Two episodes for this date.
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Pre-memorial, 8 PM
Post-memorial, 11 PM
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Wednesday, January 12th, 2011, special show
video podcast
Guests: Richard Wolffe, Daniel Hernandez, Jr., Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Lynn Paltrow, Simon
Greer, Robert Spitzer
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC: A special Countdown with Keith Olbermann is up next.
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KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST (voice-over): Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords brings tears of joy to the eyes of a nation.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. Gabby opened her eyes.
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OLBERMANN: The president at the memorial tonight in Tucson, where a community mourned and celebrated heroes.
Daniel Hernandez, the congresswoman's intern who helped to save her life, joins us.
And the other good news on her ever improving condition.
And the upstaging.
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SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them.
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OLBERMANN: So, words do not have consequences? Well, her words - words about her words, they have consequences.
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PALIN: Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
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OLBERMANN: Blood libel? The ancient calumny that Jews killed Christian children to drink their blood? When Congresswoman Giffords is Jewish? The reaction from Simon Greer of Jewish Funds for Justice.
And the reaction to the entire bizarre rant from Gabrielle Giffords' second cousin.
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PALIN: We know violence isn't the answer. When we take up our arms, we're talking about our vote.
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OLBERMANN: Uh-huh?
And the idea to actually do something, not just talk.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should revisit sensible federal laws to control access to guns and ammunition.
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OLBERMANN: But Peter King's sensible Republican idea, ban guns within 1,000 feet of elected federal officials, rejected out of hand by the Republican speaker of the House.
All the news and commentary - now on Countdown.
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OBAMA: The forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
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OLBERMANN: Good evening from New York. This is Wednesday, January 12th.
For six dead - a memorial. For the wounded - a prayer to heal. And for a community and a nation riven by a gross act of violence against the backdrop of sometimes bitter political divisions - a call for unity and remarkable elevation of the national discourse, courtesy of the president of the United States.
In our fifth story: a memorial service in what is usually a PAC-10 college basketball arena, ultimately somber and raucous with breaking news from the president himself about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Quoting, "Gabby opened her eyes for the first time" - obviously since the surgery.
Sitting beside the president, the congresswoman's intern who acted on the day of the shooting to save her life and was one of the speakers of tonight's memorial, Daniel Hernandez will join me in a moment.
First, the good news about the congresswoman. As the family today released these pictures, her doctors continued to decrease her sedation. They and her aides said, without any prompting, utterly on her own today, she had raised her fingers in a "V" symbol, had adjusted her own hospital gown and a simple act that neurologists will tell you is hardly simple - she scratched her nose, in about 103 hours after a bullet passed completely through her brain.
Just after the president concluded his visit to her bed side tonight, the extraordinary.
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OBAMA: I want to tell you, her husband Mark is here, and he allows me to share this with you. Right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: More details on that extraordinary moment later in this news hour. The president also visited the other wounded victims from Saturday's shooting as well as staffers at University Medical Center. And in his remarks at this evening's memorial, he paid specific tribute to the fallen and praised the heroes of that day, and then reflected on the meaning of this moment and addressed the issues surrounding this tragedy, and did so directly.
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OBAMA: At a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do, it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.
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OLBERMANN: Again and again, the president called on Americans to have the conversation they must have without laying blame.
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OBAMA: We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future.
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OBAMA: But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other.
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OBAMA: That we cannot do.
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OLBERMANN: And the president turned the issue of civility into an aspiration rather than citing its absence as cause.
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OBAMA: And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy - it did not - but rather because a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud.
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OLBERMANN: The president repeatedly returned to the necessity of honoring the victims, honoring them through actions. Victims like 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green.
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OBAMA: I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can do to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
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OLBERMANN: So in attendance tonight, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Attorney General Eric Holder, homeland security secretary, former Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano and House Minority Nancy Pelosi, Governor Brewer, Senators Kyl and McCain of Arizona, of course.
The tone of national resolve was not limited to the memorial tonight. The House of Representatives was back in session today for the first time since the shooting on Saturday. The express purpose of honoring the dead and wounded and praising the bravery of those who responded at the scene. The day also included a bipartisan prayer service. The next major remarks expected from the president at his State of the Union Address may coincide with a change in the seating arrangements.
Today, Senator Mark Udall sent a letter to his colleagues asking them to end the tradition of sitting intact and only with their own political parties. "What Americans see when they watch it on TV," he wrote, "is a Congress that is bitterly divided by party. Beyond custom, there is no rule or reason that on this night, we should emphasized divided government separated by party."
That very proposal had been offered by the centrist Democratic group, Third Way, of which Congressman Giffords has been an honorary co-chair.
And now, joining us as promised, the gentleman who begun an internship with the congresswoman only days before the shooting but who has known for her years and who acted to help save her life, Daniel Hernandez, Jr.
Great thanks for your time tonight, sir.
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, JR., REP. GIFFORDS' INTERN: Thanks for having me, Keith.
OLBERMANN: What did you think of tonight's service?
HERNANDEZ: I think it was definitely a good step forward not just for those of us here in Tucson and in Arizona, but also for the entire country, because what happened on Saturday, of course, is not just a tragedy for Tucson or Arizona, but a national tragedy.
OLBERMANN: When you think about what Congresswoman Giffords is going through, even at this point, and what you witnessed on Saturday and what the president said tonight, is there a message that you'd like to see Americans take from this arc of this tragedy that has seemed to have been so long but is, in fact, just a span of five days now?
HERNANDEZ: I think the president said it excellently. Coming together as one big American family that's 300 million strong, that's definitely the message we need to take away as we move forward. But also, a renewed sense of interest in public service, because that is what is important at this time.
OLBERMANN: The news about the congresswoman tonight scratching her nose, adjusting the gown and now these reports of her opening her eyes and being asked, "Can you see?" and indicating she could - is there a way for you to express what that means to you?
HERNANDEZ: I think words are very hard to describe how I'm feeling right now. I think when I heard that, that is one of the first times I smiled in days. Pure elation maybe is the best choice of words - but really there are no words to describe how excited not just I, but people all over the country were to hear that she was recovering as well and as quickly as she is, because we know Gabby's a fighter.
But she constantly surprises us. Even when she was in Congress, she's been the one that surprised us.
OLBERMANN: Were you - did you know about that in advance before the president said it? Or were you surprise with the rest of us?
HERNANDEZ: I was surprised with everybody else. I don't think they told anyone. I think it was kind of something they wanted to save for that moment, so that we could end on that high note.
OLBERMANN: Well, I have to ask you this about the other high notes. You will not answer, as you repeated when you spoke tonight, to hero - the president seemed to disagree with you and loudly and in front of everyone at the McKale Center which is not a classroom or something. It's a pretty big place.
Is it possible you might be mistaken, maybe you are a hero, just slightly, or hero-like or something?
HERNANDEZ: I think it's hard to disagree with the president, but I'm still going to go ahead and say, I'm not a hero. I really don't think that what I did was heroic because I think it was a total one-off and at least I hope that was because I don't think anyone should ever have to go through anything like that ever again.
OLBERMANN: Daniel Hernandez, the intern for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords - thank you for your time and with the thanks of all of us, both for your time and what you've done in the last five days.
HERNANDEZ: Thanks so much for having me, Keith.
OLBERMANN: And now, we mentioned more on what happened ton in the hospital at the University of Arizona, we're joined by the former speaker of the House, now the minority leader, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California.
Congresswoman, thank you kindly for your time tonight.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER (via telephone): You're welcome. It's quite an evening.
OLBERMANN: What happened? What happened? You were there. What did you see? What did she see?
PELOSI: Well, we were very blessed to be invited by the family, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and Senator Gillibrand and I to visit Gabby. And while we were, there we witnessed almost a miracle. We saw the power of prayer, the power of the effect of - the excellence her medical care, and we brought a little girl power, too, because we were trying to amuse Gabby, trying to get through to her how much she was loved and missed in the Congress, and what was waiting for her when she came back.
And being there with her parents and her husband, when she opened her eyes was quite remarkable. That was a glorious, glorious experience. One that I think we all will remember for the rest of our lives. Again, she's getting the greatest of care, so much love and respect, and we thought we brought a little fun to the room and she reacted.
OLBERMANN: Evidently. Madam Minority Leader, one of her aides said that she was then asked if she could indeed see and she indicated yes. Did you see that?
PELOSI: Well, I didn't - she didn't speak. But all of her reactions were very positive in terms of command and she reached out to her husband when he asked her to make certain signals and the rest. But you have to speak to her nurse that was in the room as to what an advance this was. But for those of us who love her so much, it was really a glorious moment.
As I thought the president's speech was at the University of Arizona at Tucson later in the evening. I hasten to add that the president and first lady had been in the room before us. So, I'm sure they contributed to the good feeling that Gabby was receiving.
And we went there to thank - to bring our love to her, to thank the health care providers for what they were doing for her, for all of those affected on Saturday, and, in fact, for all of the people that they treat to pay respect. To her staff, and to join "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America," the spirit of the evening, the attendance, I think we saw a sense of community there. I think the president took the spirit of civility to a new height and I think it was very transformative. That's the way it seemed to us in the hall.
And when he announced that Gabby had opened her eyes, it just got such an incredible response. We could identify with that because in the room, we felt as if we were witnessing something quite miraculous.
OLBERMANN: It sounds extraordinary even at this great distance. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader - great thanks for making yourself available to us at short notice.
PELOSI: Thank you. Thank you so much, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Pleasure as always and congratulations on being there.
PELOSI: Thanks.
OLBERMANN: MSNBC political analyst, Richard Wolffe, joins us now from Washington to look at the other components of this. He is the author, of course, of "Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House."
Richard, good evening.
RICHARD WOLFFE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Keith.
OLBERMANN: This was a memorial service and there was an extraordinary bit of good news in it as Minority Leader Pelosi just mentioned, and our thoughts with the fallen and the wounded.
But this also existed as a message to this nation and as a political speech as surely as President Reagan was both after the shuttle explosion. Let's split this in half. Assess this first as a message to the nation.
WOLFFE: Well, it was transformational on a number of different fronts.
On a personal level, there was this personal front section of the speech talking about the people who passed and actually transforming a memorial service into a celebration. It was an incredibly upbeat tone to that, and that was uniquely, I think, American - uniquely something that this president could deliver.
