerous to children.

And to give a child fears of everyone in the world and everyone in the world is a stranger is almost like giving a child a paralysis. I spoke to people on my show today who told me they were raised with fears of strangers. And they have never overcome it at the age of 30, 40, 50. It's a terrible thing to do to a child.

BROWN: As we watch these -- this candle lighting ceremony. And it's a -- there's nothing new, Dennis, I don't think, about being warned about strangers. I'm 53. I remember my mom doing it. It's just that in moments like this, it takes on a kind of exaggerated fear.

PRAGER: Yes.

BROWN: This is Robert Schuller, the son of the well-known pastor at of the church.

DR. ROBERT SCHULLER, CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL: The candle you see lit was lit by Missy Walker who has been a close friend of the family as she's offered her services to the family. And it's a purple candle because that was Samantha's favorite color.

And today, when I look over this sea of people, and I see the crowds standing outside there and standing outside there and standing outside there, and probably many more who couldn't even get close to the place, I see where truth is. I see the love that is in this community.

Because today, this is a symbol of the love and the support for this family. As evil has taken place and has robbed them of life, and today we mourn because it's not fair. It's not fair that we're looking at a tiny little casket. It's not fair. It's not right. It's wrong. It's wrong.

But what is right, what is true, and what is good is what brought all of you here today. A love, a support, a community. Tragedy brings us together, yes. But we'll triumph through it. And so today I stand before you to welcome you here to this place, the Crystal Cathedral. It was started 50 years ago on the rooftop of a snack bar in Orange County -- Orange drive-in theater. And from that humble beginning, a group of people represent faith, hope and love, built this cathedral for the purpose of continuing to extend that message.

That the message might be proclaimed, that evil might be overcome with love. And so we're here today. We're here to grieve. We're here to mourn. We're here to cry. We're here to hold on to our children, to embrace our children. We're here to deal with the fear. We're here for many reasons. And it is our goal and our hope that today we'll create a spirit of compassion, a spirit of love, and a spirit of unity.

And so what we are going to do, something that is totally unique, I've never seen it done before or since. It's my idea for the family to have several different faiths representing the different faiths of the world come together and light a candle. So you see all these candles up here, the conclusion of the service, that's what we'll do.

And so it is our hope and prayer that today your minds and your souls and your lives will find peace and confidence. And so at this time, I wish to invite Sheriff Mike Carona to come forward as he shares his remarks to this congregation.

BROWN: The sheriff, the familiar face, was the public face of the investigation for that difficult week last week. And the reaction to him says an awful lot about how he handled himself and how his department handled itself as did other police agencies, Riverside County in California, and others. There was a toughness in him. But there was also a gentility in him throughout the whole process.

Both inside and outside, the sheriff is being honored. He said at one point she, Samantha, became our child. And he acted that way the whole time.

MIKE CARONA, SHERIFF, ORANGE COUNTY: This was tough enough to start with. Always made it that much tougher. I can tell you that -- that was a real humbling experience. It's been very embarrassing for me to hear the words of thanks that have come from not only those of us here in Orange County in California, and across the nation.

Those of us who were focused on trying to find Samantha and then trying to hunt down her killer didn't know the world was watching. And it's not me, ladies and gentlemen, it never was. An incredible group of men and women from a lot of different law enforcement agencies, they were committed to bringing Samantha home. And when we couldn't do that, to bringing her killer to justice.

I've had -- I've given three eulogies now. In the short time that by the grace of God I've had the opportunity to be part of the Orange County Sheriff's Department, as a sheriff of Orange County. Deputy Brad Riches, Deputy Steve Parsons, and Samantha Runnion. Two of those individuals were killed in the line of duty. Two of those individuals were brutally murdered.

Each of us in law enforcement takes an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We expect what's implicit in that oath is that we may be called upon to give our lives in the line of duty. I buried two members of my family on September the 11th. The world watched bravery in New York City.

Samantha wasn't a cop, though. She was a little girl. Little girls aren't supposed to die. Little girls aren't supposed to die the way Samantha died. There's one thing that Deputy Riches, Deputy Parsons and Samantha have in common, at least for me. And that's in the eyes of their mothers. I've had to look into the eyes of those mothers and I've seen exactly the same look. The sadness, the fear, the loneliness, the pain, that only the parent who's lost a child can feel.

