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CNN Live Today

Constitution Museum Opens

Aired July 04, 2003 - 10:00   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, honoring the words that transformed a fledging country into a nation of freedoms. On the nation's birthday and in its very birthplace, the U.S. Constitution becomes the centerpiece of a first-ever museum honoring the defining document. You're looking at live pictures right now of the ceremony under way.
It is living history with interactive exhibits, live-sized statues of the original signers, and the words of the entire Constitution etched into the 285 panes of glass. And in a moment, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is expected to be one of the keynote speakers at that ceremony, and when that happens we'll be bringing that to you live.

Now, let's get a more a more intimate view of the museum. And CNN's Jason Carroll is spending the morning there, and he joins us with a tour of sorts of that museum.

Happy Fourth to you -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And to you, Fredericka. An intimate tour, I kind of like that. I think I'll give it to you.

Where else can be you be sworn in as president, meet Benjamin Franklin, see the tools that were used to break into the Watergate Hotel? It's all here, we're here, and we've got a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): Philadelphia, a historic city, home of Benjamin Franklin's house, Independence Hall, the place, people are quick to say, where the Constitution was signed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Philadelphia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to go with Philadelphia.

CARROLL: But slow to explain exactly what the Constitution is.

(on camera): What is the Constitution?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I've got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's being free.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's, like, all of our -- I don't know. JOE TORSELLA, CONSTITUTION MUSEUM PRESIDENT: I am not at all surprised by this, but what we are is determined to do something about it.

CARROLL (voice-over): Enter the National Constitution Center, the first museum of its kind dedicated to the Constitution.

TORSELLA: You have the history of how we got from there to here.

CARROLL: Joe Torsella is president of the museum. He gave us a preview of what visitors can expect.

TORSELLA: Can you vote? It goes across 200 years, starting in 1765.

CARROLL (on camera): Well, let's see, are you white? That rules me out. No.

TORSELLA: Well, guess what? Surprise. In 1765, there were states in which free African-Americans could vote. And then this is an exhibit that lets you be sworn in as president of the United States. We designed that with kids in mind, but one United States senator asked me if he could do that.

CARROLL: Are you going to tell us which one?

TORSELLA: No, I can't.

CARROLL (voice-over): It's not just an interactive museum. Here, you will also find an interesting mix of artifacts: the ink well President Lincoln signed to sign the Emancipation Proclamation; the tools used in the Watergate hotel burglary; a butterfly ballot from the last presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: James Madison, the rather short fellow over there.

CARROLL: And, if you're lucky, Benjamin Franklin, himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the beauty of this document, all of my friends had a party, and was that we were all a part of that document.

CARROLL: The idea to create a Constitution museum was born back in 1887. It took more than 100 years, but creators say, better late than never.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And the center opens later on this afternoon. People such as Winton Marsalis (ph), Richard Dreyfuss and, as you mentioned, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, all on hand to celebrate the only museum of its kind -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Jason, I wonder on days like this when you have a huge museum opening, do folks have to get tickets in order to enjoy the museum later on today when it does open officially for the public?

CARROLL: Plenty of tickets available for the public, for people who want to come out. They have been preparing for this for quite a long time. They've got plenty of space, plenty of tickets. They just want people to come on down and learn a little bit.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, what a great way to spend the Independence Day holiday. Thanks very much, Jason Carroll. Appreciate it.

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






Aired July 4, 2003 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, honoring the words that transformed a fledging country into a nation of freedoms. On the nation's birthday and in its very birthplace, the U.S. Constitution becomes the centerpiece of a first-ever museum honoring the defining document. You're looking at live pictures right now of the ceremony under way.
It is living history with interactive exhibits, live-sized statues of the original signers, and the words of the entire Constitution etched into the 285 panes of glass. And in a moment, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is expected to be one of the keynote speakers at that ceremony, and when that happens we'll be bringing that to you live.

Now, let's get a more a more intimate view of the museum. And CNN's Jason Carroll is spending the morning there, and he joins us with a tour of sorts of that museum.

Happy Fourth to you -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And to you, Fredericka. An intimate tour, I kind of like that. I think I'll give it to you.

Where else can be you be sworn in as president, meet Benjamin Franklin, see the tools that were used to break into the Watergate Hotel? It's all here, we're here, and we've got a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): Philadelphia, a historic city, home of Benjamin Franklin's house, Independence Hall, the place, people are quick to say, where the Constitution was signed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Philadelphia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to go with Philadelphia.

CARROLL: But slow to explain exactly what the Constitution is.

(on camera): What is the Constitution?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I've got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's being free.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's, like, all of our -- I don't know. JOE TORSELLA, CONSTITUTION MUSEUM PRESIDENT: I am not at all surprised by this, but what we are is determined to do something about it.

CARROLL (voice-over): Enter the National Constitution Center, the first museum of its kind dedicated to the Constitution.

TORSELLA: You have the history of how we got from there to here.

CARROLL: Joe Torsella is president of the museum. He gave us a preview of what visitors can expect.

TORSELLA: Can you vote? It goes across 200 years, starting in 1765.

CARROLL (on camera): Well, let's see, are you white? That rules me out. No.

TORSELLA: Well, guess what? Surprise. In 1765, there were states in which free African-Americans could vote. And then this is an exhibit that lets you be sworn in as president of the United States. We designed that with kids in mind, but one United States senator asked me if he could do that.

CARROLL: Are you going to tell us which one?

TORSELLA: No, I can't.

CARROLL (voice-over): It's not just an interactive museum. Here, you will also find an interesting mix of artifacts: the ink well President Lincoln signed to sign the Emancipation Proclamation; the tools used in the Watergate hotel burglary; a butterfly ballot from the last presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: James Madison, the rather short fellow over there.

CARROLL: And, if you're lucky, Benjamin Franklin, himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the beauty of this document, all of my friends had a party, and was that we were all a part of that document.

CARROLL: The idea to create a Constitution museum was born back in 1887. It took more than 100 years, but creators say, better late than never.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And the center opens later on this afternoon. People such as Winton Marsalis (ph), Richard Dreyfuss and, as you mentioned, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, all on hand to celebrate the only museum of its kind -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Jason, I wonder on days like this when you have a huge museum opening, do folks have to get tickets in order to enjoy the museum later on today when it does open officially for the public?

CARROLL: Plenty of tickets available for the public, for people who want to come out. They have been preparing for this for quite a long time. They've got plenty of space, plenty of tickets. They just want people to come on down and learn a little bit.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, what a great way to spend the Independence Day holiday. Thanks very much, Jason Carroll. Appreciate it.

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