And then the political back end of the speech, much more political than these other examples people have been talking about, whether Clinton or Reagan, and I think this is where there's transformational both for this president as an individual and for the nation and for Tucson - because what he was saying there didn't just take him back to 2004, to that whole idea of bringing the country together, but it he was really asking people to pause, and look at themselves and say, can we live up to the ideals of the very people we all profess to care about? The victims out of all of this. And that's a moral case for what we've all been talking about politically.
Everyone, especially on this network, has said, why does this guy want to work with the other side so much? Is there a political gain for him?
What he laid out tonight was a moral values case, a nationwide case for saying, we need the politics that bring people together. And that was, I think, unexpected, because everyone thought he would be personal and commemorative, and he did something very different with this speech.
OLBERMANN: And thus, what does this mean? Assess this as a political event and a milestone in a presidency?
WOLFFE: Well, you only have to do what I did, I'm sure other people did, which is tune in to other networks, especially FOX tonight and look at the different tone that they've taken. Maybe it's just one night, but it's much, much harder to say that this president doesn't share American values or to demonize him in some way - because, by the way, he just called all this stuff out. He said, enough with the finger-pointing, it doesn't lead to better results. It doesn't lead to a better country. This is not what this country stands for.
And that's where you get into the compare and contrast with Sarah Palin today. Her address was about finger-pointing. And yes, she may feel some righteousness in feeling abused and neglected or attacked. But, in fact, that's not what this moment calls for, it calls for leadership, it calls for something much more positive, and the contrast between him saying no finger-pointing and her actually saying everyone else is to blame, was very, very striking today.
OLBERMANN: So, the imagery that we come away with, we had Ronald Reagan with the explosion of the shuttle and having slipped the surly bonds of earth for the members of that crew, what is the phraseology that we will take away from this? The references to the 9-year-old victim jumping in puddles?
WOLFFE: I think very much so. He brought this down to a personal level. One of his signature themes is to tell an American story in a way that places him at the center of the narrative, but in a way that says to all of us, we can relate to these people. He made that very explicit, he said this 9-year-old is like the daughter you have, or a young person that you know. And all of these victims are people that you know.
And that was extremely powerful. They became less figures in the news or photos in the newspaper and real life Americans who we all are part of a community with. That's extremely powerful and rare in this political climate.
OLBERMANN: MSNBC political analyst, Richard Wolffe - great thanks for spending some of the late night with us.
WOLFFE: Thank you, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Earlier, as Richard suggested, it may have easily been the worst timed political statement ever, the morning of the memorial ceremony. Was it also the worst, most self-damaging statement ever? Next.
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OLBERMANN: Last night, conservatives were commenting her on having had the class to say not until after the memorial and the funerals in Tucson - that's out the window. The strange videotape in which she tries to sell the idea that her words have no consequences, but words about her, words that cause violence.
Gabby Giffords' cousin responds and then there is her use of the phrase "blood libel." Simon Greer of Jewish Funds for Justice responds.
And guess who doesn't support the Republican proposal that prohibit guns within 1,000 feet of federally elected officials? The Republican speaker of the House, who is a federally elected official. Ahead on Countdown.
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OLBERMANN: In a nearly eight-minute video posted on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin spoke at length about the victims of the Tucson shooting. She also spoke about herself as a victim.
Our third story tonight: What she said about the Tucson tragedy and what it says about her, including how Congresswoman Giffords' second cousins assesses that.
Many have taken Ms. Palin to task for her insensitive use of one term in her video address, more on that term, "blood libel," later with Simon Greer of Jewish Funds for Justice.
First, an explanation of what else was said.
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PALIN: I spent the last few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After the shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event. President Reagan said, "We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society's guilty rather at that point law breaker." It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: A different assumption was made by the U.S. Secret Service in the fall of 2008, according to "Newsweek" magazine's coverage of the presidential election, quote, "The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and very disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time Palin rallies became more frenzied."
And yet, according to Ms. Palin, the irresponsible now are those calling for a rejection of violent rhetoric. Worse: those critics are enemies of the First Amendment.
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PALIN: No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent. And we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinions and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Today, former Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle claimed the criticism of her Second Amendment remedies remark, quote, "puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger."
Also today, "National Review Online" posting instructions on how to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, guilty in their eyes of questioning the tone of political discourse in Arizona.
But back to Mrs. Palin and her argument about individual accountability -
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PALIN: Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts who use both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, now with those who proudly voted in the last election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: While basically asserting that her words could play no part in subsequent violence but people criticizing her words might indeed foment violence, she also was absolving herself of her own crosshairs map. Mrs. Palin essentially criticizing Congresswoman Giffords herself who had spoken out about that map here on MSNBC last March.
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REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS (D), ARIZONA: This is a situation where people don't - I mean, they really need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up, and, you know, even things - for example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list. But, the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district - when people do that, they got to realize there's consequences to that action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: One person who understands the consequences is relative of Congresswoman Giffords' cousin. Her cousin Lynn Paltrow. Prior to the release of Palin's video, Ms. Paltrow an open letter entitled, "Dear Sarah Palin," in which she asked, quote, "If you do not mean literally that elected officials should be targeted with rifles and threatened by political activists armed with loaded weapons, what do you mean?"
Lynn Paltrow joins us now, the executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women and, as mentioned, the second cousin of Congresswoman Giffords.
Thanks for coming in tonight.
LYNN PALTROW, NATIONAL ADVOCATES FOR PREGNANT WOMEN: Thanks for having me.
OLBERMANN: Obviously, we're delighted for you about the news of her eyes opening tonight. Keep that front of mind here.
PALTROW: And if I may, I think we're all thrilled. And I just do want to say that the family that's closest to her, her husband, Mark Kelly, on her Web site has said that people who really want to show their support, because it's frustrating to be able to do so little can contribute to the community food bank in Tucson, Arizona and the American Red Cross of southern Arizona.
OLBERMANN: Let's talk about what happened earlier today. Did the Palin video address the sort of concerns you had as a related family member of the congresswoman?
PALTROW: I think as an American, we definitely want to see the kind of civility and we want to see people who are leaders speak out and explain that change needs to come about peacefully in this country and that violence is never the answer. And I think she did speak to a lot of that. And I think many people are speaking out, there are places where she even sounded a little bit like you.
At the same time, different leaders speak better than others, and the hope that she might speak about how real nonviolent change comes about, that it's by people who are willing to be attacked rather than to suggest that criticism is an attack, rather to suggest that attacking is OK, would have been even more appreciated.
OLBERMANN: I want to take a look at something else she said, and then get your reaction specifically to this clip from the video. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: In times like these, we need God's guidance and the peace he provides. We need strength to not let the random acts of a criminal turn us against ourselves or weaken our solid foundation or provide a pretext to stifle debate. America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: So, she's saying there she does not want tragedy to stifle debate, which is a fair point. I think everybody would agree with that.
But did she not just miss this opportunity for an open debate about violent rhetoric and how poisonous it can be, whether or not it's responsible for any given act, on any given day, in any given year?
PALTROW: I think that would have been very much appreciated. And I think it's very important that people to understand that when people raise questions about what speech does, what effect it has or doesn't have - that that's not an attack on other people's First Amendment rights, that's the exercise of the First Amendment.
And in particular, I think it would have been much appreciated. She had one line in which she talked about, when we take up our arms -
OLBERMANN: Yes.
PALTROW: - we are talking about our vote.
And I think for her constituents, it may need to be a lot - for everybody, let's talk about all of us - it needs to be clear. The Second Amendment is not the same as the 15th Amendment or the 19th Amendment. And when you use language like "lock" and "reload" and you tell voters to come back and reload - I had to use the new scanning voting machines in New York City, we didn't require locking and reloading.
OLBERMANN: In your capacity, you have another experience with this, and this question of rhetoric perpetuating cycles of violence, or at least contributing to an atmosphere. Again, there's no cause and effect necessarily here, but there's an environment.
You were an ally of the late Dr. George Tiller. What did your experience with him tell you about this?
PALTROW: I can tell you - first, let me say thank you. You are one of the few people who I think noticed and commented on the similarity and the rhetoric, that it's not just elected officials, and it's not just judges who are facing death threats. But it is people, as said -
I sent an e-mail to Congresswoman Giffords after her offices were shot at after the vote for health care reform. I told her I was sorry she had to be as courageous as the - in favor of health care reform as the providers of health care to women who sometimes need abortions and other reproductive care services.
I know that language isn't necessarily the cause of the behavior, but I do know - and it doesn't necessarily cause terrorism, but I do know there are a lot of people in America, caring, loving, humane health care providers, who every day live in terror because of that language.
OLBERMANN: Lynn Paltrow, cousin of Congresswoman Giffords, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, again, great to meet you. Thanks for coming in.
PALTROW: Thank you for having me.
OLBERMANN: We'll focus in on that one remark about blood libel. It's remarkable inappropriateness given the religion of the congresswoman and given the millennium of pain it has represented for the Jewish people, next.
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OLBERMANN: According to one media critic, in defending her language today, Sarah Palin, quote, "could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase."
In our third story, Mrs. Palin falsely claimed journalists and pundits
or as she pronounced it, pundits - had blamed her for the shootings in Arizona, which she claims turned her into the victim of a, quote, "blood libel."
Whether or not Palin knows that the term blood libel was originally a
reference to the persecution of Jews in the Middle Ages is not clear. What
is clear is that several prominent Jewish groups are not pleased. The president of the Jewish Funds for Justice joins me presently.
The term was used this week as the title and the body of a "Wall Street Journal" editorial by the conservative writer Glenn Reynolds, "The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel."
The disgraced conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart picked up the meme, Tweeting, "and to gutless GOP establishment who watches in silence the blood libel against Sarah Palin, USA, we will remember."
Neither gave historical context to that term. For that, we'll refer you to the Anti-Defamation League website. "By the high Middle Ages, 11th to 14th centuries, Jews were widely persecuted as barely human Christ killers and devils, forced to live in all Jewish ghettos. They were accused of poisoning rivers and wells during times of disease. Some were tortured and executed for supposedly abducting and killing Christian children, to drink their blood or to use it to baking matzo, a charge known as the blood libel."
This, to Sarah Palin, as analogous to what is happening to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: If you don't like a person's vision for the country, you're free to debate that vision. If you don't like their ideas, you're free to propose better ideas. But especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Sarah Palin, knowingly or not, is comparing herself to the persecuted Jews of the Middle Ages, as a Jewish congresswoman lies in critical condition in an Arizona hospital after being shot in the head. Today, the Anti-Defamation League put out a statement in support of her comments and sentiments in general, but it also noted that the term blood libel has become part of English parlance for someone being falsely accused. And they're right.