It's Tuesday afternoon, July the 16th, the first time that I met Samantha's mom. Erin and I talked specifically and hopefully about bringing Samantha home. Erin gave me a picture of Samantha. A big smile, curly hair, big brown eyes. And I promised her that I would keep the picture next to me until we brought Samantha home.

On July 19, I sat down with Erin to tell her that we made an arrest on the man that had murdered her daughter. I tried to give her back the photograph that she had given me that Tuesday afternoon. Erin wouldn't take the picture. She told me that Samantha would want me to keep it.

This Monday, Erin sent over to my office a stuffed animal, a little tiger. And she wanted me to keep it because it was Erin's [sic] favorite stuffed animal. She kept it on her bed, slept with it. And Erin wanted to make sure that I had that so I could always remember Samantha.

I didn't need a picture. And I didn't need a stuffed animal to remember Samantha. I told you all before, Samantha was our little girl. Samantha is our little girl. For those of us who are involved in this investigation, the Orange County Sheriff's Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol and the countless volunteers that were all out there, Samantha was our little girl.

We loved her dearly. And there was a passion to find her killer. Erin took the time to come out to the command post. And I think she got it firsthand what we were talking about. The incredible passion, men and women who literally had to be ordered to go home, because they didn't want to give up in the search, who were sleeping in their cars for a couple hours, only to come back and to do it all again.

To grab tip sheets and to get out in the field. To serve coffee to those that were working. The media, who never left our sides and kept the message out there in the public. And the public who were constantly working with us to catch Samantha's killer.

We didn't realize it at the time, but Samantha was not just our little girl, she became America's little girl. Samantha was all that was good in the world. And what happened to her is all that was evil in the world. When we arrested the individual that murdered Samantha, all of us in the command post rejoiced that he was captured before another child was injured.

But we're struggling with an incredible sadness that overcome all of us who have been part of this investigation because we wanted to bring Samantha home, and all that we did, for all the magnificent work that was done, by hundreds of men and women who are true professionals, we couldn't bring Samantha back.

Late Friday night, I was sitting in the command post, and I was talking with Sandy Hill (ph) with the Trauma Intervention Program, who was assigned to Samantha's little friend Sarah. And I was curious how Sarah was doing through all of this and if she missed her little friend.

Sandy (ph) said, "Sheriff, I've got to tell you a story about Sarah. I asked Sarah this morning if she missed Samantha. She said, 'I miss her a lot, but I'm not sad anymore because Sarah is home with Jesus in heaven."

All of us who were involved in this case believe that the wisdom of a 5-year-old little girl, Sarah, is what made this case. The wisdom of a 5-year-old little girl solved this case, and maybe the wisdom of a 5-year-old little girl about what this life's all about and an understanding of the kingdom of heaven is the best way for all of us to say good-bye to Samantha.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Reverend Peggy Price, Church of Religious Science in Huntington Beach. BROWN: Mike Carona, the sheriff in Orange County, California. Southern California is a huge place, but there was a small sense of community for a while around this case.

REV. PEGGY PRICE, CHURCH OF RELIGIOUS SCIENCE: Good evening. It is a particular honor for me to be here tonight and to be in service to this family in the way in which I am.

Dr. Schuller, I want to thank you and your wonderful community here at the Crystal Cathedral for opening your doors and your hearts and making it possible for all of us to be here together tonight.

And, Sheriff Carona, as the wife of a deputy sheriff who is part of your department, I want to thank you for your words, for your caring, for your compassion, for your concern, and for your swift and just action in this case.

As a mother and a grandmother myself, my heart has been heavy, and I've watched this process as it unfolded over the past days. I felt an immediate connection to Erin and her family, and, like all of you, I embraced Samantha as one of my own.

And we're all here this evening because our hearts have been broken open by the tragic loss of a little girl and because we feel such compassion for her family.

We come together here tonight as a family of human beings because, at a very deep level, we feel this loss and realize, as you said so beautifully, Sheriff Carona, that this child, Samantha Bree Runnion, has become our child and her family has become our family.

In the book of Isaiah, the prophet says very simple words. He says "and a little child shall lead them." Samantha has led us here.

