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American Morning

Attorney General Ashcroft Meets With Families of Oklahoma City Bombing Victims

Aired April 10, 2001 - 11:09   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Attorney General John Ashcroft is meeting this morning in Oklahoma with people who were injured or lost family members in the Oklahoma City bombing. He is expected to announce tomorrow whether to allow closed-circuit television so they would be able to watch the Timothy McVeigh execution. McVeigh faces federal execution on May 16th.

Our Gary Tuchman is in Oklahoma City with more. Gary, I guess that meeting's a couple of hours away with the attorney general?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Daryn. Within the half-hour, the attorney general is expected to arrive right here where the Murrah Federal Building used to stand. This is now a memorial and tribute to the 168 people who died in the Oklahoma City bombing. The attorney general, John Ashcroft, will tour this outdoor memorial and then an indoor museum right next door with the governor of Oklahoma and has wife, one survivor and a women who lost her daughter and her unborn grandchild on April 19th, 1995.

After the tour, he will then meet with 200 survivors and family members of the victims to discuss the execution of Timothy McVeigh scheduled for May 16th, next month, at the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. There are only eight seats for family members to attend the execution. About 250 of them want to attend.

So what they're going to discuss with the attorney general is the possibility of closed-circuit telecasts here in Oklahoma City and in Terre Haute. It's expected that most of these survivors and family members of the victims will plead to the attorney general to allow this. We are being told the attorney general is inclined to favor the idea and will make that announcement tomorrow.

Now, when he tours this memorial, he will see a memorial that is both heartbreaking and inspirational at the same time. To the east right over here is what they call the gate of honor. On it, it says "9:01." That was minute before the 9:02 explosion nearly six years ago when all was still normal here in Oklahoma City.

What you see behind me at the very end is the original wall from the Murrah Federal Building, and 168 chairs where the building used to stand, one chair for each victim. There are nine rows of chairs. Each row symbolizing a floor of nine-story building, and the chairs sit where the bodies were found on each floor of the Murrah Federal Building.

A reflecting pool is where the street used to cross in front of the building. A very unusual pool. It's only three quarters of an inch deep. It's called the Pool of Tears.

And then on the west end, another gate of honor with the time 9:03, one minute after the explosion when life changed for so many forever.

Another part of the interest that a lot of people have here has nothing to do with the memorial and everything to do with the memorial at the same time. That building you see on the horizon, that red brick, square building, that is the Oklahoma City county jail where Terry Nichols, the other man convicted of this bombing, now sits in jail. He faces a life sentence from his federal trial, but he's now awaiting a state trial. The date has not been set, but he sits in that jail within eyesight of this memorial in Oklahoma City.

We expect the meeting between the attorney general and the families to last about 45 minutes -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Gary Tuchman in Oklahoma City. We'll hear from you throughout the day. Thank you.

CNN, of course, plans live coverage of Mr. Ashcroft's visit to Oklahoma City starting 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

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