Reporters and commentators from both sides of the aisle use the term often to describe the actual persecution of others, not themselves. The ADL went on to say, quote, "we wish that Palin had used another phrase instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history."
According to conservative author Jonah Goldberg, because it invokes anti-Semitic myths, quote, "the use of this particular term in this context is not ideal."
Media critic Howard Kurtz took it further. "Had Palin scoured a Thesaurus, she could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase."
The president of the National Jewish Democratic Jewish Counsel said, "Palin's invocation of a blood libel charge against her perceived enemies is hardly a step in the right direction."
And according to Simon Greer, president of Jewish Funds for Justice, "unless someone has been accusing Ms. Palin of killing Christian babies and making matzo from their blood, her use of the term is totally out of line."
Mr. Greer joins us now. Thanks for coming in.
Explain as much as you can the offense that you took from Sarah Palin's use of this term blood libel?
SIMON GREER, JEWISH FUNDS FOR JUSTICE: On a day when the attention of all Americans is on the victims in Arizona, Sarah Palin is trying to confuse us and make us think that there's a victim in Alaska, which clearly there isn't. To do it, adding insult to injury, she invokes a phrase that has caused countless lives of Jews across the centuries. And she uses it to lodge a complaint about the media.
On the face of it, it is a grotesque comparison.
OLBERMANN: The term is used by others. Our friend Gene Robinson used it after the false charges of a woman in Pennsylvania before the 2008 election. He said it was the equivalent of - or towards that affect, of the blood libel. Usually, when somebody invokes it, it's related to actual persecution of another group.
Is part of the problem here is that the person claims that blood libel is being used is also the person who claims it's being used against them?
GREER: Yeah, you have a situation where a Jewish congresswoman is fighting for her life and a Christian is claiming that she's the one that's the victim of a blood libel. It does make me think that leaders like Sarah Palin, and other Tea Party leaders like Glenn Beck, have a Jewish problem. They continue to invoke Holocaust, Hitler, Nazi, blood libel as if they're trying to paint a picture of themselves as victims in an almost Orwellian turn of phrase. It's a bit hard to fathom.
OLBERMANN: There's no need to speculate further at this point why this was said or why it was said today, in advance of this event tonight in Tucson at the basketball center there. But does, in your opinion, the use of this phrase impact her political future to any serious degree?
GREER: I think it does. And I think even more so in the context of the president's speech this evening. I thought the president gave us what the nation needed. He offered a eulogy, in essence, to the people who had lost lives. And he called us to something higher. He said the discourse we create, the nation we build is something we build for our children.
To me, the question became quite clear, what is it that we do for our children? We tackle unemployment. We tackle the foreclosure crisis. We don't point fingers. And I think Sarah Palin revealed herself today to be in the blame game and the victim game, not in the problem solving game. And I think it will haunt her for months to come.
OLBERMANN: Does she need to say anything else about this? Would it do any good or just exacerbate the situation.
GREER: If she makes a light weight apology, I don't think it does any good. If she does offer an explanation, I for one would like to hear what were the circle of Jewish advisers around her? What were they thinking? Were they thinking we know what the blood libel is and we're going to use it to great effect? Or oops, we didn't really know what it meant; we deliberated for four days about what to say and then we slipped in the blood libel? I would love to hear her explanation.
OLBERMANN: Her explanation is probably it was on the teleprompter. Simon Greer, the president and CEO of Jewish Funds for Justice, again, great thanks for coming in at such a late hour.
GREER: Thanks very much, Keith. It's a pleasure.
OLBERMANN: The guns right advocate who today said restricting high capacity ammo clips is absolutely justifiable. And the speaker of the House who has rejected the proposal by one of his own party colleagues to ban guns within 1,000 feet of elected officials.
And when Rachel joins you at the top of the hour, an assessment of the president's speech tonight with the president of the Inter-Faith Alliance, the Reverend Welton Gaddy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OLBERMANN: A quick personal note, if my enunciation has seemed a little on and off throughout the course of this hour, I'm not exactly sure what it is. I'm either sick with kind of wave-like flu or there were some bad oysters for dinner. Either way, enjoy the next 11 minutes, because I may fall flat on my face or perhaps something else bad could happen.
Still ahead, why the gunman got off so many rounds before he could be stopped and whether Congress is going to do anything about that. But in our number two story tonight, there is other news, some of it with grim echoes of today's events.
A 32-year-old man from Palm Springs, California, Charles Turner Haberman (ph), arrested and charged with threatening to kill a member of Congress, Seattle Democrat Jim McDermott. The FBI saying that Haberman called McDermott's office on December 9th during the tax cut debate and left two messages.
Quoting, "I'd like to remind you, McDermott, that if you read the Constitution, all the money belongs to the people. None of it belongs to government. If he ever F's around with my money ever the F again I'll Fing kill him, OK? I'll round them up. I'll them. I'll kill his friends. I'll kill his family. I will kill everybody he Fing knows." .
Not a lot of margin for error there. And more importantly, perhaps, the Constitution actually gives Congress the power to collect taxes. Mr. Haberman allegedly told the FBI he would never have carried out his threat, because he did not want to jeopardize his three million dollar trust fund. How many cliches in that story.
While the Governor of Texas Rick Perry is trying to figure out what services to cut to fix his 25 billion dollar shortfall estimated for two years hence, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the state legislature have come up with an approach today that Charles Turner Haberman would definitely not approve of. They raised taxes from three percent to five percent.
The world did not come to an end, yet anyway. New government data showed last year tied with 2005 as Earth's warmest year on record. All but one of the top ten warmest years now starts with a two.
One Republican congressman wants to prohibit those carrying guns from getting within 1,000 feet of an elected federal official. Another Republican congressman instead wants to make sure those elected federal officials can carry their own weapons and fire back, like a scene out of "Police Squad." Guess to which one Speaker of the House Boehner is opposed.
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OLBERMANN: Not one single gun control bill has crossed President Obama's desk since he took office. Yet Saturday's tragedy in Tucson has already led to several proposals, including one that would ban people from carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a federal elected official. That came, as you have heard, from Republican Congressman Peter King of New York. Republican.
But in our number one story, the GOP leadership tells him and everybody else where they stand on gun control, not unless you pry it from our dead policy. Congressman King says the legislation's goal is to not only protect government officials, but obviously the public, as we so tragically learned over the weekend.
As "The Hill" newspaper reports "Speaker Boehner rejected King's proposal shortly after it was announced."
Slightly different story out of Majority Leader Cantor's office. His spokesman, Brad Dayspring, telling "The Hill" Mr. Cantor believes "it's appropriate to adequately review and actually read legislation before forming an opinion about it."
I hope Boehner doesn't hear about that.
Yet Mr. Dayspring told "The Daily News" of New York that Mr. Cantor is in fact against the legislation, "the proposal wouldn't have prevented this tragedy or other mentally unstable individuals or criminals from committing horrific acts."
Perhaps the leadership will be more clear on another Republican proposal, this one from Louis Gohmert of Texas. That congressman is drafting a bill that would allow lawmakers to to carry guns on the House floor. Seriously.
Mr. Gohmert telling "Politico," "it would be a good thing for members of Congress who want to carry a weapon in the District. I know friends that walk home from the Capital. There's no security for us."
Apparently no cabs either, genius. Mr. Gohmert added that he felt afraid during last year's health care debate. Quote, "there is some protection in having protection."
Make your own joke.
Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Carolyn McCarthy of New York, to whom none of this is a joke, is preparing to circulate legislation tomorrow banning the sale or transfer of high capacity magazines. These are the kind that Jared Lee Loughner allegedly used to fire off his 31 shots from his Glock before stopping to reload. Loughner would not have been able to legally purchase that kind of clip had a Bush-era Congress not let the Assault Weapons Ban expire in 2004.
President Obama, who campaigned on reinstating the ban, dropped the issue after entering offer. The White House declining to comment on whether Mr. Obama would support a restriction on high capacity magazines such as Congresswoman McCarthy has proposed.
But today, some unlikely support from a proponent and a prominent gun rights advocate. Robert A. Levy, co-counsel of the landmark Supreme Court case establishing that the Second Amendment does indeed mention the right to bare arms, District of Columbia v. Heller.
He told NBC News that he does not see any Constitutional barrier in regulating high capacity magazines. Quote, "Justice Scalia made it quite clear some regulations are permitted. The Second Amendment is not absolute."
Time now to call in Robert Spitzer, professor of political science at SUNY Cortland, and the author of "The Politics of Gun Control."
Thank you for your time tonight, sir.
ROBERT SPITZER, PROFESSOR, SUNY CORTLAND: Good to be with you, Keith.
OLBERMANN: I recognize that logo behind you. But we will let it pass for just the moment.
Will support from Mr. Levy help Congressman McCarthy's proposal? Will it at least signal to libertarians or even those on the right or perhaps in the middle that this is in some way OK?
SPITZER: I think it does help. It is clearly a signal. Levy was lead counsel, as you pointed out, in the Heller case. And the Cato Institute, libertarian, arch-conservative organization. It is kind of a crack among the hard right wing on this issue.
I'm sure there are other Republicans who would be willing to support a measure like limiting high capacity ammunition clips. But it's hard for me to believe that the Republican leadership will let that come to the floor.
OLBERMANN: What about this other measure from Mr. King, which seems perhaps - you know, just a nice first step, but the Republican leadership shut it down without discussing it. Mr. Cantor even made a point of saying he would at least read it before coming out against it?
SPITZER: That would be seem to be like almost a no-brainer, except that it would seem to run afoul of those hardcore gun carrying individuals, such as those who showed up at a speech that President Obama gave in 2009, where the concealed carry or open carry. Their notion is that if they're entitled to carry, then they're entitled to carry. That might bring them closer to a 1,000 yards to an elected official.
So maybe that element of the gun community would object to that provision. But you would think that that would have bipartisan support in Congress.
OLBERMANN: Why when the Democrats were in charge of both Houses and had the president at the same time - why did they not push for anything in terms of stricter legislation?
SPITZER: Well, I think two reasons. One, because the Democrats had a very, very, very full plate in the last two years. The economy tanks. Wall Street - a host of other problems, health care, and gun control simply would have been further down the list in any case.
But secondly, the Democratic party has backed away from the gun issue, especially dating to the 2000 elections, the Al Gore election. Many Democrats felt that Gore and other Democrats lost that election because of the gun issue. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that was the feeling.