We are all here as one. We may be from different backgrounds and different faiths, traditions, different cultures, and different races, and yet we are here because we want to share our sorrow and our love because Samantha touched our hearts.

Yesterday afternoon, I sat with Erin in Samantha's bedroom. Erin shared with me artwork and schoolwork and letters that Samantha had created. She told me about Samantha's love of Peter Pan and Hercules and Pegasus, and how Samantha loved things that could fly. She wanted to fly.

Her artwork reflected a delightful, bright, talented child who loved her family. Picture after picture showed her family, all of them smiling, all of them together, all of them happy.

She had a gift of insight and caring. She had written a beautiful letter to her best friend, Sarah, telling her how much she loved her and how much she appreciated their times together. How many 5-year-old children do you know who would write a letter like that?

She loved her family here -- Erin, Ken, Connor (ph) and Paige (ph), and her Grandma Coco (ph), and, over and over, she drew pictures of them and pictures of walking the dog and of her cat and of her happy life.

And each night, she would touch her mother's cheek before going to sleep and say, "Sweet, lovely mama."

Erin has requested that tonight I share with you some diverse faith traditions because so many of you who are part of Samantha's larger family are from many faiths, but all of us share the common thread of love and compassion.

And we ask ourselves how could something like this happen. And we ask ourselves why would this happen to a child? And there are no easy answers.

Jesus tells us that God calls us his son to shine on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. The universe itself is a place of chaotic and random activity.

And we can question or we can see that, in each experience of tragedy and darkness, the light of God still shines through, and whatever your faith tradition, you are here because of love. This child brought you here, and Samantha's light was and continues to be very bright.

We ask the question where was God in all of this? And God was present, and God is present here and now, and God is expressing through your love and your care and your compassion and your concern.

We feel the pain of you, Erin. We feel your pain. And, Ken, we feel your pain. And Samantha's natural father, Derek, and Grandma Coco (ph) and Connor (ph) and Paige (ph) and all of the family and friends.

And we cannot deny this tragedy. And this act of violence will change them forever. But it is our compassion that will support them as they go through this loss.

In the Buddhist tradition, there is a story which I shared with Erin yesterday, and she asked me to share it with you tonight.

The story is told that a young woman named Kisa Gotami lived at the same time as the Buddha. She experienced a series of tragedies. First her husband died and then another close family member. And all she had was her child. And then her child was stricken with illness and her child died as well.

Wailing in grief, she carried the body of her dead child everywhere, asking for help, for medicine to bring her back to life. But, of course, no one could help her.

Finally, someone directed her to the Buddha, who was teaching in a nearby forest grove, and she approached the Buddha crying with grief and said, "Great teacher, master, please bring my child back to life."

And the Buddha replied, "I will do so, but, first, you must do something for me. You must go into the village and get me a handful of mustard seed," which was the most common spice found in India, "and from this, I will fashion a medicinal for your child."

"But there is one more thing," the Buddha said. "The mustard must come from a home where no one has lost a child or a parent or a spouse or a friend."

Kisa Gotami ran into the village and ran into the first house begging for mustard seed, "Please, please, may I have some?" And the people, seeing her grief, responded immediately.

But then she asked, "Has anyone in this home died? Has a mother or a daughter or a father or a son?" And they answered, "Yes, we just had a death last year."

So Kisa Gotami ran away and ran to the next house. And, again, they offered her mustard seed, and, again, she asked, "Has anyone here died?" And this time, it was a maiden aunt.

And, at the next house, it was the young daughter who had died. And so it went, house after house in the village. There was no household where she could find that had not known death.

Finally, Kisa Gotami sat down in her sorrow and realized that what had happened to her and her child happens to everyone, that all who are born also will die, and she carried the body of her dead child back to the Buddha, and there her child was buried with all the proper rites.

She then bowed to the Buddha and asked him for teachings that would bring her wisdom and refuge in this realm of birth and death, and she herself took these teachings deeply to heart and became a great yogi and a wise woman.

In meeting Erin and seeing her love for her child and her love for her family and her love for her community, I have seen how you have shown remarkable strength and faith through this entire process.

You've been supported by other parents who have reached out to you because they shared this common experience. We never heal alone. Samantha has not died in vain. Her life will be forever remembered by all of us, and her life and her feisty tigress courage has caught her own killer, and he will never be able to do this again.

There is divine justice, and it will be served. Samantha is a heroine, and we know that she has prevented others from suffering the same dark fate.

And so we ask the question where is she now? Every great tradition teaches that the soul is eternal, that life is eternal, and that we move on into a greater experience of life.

I see that as an experience of pure love, that the infinite presence, the everlasting arms are a place of such great love and beauty that we cannot describe it. Some call it heaven. Some call it the great beyond or the other side, and you and I have not yet been there. Yet I know that we all have these immortal yearnings, and we also know in our own being that our essence -- in our essence that our soul is eternal. St. Paul says that we have a body terrestrial and a body celestial, and Samantha's beautiful little body lies motionless and still, but her celestial body is flying, just as she always wanted to fly, and she is free. She's playing and laughing and creating beauty and light.

She is with us through our thoughts and through our memories and through our love. And she lives on in our hearts, and she still touches her sweet, lovely mother's cheek. She is only a thought away.

And what about us? What are we to learn from this? We have seen of late so many examples of the mistreatment of children. We have seen what happens when one group of people points at another and says, in essence, "We are right, and you are wrong," and we have seen through tragedy how we can come together as one, breaking down the human barriers of race and creed and ethnicity and culture to be as one. And perhaps finally, we are growing up, and a little child shall lead us.

Another child, a young boy, who is facing a terminal illness, named Mattie Stepanek, writes beautiful poetry, and he wrote a poem that touched me and speaks to me of what Samantha has created through her life and through this experience.

He says, "We are growing up. We are many colors of skin. We are many languages. We are many ages and sizes. We are many countries. But we are one earth. We each have one heart. We each have one life. We are growing up together. So we must join our hearts and rise together and live as one family."

Samantha Bree Runnion, you have brought us together as one family. We all hold ourselves a little closer and one another a little closer because of you. We look after the children a little more closely because of you. We all recognize our unity and our oneness because of you. You did not die in vain. Your light shines in the darkness and the darkness disappears.

Your sixth birthday was to have been this Friday, but you are now born into a new life. So we say farewell but not goodbye. We weep for your family. We weep for your friends. We weep for the living. But, in the words of the Sufi poet Rumi, we hear your triumphant song.

"On that final day, when my casket moves along, do not think my soul will stay in this world. Do not weep for me, crying tragedy, tragedy. You will only fall into the snares of delusion. Now that's a tragedy. When you see my lifeless body go by, do not cry out, gone, gone.

"It is my moment of union. It is when I come upon the eternal embrace of my beloved. What appears to you as a setting is for me a rising. What appears to you as a prison is for my soul an endless garden."

Please join with me in prayer. We call upon that infinite presence, which we know by many names, that spirit of the living God. And we know there is only one life, and that life is our life now, and that, as we join together here in this place, we recognize and realize this power and presence, the love and the infinite wisdom of that which is all there is.

And we are all made in the image and likeness of this one. Regardless of our faiths and our traditions, we are all one in the family of humankind.

We bless this child Samantha. We know that her soul is eternal and that her life never ends. She is enfolded in the loving arms, safe and secure in the many mansions which the Christ has prepared for her.

May she skip and dance and frolic. May she be the shining star we see in the early evening. May she be the butterfly that brushes our cheek. May she be the sparkling light upon the ocean and the winged birds of the air.

She is in our hearts. Her name is on our breath. She is light and goodness and blessing each and every day.

May Erin and Ken and Connor (ph) and Paige (ph) and Derek and Grandma Coco (ph) and all of her family be enfolded in the peace and comfort of God's divine grace.

May we all remember who we are, children of God. May we be the place of compassion. May we walk in love as Christ has loved us. May we be the place of peace, and, most of all, may we be a blessing as we all walk together softly on this earth.

So we say, Samantha, go. Go in peace. Go into the loving arms. We send our loving thoughts and our prayers with you, and we know that you are only a thought away.

In love and in gratitude for a beautiful life well lived, I let these words rest and know that all is well, and so it is in the name of love. Amen.