Democrats have moved away from the issue in the 2000s. And in addition, you had the Bush presidency, which was the most gun friendly presidency in American history, in policy terms. The Democrats also have within their fold Blue Dog Democrats, conservative Democrats who were elected as pro-gun or gun rights Democrats. So it becomes much tougher to advance gun control legislation under those circumstances.
OLBERMANN: In a word, is Tucson going to do anything to advance the cause of some kind of gun control?
SPITZER: No. I think, at the end of the day, at the national level, there will be no policy change, because I think the wave will subside. And in Arizona, I'd be very surprised if there were any change. It might embolden gun control supporters in some states around the country to look at their laws again.
If the recent history of this issue reveals anything, it is that once the wave subsides, things return to where they were before.
OLBERMANN: Robert Spitzer, the author of "The Politics of Gun Control," thanks for your time.
That's January 12th. I'm Keith Olbermann. Rachel Maddow is next.
Good night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END
video podcast
Guests: Richard Wolffe, Daniel Hernandez, Jr., Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Lynn Paltrow, Simon
Greer, Robert Spitzer
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC: A special Countdown with Keith Olbermann is up next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST (voice-over): Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords brings tears of joy to the eyes of a nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. Gabby opened her eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: The president at the memorial tonight in Tucson, where a community mourned and celebrated heroes.
Daniel Hernandez, the congresswoman's intern who helped to save her life, joins us.
And the other good news on her ever improving condition.
And the upstaging.
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SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: So, words do not have consequences? Well, her words - words about her words, they have consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Blood libel? The ancient calumny that Jews killed Christian children to drink their blood? When Congresswoman Giffords is Jewish? The reaction from Simon Greer of Jewish Funds for Justice.
And the reaction to the entire bizarre rant from Gabrielle Giffords' second cousin.
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PALIN: We know violence isn't the answer. When we take up our arms, we're talking about our vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Uh-huh?
And the idea to actually do something, not just talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should revisit sensible federal laws to control access to guns and ammunition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: But Peter King's sensible Republican idea, ban guns within 1,000 feet of elected federal officials, rejected out of hand by the Republican speaker of the House.
All the news and commentary - now on Countdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OLBERMANN: Good evening from New York. This is Wednesday, January 12th.
For six dead - a memorial. For the wounded - a prayer to heal. And for a community and a nation riven by a gross act of violence against the backdrop of sometimes bitter political divisions - a call for unity and remarkable elevation of the national discourse, courtesy of the president of the United States.
In our fifth story: a memorial service in what is usually a PAC-10 college basketball arena, ultimately somber and raucous with breaking news from the president himself about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Quoting, "Gabby opened her eyes for the first time" - obviously since the surgery.
Sitting beside the president, the congresswoman's intern who acted on the day of the shooting to save her life and was one of the speakers of tonight's memorial, Daniel Hernandez will join me in a moment.
First, the good news about the congresswoman. As the family today released these pictures, her doctors continued to decrease her sedation. They and her aides said, without any prompting, utterly on her own today, she had raised her fingers in a "V" symbol, had adjusted her own hospital gown and a simple act that neurologists will tell you is hardly simple - she scratched her nose, in about 103 hours after a bullet passed completely through her brain.
Just after the president concluded his visit to her bed side tonight, the extraordinary.
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OBAMA: I want to tell you, her husband Mark is here, and he allows me to share this with you. Right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: More details on that extraordinary moment later in this news hour. The president also visited the other wounded victims from Saturday's shooting as well as staffers at University Medical Center. And in his remarks at this evening's memorial, he paid specific tribute to the fallen and praised the heroes of that day, and then reflected on the meaning of this moment and addressed the issues surrounding this tragedy, and did so directly.
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OBAMA: At a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do, it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.
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OLBERMANN: Again and again, the president called on Americans to have the conversation they must have without laying blame.
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OBAMA: We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: That we cannot do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: And the president turned the issue of civility into an aspiration rather than citing its absence as cause.
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OBAMA: And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy - it did not - but rather because a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: The president repeatedly returned to the necessity of honoring the victims, honoring them through actions. Victims like 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can do to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: So in attendance tonight, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Attorney General Eric Holder, homeland security secretary, former Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano and House Minority Nancy Pelosi, Governor Brewer, Senators Kyl and McCain of Arizona, of course.
The tone of national resolve was not limited to the memorial tonight. The House of Representatives was back in session today for the first time since the shooting on Saturday. The express purpose of honoring the dead and wounded and praising the bravery of those who responded at the scene. The day also included a bipartisan prayer service. The next major remarks expected from the president at his State of the Union Address may coincide with a change in the seating arrangements.
Today, Senator Mark Udall sent a letter to his colleagues asking them to end the tradition of sitting intact and only with their own political parties. "What Americans see when they watch it on TV," he wrote, "is a Congress that is bitterly divided by party. Beyond custom, there is no rule or reason that on this night, we should emphasized divided government separated by party."
That very proposal had been offered by the centrist Democratic group, Third Way, of which Congressman Giffords has been an honorary co-chair.
And now, joining us as promised, the gentleman who begun an internship with the congresswoman only days before the shooting but who has known for her years and who acted to help save her life, Daniel Hernandez, Jr.
Great thanks for your time tonight, sir.
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, JR., REP. GIFFORDS' INTERN: Thanks for having me, Keith.
OLBERMANN: What did you think of tonight's service?
HERNANDEZ: I think it was definitely a good step forward not just for those of us here in Tucson and in Arizona, but also for the entire country, because what happened on Saturday, of course, is not just a tragedy for Tucson or Arizona, but a national tragedy.
OLBERMANN: When you think about what Congresswoman Giffords is going through, even at this point, and what you witnessed on Saturday and what the president said tonight, is there a message that you'd like to see Americans take from this arc of this tragedy that has seemed to have been so long but is, in fact, just a span of five days now?
HERNANDEZ: I think the president said it excellently. Coming together as one big American family that's 300 million strong, that's definitely the message we need to take away as we move forward. But also, a renewed sense of interest in public service, because that is what is important at this time.
OLBERMANN: The news about the congresswoman tonight scratching her nose, adjusting the gown and now these reports of her opening her eyes and being asked, "Can you see?" and indicating she could - is there a way for you to express what that means to you?
HERNANDEZ: I think words are very hard to describe how I'm feeling right now. I think when I heard that, that is one of the first times I smiled in days. Pure elation maybe is the best choice of words - but really there are no words to describe how excited not just I, but people all over the country were to hear that she was recovering as well and as quickly as she is, because we know Gabby's a fighter.
But she constantly surprises us. Even when she was in Congress, she's been the one that surprised us.
OLBERMANN: Were you - did you know about that in advance before the president said it? Or were you surprise with the rest of us?
HERNANDEZ: I was surprised with everybody else. I don't think they told anyone. I think it was kind of something they wanted to save for that moment, so that we could end on that high note.
OLBERMANN: Well, I have to ask you this about the other high notes. You will not answer, as you repeated when you spoke tonight, to hero - the president seemed to disagree with you and loudly and in front of everyone at the McKale Center which is not a classroom or something. It's a pretty big place.
Is it possible you might be mistaken, maybe you are a hero, just slightly, or hero-like or something?
HERNANDEZ: I think it's hard to disagree with the president, but I'm still going to go ahead and say, I'm not a hero. I really don't think that what I did was heroic because I think it was a total one-off and at least I hope that was because I don't think anyone should ever have to go through anything like that ever again.
OLBERMANN: Daniel Hernandez, the intern for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords - thank you for your time and with the thanks of all of us, both for your time and what you've done in the last five days.
HERNANDEZ: Thanks so much for having me, Keith.
OLBERMANN: And now, we mentioned more on what happened ton in the hospital at the University of Arizona, we're joined by the former speaker of the House, now the minority leader, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California.
Congresswoman, thank you kindly for your time tonight.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER (via telephone): You're welcome. It's quite an evening.
OLBERMANN: What happened? What happened? You were there. What did you see? What did she see?
PELOSI: Well, we were very blessed to be invited by the family, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and Senator Gillibrand and I to visit Gabby. And while we were, there we witnessed almost a miracle. We saw the power of prayer, the power of the effect of - the excellence her medical care, and we brought a little girl power, too, because we were trying to amuse Gabby, trying to get through to her how much she was loved and missed in the Congress, and what was waiting for her when she came back.
And being there with her parents and her husband, when she opened her eyes was quite remarkable. That was a glorious, glorious experience. One that I think we all will remember for the rest of our lives. Again, she's getting the greatest of care, so much love and respect, and we thought we brought a little fun to the room and she reacted.
OLBERMANN: Evidently. Madam Minority Leader, one of her aides said that she was then asked if she could indeed see and she indicated yes. Did you see that?
PELOSI: Well, I didn't - she didn't speak. But all of her reactions were very positive in terms of command and she reached out to her husband when he asked her to make certain signals and the rest. But you have to speak to her nurse that was in the room as to what an advance this was. But for those of us who love her so much, it was really a glorious moment.
As I thought the president's speech was at the University of Arizona at Tucson later in the evening. I hasten to add that the president and first lady had been in the room before us. So, I'm sure they contributed to the good feeling that Gabby was receiving.
And we went there to thank - to bring our love to her, to thank the health care providers for what they were doing for her, for all of those affected on Saturday, and, in fact, for all of the people that they treat to pay respect. To her staff, and to join "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America," the spirit of the evening, the attendance, I think we saw a sense of community there. I think the president took the spirit of civility to a new height and I think it was very transformative. That's the way it seemed to us in the hall.
And when he announced that Gabby had opened her eyes, it just got such an incredible response. We could identify with that because in the room, we felt as if we were witnessing something quite miraculous.
OLBERMANN: It sounds extraordinary even at this great distance. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader - great thanks for making yourself available to us at short notice.
PELOSI: Thank you. Thank you so much, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Pleasure as always and congratulations on being there.
PELOSI: Thanks.
OLBERMANN: MSNBC political analyst, Richard Wolffe, joins us now from Washington to look at the other components of this. He is the author, of course, of "Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House."
Richard, good evening.
RICHARD WOLFFE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Keith.
OLBERMANN: This was a memorial service and there was an extraordinary bit of good news in it as Minority Leader Pelosi just mentioned, and our thoughts with the fallen and the wounded.
But this also existed as a message to this nation and as a political speech as surely as President Reagan was both after the shuttle explosion. Let's split this in half. Assess this first as a message to the nation.
WOLFFE: Well, it was transformational on a number of different fronts.