BROWN: For those of you who may just be joining us, this is a memorial service for 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in Garden Grove, California. In a moment her mother will talk to this large group of almost 3,000 people in one of those truly unimaginable moments, a week after her daughter was murdered.

This is Erin Runnion.

ERIN RUNNION, SAMANTHA'S MOTHER: Thank you all for coming. This has been the most awful nightmare, and your sympathy and love throughout have given my family tremendous comfort and strength.

I must thank the Orange County sheriff, the Riverside sheriff, the FBI, the media, and the public for working together and dedicating themselves to finding our daughter and her murderer so quickly. Nothing can bring our baby back, but knowing that her death was handled with the utmost integrity and her life cherished by so many does bring some solace.

We are overwhelmed by the love people have shown Samantha. Excuse me. And that is why we felt compelled to share this memorial with everyone whose heart has been touched by her death.

Ken and I were truly honored to be her parents. We always knew she had a gift for the world, but it never occurred to us that her greatness would be realized in her death.

I want to share some photos and writings of my baby so that you may know what a precious little girl she was.

May everyone be inspired by her joy and take comfort in the gift that is every child. May our nation take this tragedy and unite in the protection and wonderment of all children.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

BROWN: Erin Runnion's face said all that you needed to know about this tragedy.

(BEGIN SLIDE SHOW)

(MUSIC)

(END SLIDE SHOW)

BROWN: There's something about children of a certain age: They all look different, and they all look like ours.

SCHULLER: One of the beautiful things about Samantha Runnion is that even in her death, she's creating unity and compassion and love, and one of the things she is doing is she's uniting the religions of the world.

So, today, I asked several different faiths to come together, and so we begin with Reverend Peggy Price from the Church of Religious Science.

(MUSIC)

From the Temple Oramet (ph), Rabbi Jay Levy (ph).

(MUSIC)

BROWN: Dennis Prager, who is a social commentator, a radio host, a writer, is with us in Los Angeles tonight.

Dennis, a number of times it's been said tonight that this moment has brought the community of Southern California -- it is a large and diverse and complicated place -- together. That is the kind of thing that's often said.

I wonder, from your perspective if, in fact, it feels that way?

PRAGER: It does feel that way. The sad part, of course, is that it takes tremendous evil to do this.

And by the way, I need to tell you I found your comments very powerful. This whole thing has been quite powerful.

The -- your comment about all children are unique and look like our own was very telling. That is that our child there, but not exactly our child.

And yes, we have been brought together, and yes, we'll go back to this unity (ph) in a little while. But that's why these moments are very important. It forces us to take perspective on what's really important.

BROWN: I think, if I may, it reminds us that we are, in fact -- whether in New York or California or Chicago or Des Moines -- that we are, in fact, a community; that we share, all of us, enormous things: love of our children, parenting concerns, day-to-day worries, all of that.

And we are, in fact, connected in ways that we often, we just don't think about.

PRAGER: Right. We are connected. Of course, the key thing: Connectedness really, of course, doesn't come from ethnicity, which doesn't mean a thing; or from race, which doesn't mean anything -- it comes from values.

And as long as we'll adhere to essential, powerful American values -- and they are, if not unique, certainly different from much of the world's -- we will be able to remain a cohesive nation.

But that's really important at this time, is to understand what it is to be an American. And we are of different faiths, but we all share the sense that there is something special about being part of this great experiment in history. And with that, we can be powerful.

You look at all the faces here of different faiths. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, wow, look: I'm black; look, I'm white; look, I'm yellow.

You know, we're so much more complex than that.

BROWN: And they are noting, now, all the different faiths that have been brought together.

The other thing I noticed -- and I'm not sure what the question is, Dennis, and I don't know what to make of it, but I'll just throw it out there -- is as I've looked at the people who came to the cathedral tonight, both inside and out -- there's a moment of silence here, and we should also.

(MOMENT OF SILENCE)

(MUSIC)

BROWN: People begin, now, to leave, and the bagpipe plays "Amazing Grace." How many times this year, particularly in New York, but in many places around the country, have we heard the painful wail of a bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace"?

This was quite a powerful event, as Dennis Prager, who was with us from Los Angeles, noted.

Samantha's mother leaving.

Three thousand people and a country came tonight. We're pleased that you joined us as well.

We'll see you again tomorrow. Good night.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com