On a personal level, there was this personal front section of the speech talking about the people who passed and actually transforming a memorial service into a celebration. It was an incredibly upbeat tone to that, and that was uniquely, I think, American - uniquely something that this president could deliver.
And then the political back end of the speech, much more political than these other examples people have been talking about, whether Clinton or Reagan, and I think this is where there's transformational both for this president as an individual and for the nation and for Tucson - because what he was saying there didn't just take him back to 2004, to that whole idea of bringing the country together, but it he was really asking people to pause, and look at themselves and say, can we live up to the ideals of the very people we all profess to care about? The victims out of all of this. And that's a moral case for what we've all been talking about politically.
Everyone, especially on this network, has said, why does this guy want to work with the other side so much? Is there a political gain for him?
What he laid out tonight was a moral values case, a nationwide case for saying, we need the politics that bring people together. And that was, I think, unexpected, because everyone thought he would be personal and commemorative, and he did something very different with this speech.
OLBERMANN: And thus, what does this mean? Assess this as a political event and a milestone in a presidency?
WOLFFE: Well, you only have to do what I did, I'm sure other people did, which is tune in to other networks, especially FOX tonight and look at the different tone that they've taken. Maybe it's just one night, but it's much, much harder to say that this president doesn't share American values or to demonize him in some way - because, by the way, he just called all this stuff out. He said, enough with the finger-pointing, it doesn't lead to better results. It doesn't lead to a better country. This is not what this country stands for.
And that's where you get into the compare and contrast with Sarah Palin today. Her address was about finger-pointing. And yes, she may feel some righteousness in feeling abused and neglected or attacked. But, in fact, that's not what this moment calls for, it calls for leadership, it calls for something much more positive, and the contrast between him saying no finger-pointing and her actually saying everyone else is to blame, was very, very striking today.
OLBERMANN: So, the imagery that we come away with, we had Ronald Reagan with the explosion of the shuttle and having slipped the surly bonds of earth for the members of that crew, what is the phraseology that we will take away from this? The references to the 9-year-old victim jumping in puddles?
WOLFFE: I think very much so. He brought this down to a personal level. One of his signature themes is to tell an American story in a way that places him at the center of the narrative, but in a way that says to all of us, we can relate to these people. He made that very explicit, he said this 9-year-old is like the daughter you have, or a young person that you know. And all of these victims are people that you know.
And that was extremely powerful. They became less figures in the news or photos in the newspaper and real life Americans who we all are part of a community with. That's extremely powerful and rare in this political climate.
OLBERMANN: MSNBC political analyst, Richard Wolffe - great thanks for spending some of the late night with us.
WOLFFE: Thank you, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Earlier, as Richard suggested, it may have easily been the worst timed political statement ever, the morning of the memorial ceremony. Was it also the worst, most self-damaging statement ever? Next.
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OLBERMANN: Last night, conservatives were commenting her on having had the class to say not until after the memorial and the funerals in Tucson - that's out the window. The strange videotape in which she tries to sell the idea that her words have no consequences, but words about her, words that cause violence.
Gabby Giffords' cousin responds and then there is her use of the phrase "blood libel." Simon Greer of Jewish Funds for Justice responds.
And guess who doesn't support the Republican proposal that prohibit guns within 1,000 feet of federally elected officials? The Republican speaker of the House, who is a federally elected official. Ahead on Countdown.
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OLBERMANN: In a nearly eight-minute video posted on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin spoke at length about the victims of the Tucson shooting. She also spoke about herself as a victim.
Our third story tonight: What she said about the Tucson tragedy and what it says about her, including how Congresswoman Giffords' second cousins assesses that.
Many have taken Ms. Palin to task for her insensitive use of one term in her video address, more on that term, "blood libel," later with Simon Greer of Jewish Funds for Justice.
First, an explanation of what else was said.
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PALIN: I spent the last few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After the shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event. President Reagan said, "We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society's guilty rather at that point law breaker." It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: A different assumption was made by the U.S. Secret Service in the fall of 2008, according to "Newsweek" magazine's coverage of the presidential election, quote, "The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and very disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time Palin rallies became more frenzied."
And yet, according to Ms. Palin, the irresponsible now are those calling for a rejection of violent rhetoric. Worse: those critics are enemies of the First Amendment.
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PALIN: No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent. And we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinions and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Today, former Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle claimed the criticism of her Second Amendment remedies remark, quote, "puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger."
Also today, "National Review Online" posting instructions on how to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, guilty in their eyes of questioning the tone of political discourse in Arizona.
But back to Mrs. Palin and her argument about individual accountability -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts who use both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, now with those who proudly voted in the last election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: While basically asserting that her words could play no part in subsequent violence but people criticizing her words might indeed foment violence, she also was absolving herself of her own crosshairs map. Mrs. Palin essentially criticizing Congresswoman Giffords herself who had spoken out about that map here on MSNBC last March.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS (D), ARIZONA: This is a situation where people don't - I mean, they really need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up, and, you know, even things - for example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list. But, the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district - when people do that, they got to realize there's consequences to that action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: One person who understands the consequences is relative of Congresswoman Giffords' cousin. Her cousin Lynn Paltrow. Prior to the release of Palin's video, Ms. Paltrow an open letter entitled, "Dear Sarah Palin," in which she asked, quote, "If you do not mean literally that elected officials should be targeted with rifles and threatened by political activists armed with loaded weapons, what do you mean?"
Lynn Paltrow joins us now, the executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women and, as mentioned, the second cousin of Congresswoman Giffords.
Thanks for coming in tonight.
LYNN PALTROW, NATIONAL ADVOCATES FOR PREGNANT WOMEN: Thanks for having me.
OLBERMANN: Obviously, we're delighted for you about the news of her eyes opening tonight. Keep that front of mind here.
PALTROW: And if I may, I think we're all thrilled. And I just do want to say that the family that's closest to her, her husband, Mark Kelly, on her Web site has said that people who really want to show their support, because it's frustrating to be able to do so little can contribute to the community food bank in Tucson, Arizona and the American Red Cross of southern Arizona.
OLBERMANN: Let's talk about what happened earlier today. Did the Palin video address the sort of concerns you had as a related family member of the congresswoman?
PALTROW: I think as an American, we definitely want to see the kind of civility and we want to see people who are leaders speak out and explain that change needs to come about peacefully in this country and that violence is never the answer. And I think she did speak to a lot of that. And I think many people are speaking out, there are places where she even sounded a little bit like you.
At the same time, different leaders speak better than others, and the hope that she might speak about how real nonviolent change comes about, that it's by people who are willing to be attacked rather than to suggest that criticism is an attack, rather to suggest that attacking is OK, would have been even more appreciated.
OLBERMANN: I want to take a look at something else she said, and then get your reaction specifically to this clip from the video. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: In times like these, we need God's guidance and the peace he provides. We need strength to not let the random acts of a criminal turn us against ourselves or weaken our solid foundation or provide a pretext to stifle debate. America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: So, she's saying there she does not want tragedy to stifle debate, which is a fair point. I think everybody would agree with that.
But did she not just miss this opportunity for an open debate about violent rhetoric and how poisonous it can be, whether or not it's responsible for any given act, on any given day, in any given year?
PALTROW: I think that would have been very much appreciated. And I think it's very important that people to understand that when people raise questions about what speech does, what effect it has or doesn't have - that that's not an attack on other people's First Amendment rights, that's the exercise of the First Amendment.
And in particular, I think it would have been much appreciated. She had one line in which she talked about, when we take up our arms -
OLBERMANN: Yes.
PALTROW: - we are talking about our vote.
And I think for her constituents, it may need to be a lot - for everybody, let's talk about all of us - it needs to be clear. The Second Amendment is not the same as the 15th Amendment or the 19th Amendment. And when you use language like "lock" and "reload" and you tell voters to come back and reload - I had to use the new scanning voting machines in New York City, we didn't require locking and reloading.
OLBERMANN: In your capacity, you have another experience with this, and this question of rhetoric perpetuating cycles of violence, or at least contributing to an atmosphere. Again, there's no cause and effect necessarily here, but there's an environment.
You were an ally of the late Dr. George Tiller. What did your experience with him tell you about this?
PALTROW: I can tell you - first, let me say thank you. You are one of the few people who I think noticed and commented on the similarity and the rhetoric, that it's not just elected officials, and it's not just judges who are facing death threats. But it is people, as said -
I sent an e-mail to Congresswoman Giffords after her offices were shot at after the vote for health care reform. I told her I was sorry she had to be as courageous as the - in favor of health care reform as the providers of health care to women who sometimes need abortions and other reproductive care services.
I know that language isn't necessarily the cause of the behavior, but I do know - and it doesn't necessarily cause terrorism, but I do know there are a lot of people in America, caring, loving, humane health care providers, who every day live in terror because of that language.
OLBERMANN: Lynn Paltrow, cousin of Congresswoman Giffords, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, again, great to meet you. Thanks for coming in.
PALTROW: Thank you for having me.
OLBERMANN: We'll focus in on that one remark about blood libel. It's remarkable inappropriateness given the religion of the congresswoman and given the millennium of pain it has represented for the Jewish people, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OLBERMANN: According to one media critic, in defending her language today, Sarah Palin, quote, "could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase."
In our third story, Mrs. Palin falsely claimed journalists and pundits
or as she pronounced it, pundits - had blamed her for the shootings in Arizona, which she claims turned her into the victim of a, quote, "blood libel."
Whether or not Palin knows that the term blood libel was originally a
reference to the persecution of Jews in the Middle Ages is not clear. What
is clear is that several prominent Jewish groups are not pleased. The president of the Jewish Funds for Justice joins me presently.
The term was used this week as the title and the body of a "Wall Street Journal" editorial by the conservative writer Glenn Reynolds, "The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel."
The disgraced conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart picked up the meme, Tweeting, "and to gutless GOP establishment who watches in silence the blood libel against Sarah Palin, USA, we will remember."
Neither gave historical context to that term. For that, we'll refer you to the Anti-Defamation League website. "By the high Middle Ages, 11th to 14th centuries, Jews were widely persecuted as barely human Christ killers and devils, forced to live in all Jewish ghettos. They were accused of poisoning rivers and wells during times of disease. Some were tortured and executed for supposedly abducting and killing Christian children, to drink their blood or to use it to baking matzo, a charge known as the blood libel."
This, to Sarah Palin, as analogous to what is happening to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: If you don't like a person's vision for the country, you're free to debate that vision. If you don't like their ideas, you're free to propose better ideas. But especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Sarah Palin, knowingly or not, is comparing herself to the persecuted Jews of the Middle Ages, as a Jewish congresswoman lies in critical condition in an Arizona hospital after being shot in the head. Today, the Anti-Defamation League put out a statement in support of her comments and sentiments in general, but it also noted that the term blood libel has become part of English parlance for someone being falsely accused. And they're right.
Reporters and commentators from both sides of the aisle use the term often to describe the actual persecution of others, not themselves. The ADL went on to say, quote, "we wish that Palin had used another phrase instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history."
According to conservative author Jonah Goldberg, because it invokes anti-Semitic myths, quote, "the use of this particular term in this context is not ideal."
Media critic Howard Kurtz took it further. "Had Palin scoured a Thesaurus, she could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase."
The president of the National Jewish Democratic Jewish Counsel said, "Palin's invocation of a blood libel charge against her perceived enemies is hardly a step in the right direction."
And according to Simon Greer, president of Jewish Funds for Justice, "unless someone has been accusing Ms. Palin of killing Christian babies and making matzo from their blood, her use of the term is totally out of line."
Mr. Greer joins us now. Thanks for coming in.
Explain as much as you can the offense that you took from Sarah Palin's use of this term blood libel?
SIMON GREER, JEWISH FUNDS FOR JUSTICE: On a day when the attention of all Americans is on the victims in Arizona, Sarah Palin is trying to confuse us and make us think that there's a victim in Alaska, which clearly there isn't. To do it, adding insult to injury, she invokes a phrase that has caused countless lives of Jews across the centuries. And she uses it to lodge a complaint about the media.
On the face of it, it is a grotesque comparison.
OLBERMANN: The term is used by others. Our friend Gene Robinson used it after the false charges of a woman in Pennsylvania before the 2008 election. He said it was the equivalent of - or towards that affect, of the blood libel. Usually, when somebody invokes it, it's related to actual persecution of another group.
Is part of the problem here is that the person claims that blood libel is being used is also the person who claims it's being used against them?
GREER: Yeah, you have a situation where a Jewish congresswoman is fighting for her life and a Christian is claiming that she's the one that's the victim of a blood libel. It does make me think that leaders like Sarah Palin, and other Tea Party leaders like Glenn Beck, have a Jewish problem. They continue to invoke Holocaust, Hitler, Nazi, blood libel as if they're trying to paint a picture of themselves as victims in an almost Orwellian turn of phrase. It's a bit hard to fathom.
OLBERMANN: There's no need to speculate further at this point why this was said or why it was said today, in advance of this event tonight in Tucson at the basketball center there. But does, in your opinion, the use of this phrase impact her political future to any serious degree?
GREER: I think it does. And I think even more so in the context of the president's speech this evening. I thought the president gave us what the nation needed. He offered a eulogy, in essence, to the people who had lost lives. And he called us to something higher. He said the discourse we create, the nation we build is something we build for our children.
To me, the question became quite clear, what is it that we do for our children? We tackle unemployment. We tackle the foreclosure crisis. We don't point fingers. And I think Sarah Palin revealed herself today to be in the blame game and the victim game, not in the problem solving game. And I think it will haunt her for months to come.
OLBERMANN: Does she need to say anything else about this? Would it do any good or just exacerbate the situation.
GREER: If she makes a light weight apology, I don't think it does any good. If she does offer an explanation, I for one would like to hear what were the circle of Jewish advisers around her? What were they thinking? Were they thinking we know what the blood libel is and we're going to use it to great effect? Or oops, we didn't really know what it meant; we deliberated for four days about what to say and then we slipped in the blood libel? I would love to hear her explanation.
OLBERMANN: Her explanation is probably it was on the teleprompter. Simon Greer, the president and CEO of Jewish Funds for Justice, again, great thanks for coming in at such a late hour.
GREER: Thanks very much, Keith. It's a pleasure.
OLBERMANN: The guns right advocate who today said restricting high capacity ammo clips is absolutely justifiable. And the speaker of the House who has rejected the proposal by one of his own party colleagues to ban guns within 1,000 feet of elected officials.
And when Rachel joins you at the top of the hour, an assessment of the president's speech tonight with the president of the Inter-Faith Alliance, the Reverend Welton Gaddy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OLBERMANN: A quick personal note, if my enunciation has seemed a little on and off throughout the course of this hour, I'm not exactly sure what it is. I'm either sick with kind of wave-like flu or there were some bad oysters for dinner. Either way, enjoy the next 11 minutes, because I may fall flat on my face or perhaps something else bad could happen.
Still ahead, why the gunman got off so many rounds before he could be stopped and whether Congress is going to do anything about that. But in our number two story tonight, there is other news, some of it with grim echoes of today's events.
A 32-year-old man from Palm Springs, California, Charles Turner Haberman (ph), arrested and charged with threatening to kill a member of Congress, Seattle Democrat Jim McDermott. The FBI saying that Haberman called McDermott's office on December 9th during the tax cut debate and left two messages.
Quoting, "I'd like to remind you, McDermott, that if you read the Constitution, all the money belongs to the people. None of it belongs to government. If he ever F's around with my money ever the F again I'll Fing kill him, OK? I'll round them up. I'll them. I'll kill his friends. I'll kill his family. I will kill everybody he Fing knows." .
Not a lot of margin for error there. And more importantly, perhaps, the Constitution actually gives Congress the power to collect taxes. Mr. Haberman allegedly told the FBI he would never have carried out his threat, because he did not want to jeopardize his three million dollar trust fund. How many cliches in that story.
While the Governor of Texas Rick Perry is trying to figure out what services to cut to fix his 25 billion dollar shortfall estimated for two years hence, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the state legislature have come up with an approach today that Charles Turner Haberman would definitely not approve of. They raised taxes from three percent to five percent.
The world did not come to an end, yet anyway. New government data showed last year tied with 2005 as Earth's warmest year on record. All but one of the top ten warmest years now starts with a two.
One Republican congressman wants to prohibit those carrying guns from getting within 1,000 feet of an elected federal official. Another Republican congressman instead wants to make sure those elected federal officials can carry their own weapons and fire back, like a scene out of "Police Squad." Guess to which one Speaker of the House Boehner is opposed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OLBERMANN: Not one single gun control bill has crossed President Obama's desk since he took office. Yet Saturday's tragedy in Tucson has already led to several proposals, including one that would ban people from carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a federal elected official. That came, as you have heard, from Republican Congressman Peter King of New York. Republican.
But in our number one story, the GOP leadership tells him and everybody else where they stand on gun control, not unless you pry it from our dead policy. Congressman King says the legislation's goal is to not only protect government officials, but obviously the public, as we so tragically learned over the weekend.
As "The Hill" newspaper reports "Speaker Boehner rejected King's proposal shortly after it was announced."
Slightly different story out of Majority Leader Cantor's office. His spokesman, Brad Dayspring, telling "The Hill" Mr. Cantor believes "it's appropriate to adequately review and actually read legislation before forming an opinion about it."
I hope Boehner doesn't hear about that.
Yet Mr. Dayspring told "The Daily News" of New York that Mr. Cantor is in fact against the legislation, "the proposal wouldn't have prevented this tragedy or other mentally unstable individuals or criminals from committing horrific acts."
Perhaps the leadership will be more clear on another Republican proposal, this one from Louis Gohmert of Texas. That congressman is drafting a bill that would allow lawmakers to to carry guns on the House floor. Seriously.
Mr. Gohmert telling "Politico," "it would be a good thing for members of Congress who want to carry a weapon in the District. I know friends that walk home from the Capital. There's no security for us."
Apparently no cabs either, genius. Mr. Gohmert added that he felt afraid during last year's health care debate. Quote, "there is some protection in having protection."
Make your own joke.
Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Carolyn McCarthy of New York, to whom none of this is a joke, is preparing to circulate legislation tomorrow banning the sale or transfer of high capacity magazines. These are the kind that Jared Lee Loughner allegedly used to fire off his 31 shots from his Glock before stopping to reload. Loughner would not have been able to legally purchase that kind of clip had a Bush-era Congress not let the Assault Weapons Ban expire in 2004.
President Obama, who campaigned on reinstating the ban, dropped the issue after entering offer. The White House declining to comment on whether Mr. Obama would support a restriction on high capacity magazines such as Congresswoman McCarthy has proposed.
But today, some unlikely support from a proponent and a prominent gun rights advocate. Robert A. Levy, co-counsel of the landmark Supreme Court case establishing that the Second Amendment does indeed mention the right to bare arms, District of Columbia v. Heller.
He told NBC News that he does not see any Constitutional barrier in regulating high capacity magazines. Quote, "Justice Scalia made it quite clear some regulations are permitted. The Second Amendment is not absolute."
Time now to call in Robert Spitzer, professor of political science at SUNY Cortland, and the author of "The Politics of Gun Control."
Thank you for your time tonight, sir.
ROBERT SPITZER, PROFESSOR, SUNY CORTLAND: Good to be with you, Keith.
OLBERMANN: I recognize that logo behind you. But we will let it pass for just the moment.
Will support from Mr. Levy help Congressman McCarthy's proposal? Will it at least signal to libertarians or even those on the right or perhaps in the middle that this is in some way OK?
SPITZER: I think it does help. It is clearly a signal. Levy was lead counsel, as you pointed out, in the Heller case. And the Cato Institute, libertarian, arch-conservative organization. It is kind of a crack among the hard right wing on this issue.
I'm sure there are other Republicans who would be willing to support a measure like limiting high capacity ammunition clips. But it's hard for me to believe that the Republican leadership will let that come to the floor.
OLBERMANN: What about this other measure from Mr. King, which seems perhaps - you know, just a nice first step, but the Republican leadership shut it down without discussing it. Mr. Cantor even made a point of saying he would at least read it before coming out against it?
SPITZER: That would be seem to be like almost a no-brainer, except that it would seem to run afoul of those hardcore gun carrying individuals, such as those who showed up at a speech that President Obama gave in 2009, where the concealed carry or open carry. Their notion is that if they're entitled to carry, then they're entitled to carry. That might bring them closer to a 1,000 yards to an elected official.
So maybe that element of the gun community would object to that provision. But you would think that that would have bipartisan support in Congress.
OLBERMANN: Why when the Democrats were in charge of both Houses and had the president at the same time - why did they not push for anything in terms of stricter legislation?
SPITZER: Well, I think two reasons. One, because the Democrats had a very, very, very full plate in the last two years. The economy tanks. Wall Street - a host of other problems, health care, and gun control simply would have been further down the list in any case.
But secondly, the Democratic party has backed away from the gun issue, especially dating to the 2000 elections, the Al Gore election. Many Democrats felt that Gore and other Democrats lost that election because of the gun issue. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that was the feeling.
Democrats have moved away from the issue in the 2000s. And in addition, you had the Bush presidency, which was the most gun friendly presidency in American history, in policy terms. The Democrats also have within their fold Blue Dog Democrats, conservative Democrats who were elected as pro-gun or gun rights Democrats. So it becomes much tougher to advance gun control legislation under those circumstances.
OLBERMANN: In a word, is Tucson going to do anything to advance the cause of some kind of gun control?
SPITZER: No. I think, at the end of the day, at the national level, there will be no policy change, because I think the wave will subside. And in Arizona, I'd be very surprised if there were any change. It might embolden gun control supporters in some states around the country to look at their laws again.
If the recent history of this issue reveals anything, it is that once the wave subsides, things return to where they were before.
OLBERMANN: Robert Spitzer, the author of "The Politics of Gun Control," thanks for your time.
That's January 12th. I'm Keith Olbermann. Rachel Maddow is next.
Good night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST: Good evening from New York. This is Countdown special coverage of tonight's memorial on the campus of the University of Arizona, a memorial called "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America." A memorial for the victims, six dead, 14 wounded, about to begin, a memorial for Saturday's attempted assassination of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. There is her husband.
As important as this event will be over about the next hour with the president speaking, Gabby Giffords is the headline tonight. She is delighting her doctors, and not just for these photos released by the family. Without prompting by physicians, she adjusted her hospital gown, put up two fingers in a "V" shape, and scratched her nose. The latter seems like nothing - neurologically, this complex, key indicator of good brain function. She also touched her wounds - her wounds.
There are so many wounds - the invisible ones of family and friends, of those who were shot. National wounds, torn open along old scars by the shooting. To salve if not bind up the nation's wounds, part of the reason the University of Arizona invited the president and the first lady to the McKale Center at the U of A tonight for this memorial.
Aides say the president will focus on consoling, on the personal, and on the lives lost, the lives damaged. Mr. Obama visited the congresswoman's bedside about 90 minutes ago. In the minutes before this memorial was to begin, he's been meeting with the families of the other victims, including those lost. Judge John Roll, young Christina Taylor Green, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwin Stoddard, Dorothy Morris, Gabe Zimmerman.
As the president arrives, sharing the stage with him tonight, the attorney general, Eric Holder, Arizona's Republican governor, the previous Democratic governor of Arizona, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano.
The president is expected to speak, as we see Mrs. Obama embracing husband of Gabby Giffords. The president is expected to speak for a little less than 20 minutes. He will give the last remarks of any length tonight.
Our bookkeeping here, if this memorial service concludes before 9:00 p.m. Eastern, I'll rejoin you. If after that, we'll go directly to "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" and I'll rejoin you with a live special edition of Countdown at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 p.m. Pacific.
The ceremony tonight is to begin fittingly with Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" performed by the Tucson Symphony. The choir you will hear throughout is the Arizona choir with the University's symphonic orchestra.
The Native American blessing will be given by Dr. Carlos Gonzalez of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona.
The national anthem will be sung by that university alumnus, Dennis Tamblen.
An introduction tonight from University of Arizona's president, Robert N. Shelton. And the university student body president, Emily Fritze with her fellow student, Daniel Hernandez, Jr., Congresswoman Giffords' intern who helped save her life as the carnage unfolded and incidentally, he'll be with us at 11:00.
Governor Brewer will speak. Her predecessor, Secretary Napolitano, will. Attorney General Holder, and then the president. And now as the memorial begins with the playing of Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" - we take you inside the McKale Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
(FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CARLOS GONZALES, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Welcome. Let me start in the traditional way by introducing myself. I am Carlos Gonzales. On my mother's side, I am Mexican - a child of descendents of this family, pioneer family from Mexico that came in the 1800s.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: On my father's side, I'm Yaqui, refugees from Mexico that escaped the genocide in Rio Yaqui in the 1800s.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: We have been here, for myself, I am fifth generation in the valley of Tucson.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: Now, please, understand, I am not a medicine man. I'm really just a family doctor, fortunate enough to teach here at this university, and fortunate enough to learn the sacred ways and the sacred words so that I can share them with you.
I have been given permission by my elders to say blessings of this type. Although to tell the truth, I've never done one with so many people.
So, I've also been fortunate to grow up in this great country where a
barrio poor kid
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: - from the south side of Tucson -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: - could get an education at a fine institution like the University of Arizona. Then even better, to come back and teach here, and teach students at this institution. So with that, I would like to start the blessing after my brief introduction. I'm sorry, I have to do it the traditional way. It's the way we do it.
Now, for those of you that know the traditional blessing way, please feel free to do it. For those of the rest of you, just please stand. So let me begin.
Ahayuta Achi (ph), oh, Creator, I come to give a blessing, at this time - at this time of harmony, at this time of disunity. Please, after hearing my blessing and my prayers, let us work towards harmony, towards wholeness and balance.
Let us begin by honoring the eastern door from where we get visions and guidance. May each of us get the vision and guidance to proceed in a good way.
From the southern door, where we get the energies of the family, please, let us honor the families of those that have passed on, let us honor the families of those that are healing, and- also let us honor our own families. Let us remain humble and also use humor when appropriate, for humor is healing and can help people.
From the western door, please, let us honor the sacred ways and our sacred ancestors. For without them, we would not be here. Oh, Creator, that is the door through which those that have passed on have walked to the next world. Let us honor them as they've passed on. Let us also look within ourselves to see how we can improve and be better human beings.
From the northern door, where we receive challenges and the strength to meet those challenges, let us all receive strength to meet the challenges that face our great country. Please, give us that strength as we proceed.
From Father Sky, where we get the masculine energy, the energy to be responsible, to be respectful, and to protect those that need protection, give us that good energy.
For Mother Earth, where we get the feminine energy, give us that energy to nurture and care for those that need it, and also to help those that ask for our help.
Oh, Creator, may the two energies, the masculine energy and the feminine energy come together in our center, where the Creator exists, for each of us has a piece of the Creator.
Ahayuta Achi, please, you have given us each a gift. May we use these gifts to help our fellow human beings.
O, Creator, let us bless the families of those that have lost their loved ones. Let us bless the family of those that are healing. Let us bless those people that are here today. Let us bless those that are outside in greater Tucson, in Arizona, and in our country. Let us bless them so that they too can heal from this tragedy that has occurred.
O, creator, if I may, my sons in Afghanistan, a little blessing to him to.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: O, Creator, let us not forget our fellow creatures, those that stand, those that blow in the wind, those that are tall and stately, those that crawl in the earth, those that slither on the earth, those that live under the earth. Let us remember and bless the winged ones, those that swim in the waters, the four-leggeds, and also our brothers, the two-leggeds that walk throughout this world.
When we all come together at this time and may the words that people hear here sink in to their hearts, so that they too can heal, so that they, too, can feel better.
O, Creator, I ask this humbly. I ask this so that we all can once again achieve harmony and balance in our lives.
O, Creator, welcome - we welcome those people that come to our beloved city here, our beloved city of Tucson, or Tucson as it's known. Welcome here, and please, bless each and every one here. And with that, I would like to end my blessing to all my relations.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: To guide us through this evening's event, please welcome Dr. Robert Shelton, president of the University of Arizona.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROBERT N. SHELTON, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Good evening.
On behalf of the faculty, the staff, and the students of the University of Arizona here in Tucson, Arizona -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: - I am privileged to welcome you to "Together We Thrive:
Tucson and America." Our thanks to Dr. Carlos Gonzales, a member of the Pasquia (ph) Nation for offering tonight's blessing.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: We shall now be led in the national anthem by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Hanson and by Dennis Tamblen, a doctoral student in music here at the University of Arizona.
("STAR-SPANGLED BANNER")
SHELTON: Please be seated.
Tonight, we have gathered here as a community to mourn a tragic and senseless loss. We are here to try in a small way to bring comfort to those whose lives have been forever changed by an act so heinous that it is simply impossible to comprehend. No one who lives here was untouched by the events of last Saturday. Over the past few days, I have repeatedly heard people ask, "How could such a thing have happened? And how could it have happened here, in our town, and to people so loved and so admired?"
One of the characteristics that has always struck me about Tucson's uniqueness is how such a vast metropolitan area of more than 1 million people can function so much like a small college town.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: It is in the truest and best sense of the word a community, where people know each other and care about each other.
The University of Arizona sits in the middle of that community, both literally and figuratively. By hosting this ceremony, we hope that we can begin the process of healing.
Tonight, we have a chance to pray for those who were wounded, to remember those who were lost, and to reaffirm, reaffirm our commitment to each other.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords is a good friend of mine, as she is of almost everyone in this community.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: This attack on her and on her constituents, our neighbors, our friends, has changed us all. The question we have to answer is whether that change will make us angry and afraid or whether it will inspire us to commit to building a more sensible and caring world.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Tucson is a city that is unique for its diversity and its passion. That so many of you would come out tonight speaks to our unity of spirit and our desire to stand by our friends and our neighbors in this time of great need.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Our society has many serious challenges. But, fortunately, we have great leadership to help us through these difficult times. Many of those leaders are here with us tonight to offer their support.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: To offer their support to the families and friends so tragically affected by the events of last Saturday.
Among the many heroes this week was one of our students, Daniel Hernandez, Jr. -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Daniel showed extraordinary poise at a most difficult moment. As you have seen, he is here tonight with the president of the associated students of the University of Arizona - please welcome ASU President Emily Fritze and Daniel Hernandez, Jr.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
EMILY FRITZE, UNIV. OF ARIZONA STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT: Good evening.
I would like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude to our guest and to everyone in the Tucson and university community for coming tonight to show your support for the families and friends affected by the heartbreaking events of this weekend. As a student and a young member of this city, it is uplifting to see everyone tonight and to witness the outpouring of support from all of you.
I think it is important to take a moment and recognize that the victims on Saturday were attending Congresswoman Gabby Giffords' event in order to participate in the democratic process. It is this process which Gabby loved so dearly and has spent the better part of her life serving. Like many students at the University of Arizona and other young people, I have had the opportunity to interact with Gabby and her staff as an intern and to gain a sense of appreciation and inspiration for public service in its most genuine form.
From my experience, I believe that one of the things Gabby would want us to take away from Saturday is that we need to continue to be devoted public servants and citizens. On Saturday -
(APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: - on Saturday violence reared its ugly head to silence our voice in government, but we know our community will not be silenced and our representative will not be silenced.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: One of the most impressive examples of this spirit is my friend standing next to my, Daniel Hernandez.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: Many of you have heard his story as someone who displayed courage and heroism in the face of danger. As someone who knew Daniel before he has been called a hero, as a friend, one who has stayed up late with me many long nights of work and brought me many cups of coffee, I was not surprised to hear of his actions and selfless courage.
To me, Daniel exemplifies the spirit of youth and an individual committed to his friends, community, and greater humanity. Yet, Daniel is only a representation of many that stepped up and took action. Those individuals are a symbol of the character found throughout this community, that in all of us is the potential to act with kindness and to rise up when we have been called to do so.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: It is with great honor that I introduce you my fellow student and dear friend, Daniel Hernandez, to say a few words.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, JR., INTERN, REP. GIFFORDS' OFFICE: Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to start off by thanking Emily.
But I also want to start off with a few words. The first of which is "E Pluribus Unum," never had those words have been truer than they are today. "Out of many, one."
One thing that we have learned from this great tragedy is, we have come together. On Saturday, we all became Tucsonians. On Saturday, we all became Arizonians. And above all, we all became Americans.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HERNANDEZ: Despite the horrific actions that were taken on Saturday, where so many were lost, we saw glimmers of hope. These glimmers of hope come from people who are the real heroes.
Although I appreciate the sentiment, I must humbly reject the use of the word "hero," because I am not one. The people who are heroes are people like Pam Simon, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Gabe Zimmerman, who unfortunately we lost that day, Ron Barber, the first responders. And also, people like Dr. Rhee who have done an amazing job at making sure that Gabby is OK and those who were injured are being treated to the best of our ability.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HERNANDEZ: Thank you. Thank you. We have all come together to realize that what defines us is not the differences, it is that we are all together, we are all a family. We are all Americans.
And we must recognize that the real heroes, like I mentioned, are the people who have the dedicated their life to public service, whether it's direct care in nursing or being a physician or being a great representative like Congresswoman Giffords, or being a staffer. They are the people who we should be honoring. And they are the people that we need to keep in our thoughts and our prayers.
So, I thank you for this opportunity, but I say we must reject the title of "hero," and reserve it for those who deserve it. And those who deserve it are the public servants and the first responders and the people who have made sure that they have dedicated their life to taking care of others.
And with that, I thank you all.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: These two young students are examples of why I am so proud of this university. They should give all of us a great sense of hope for our future. Thank you, Daniel. Thank you, Emily.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: I'm now honored to bring to the lectern, the leader of our state. She is providing great leadership at a difficult and challenging time. Please welcome to the podium the governor of the state of Arizona, the Honorable Jan Brewer.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: Thank you. And thank you, President Shelton.
Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, Justice Kennedy, Attorney General Holder, Secretary Napolitano, Minority Leader Pelosi, and my fellow Arizonians - good evening.
First, let me say again, thank you, Daniel, for your very uncommon courage, that likely saved Gabby Giffords' life. Thank you.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BREWER: Mr. President, on behalf of the people of the state of Arizona, I thank you for coming today to help us with our healing.
(APPLAUSE)
In the aftermath of Saturday, your words have been a source of comfort and strength to every Arizonan. Your presence today serves as a reminder that we are not alone in our sorrow. America grieves with us.
(APPLAUSE)
This great nation stands ready to help our wounded heal, to join our neighbors and our state in mourning a loss beyond measure.
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to measure what Tucson and all of Arizona lost this past Saturday. A day that began as a warm Arizona morning, neighbors were grocery shopping, running errands. They were gathering to meet their congresswoman, to see the Gabby Giffords smile all of us know so well.
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to -
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to quantify the loss of a fine public servant like United States District Court Judge John Roll.
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to measure the deaths of good people, parents, and grandparents, like Dorwin Stoddard, Phyllis Schneck, and Dot Morris.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabe Zimmerman, also killed, was only 30 years old. He was soon to be married, devoted to social work, and a fighter for justice.
(APPLAUSE)
There is absolutely no measure in the idea that the void someone like Gabe leaves behind.
We also lost Christina Taylor Green.
(APPLAUSE)
Born on another day of unparalleled sadness, September 11th, 2001, Christina was only nine years old. She was a new member of the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School. She loved ballet, swimming, and baseball.
We can never know what Christina might have become. We can't imagine what the families of our six innocent neighbors are feeling. Nor can we know the pain of the wounded, some whom are still struggling for their lives.
Saturday's gunfire didn't simply take six lives, injure my friend Gabby Giffords, and injure several others. It pierced our sense of well-being. It raised questions of which we can make no sense, questions begging for answers that will not come anytime soon.
I know this though: Arizona is united in a mission of recovery. This state, bound together by prayer and action and hope and faith, will not be shredded by one madman's act of darkness.
(APPLAUSE)
We have come to understand, aided by your presence, that we are being lifted up by the thoughts and prayers of others who mourn with us. We will remember how to smile again.
I know Arizona. I know it's every corner, I know its proud, courageous citizens. We will go forward together, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, devoted to prayer.
We will go forward unbending, unbowed. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "it is a way which is plain, peaceful, generous and just. It is a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless."
May god bless all the victims, their families, and those suffering from Saturday's tragedy.
May God bless those who serve us in the cause of freedom and in justice.
May he bless you and your families and our great state of Arizona.
And may god always bless and protect the United States of America.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Thank you, Governor Brewer.
Confronting the challenges to our nation's security is an enormous undertaking. We are safer as a country because we have the right person leading that effort. Please now welcome back to Arizona our former governor and the current secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
(APPLAUSE)
JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you. Thank you, Tucson. Thank you, Arizona.
(APPLAUSE)
We know - we know that the violence that occurred Saturday does not represent this community, this state, or this country.
(APPLAUSE)
At these times, words can fail us. So let us listen instead to the words of the Old Testament. And I will provide a reading now from the Book of Isaiah.
"Comfort, yes, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her inequity is pardoned. For she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, who brings out their hosts by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one is missing.
Why do you say, oh, Jacob, and speak, oh, Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God. Have you not known - have you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. This is the word of the Lord."
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Thank you, Secretary Napolitano. I am honored now to introduce the leader of the United States Department of Justice. He is our nation's leading law enforcement official. Please welcome the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder.
(APPLAUSE)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you. Thank you.
Like Janet, I will read words far a beyond any that I might employ. A reading from "the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians."
"Since we have the same spirit of faith, as he had who wrote, I believed and so I spoke. We too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and bring us with you into his presence.
For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart, though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal wait of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
For we know that if the Earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God. A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is the Lord's word."
HOLDER: I think you can see by those who are in the program and by the many dignitaries and elected officials in the audience how deeply our country was affected by the terrible events last Saturday. We are truly honored to have the leader of our great nation with us here tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
We are obviously saddened by the circumstances that have brought President and Mrs. Obama to Tucson. But we are comforted - we are comforted by their compassion and inspired by their determination to reach out and help. America has been blessed through its glorious history by visionary and committed presidents, who often at great personal sacrifice step forward to lead us to better futures and greater hope.
Barack Obama assumed the presidency at a perilous time in our history. We are fortunate to have someone with his intellect, his energy, and his heart to lead us forward.
(APPLAUSE)
Please welcome the president of the United States, Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Please.
Please, be seated.
(APPLAUSE)
To the families of those we've lost, to all who called them friends, to the students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow.
(APPLAUSE)
There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy will pull through.
(APPLAUSE)
Scripture tells us, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the most high dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."
On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech.
(APPLAUSE)
They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders: representatives of the people answering questions to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns back to our nation's capital. Gabby called it "Congress on Your Corner," just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.
(APPLAUSE)
And that quintessentially American scene, that was the scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday, they, too, represented what is best in us, what is best in America.
(APPLAUSE)
Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years.
(APPLAUSE)
A graduate of this university and a graduate of this law school...
(APPLAUSE)
... Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain 20 years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona's chief federal judge.
His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his representative.
John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five beautiful grandchildren.
(APPLAUSE)
George and Dorothy Morris - "Dot" to her friends - were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their R.V., enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon.
Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife.
(APPLAUSE)
Both were shot. Dot passed away.
A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return east, where her world revolved around her three children, her seven grandchildren, and two- year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she'd often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes she'd sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants...
(LAUGHTER)
... to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby and wanted to get to know her better.
(APPLAUSE)
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together about 70 years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed, they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy's daughters put it, "be boyfriend and girlfriend again."
(LAUGHTER)
When they weren't out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.
(APPLAUSE) Everything - everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion, but...
(APPLAUSE)
... but his true passion was helping people. As Gabby's outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits that they had earned, that veterans got the medals and the care that they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks.
He died doing what he loved: talking with people and seeing how he could help. And Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancee, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.
(APPLAUSE)
And then there is nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. Christina was an A student. She was a dancer. She was a gymnast. She was a swimmer. She decided that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the Major Leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her.
(APPLAUSE)
She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age. She'd remind her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.
Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken, and yet our hearts also have reason for fullness.
Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak.
And I want to tell you - her husband, Mark, is here, and he allows me to share this with you. Right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabby opened her eyes.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you, she knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey. We are there for her.
(APPLAUSE)
Our hearts are full of thanks for that good news, and our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful to Daniel Hernandez...
(APPLAUSE)
... a volunteer in Gabby's office.
And, Daniel, I'm sorry, you may deny it, but we've decided you are a hero, because you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss and tended to her wounds and help keep her alive.
(APPLAUSE)
We are grateful to the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload.
(APPLAUSE) They're right over there.
(APPLAUSE)
We - we are grateful for petite Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer's ammunition and undoubtedly saved some lives.
(APPLAUSE)
And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and first responders...
(APPLAUSE)
... who worked wonders to heal those who'd been hurt. We are grateful to them.
(APPLAUSE)
These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, all around us, just waiting to be summoned, as it was on Saturday morning.
Their actions, their selflessness poses a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?
You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations, to try to impose some order on the chaos and make sense out of that which seems senseless.
Already, we've seen a national conversation commence, not only about
the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits
of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health system. And much -
much of this process...
(APPLAUSE)
... of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self- government.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do, it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that - that heals, not in a way that wounds.
(APPLAUSE)
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "When I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we have to guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.
For the truth is, none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped these shots from being fired or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind.
Yes, we had to examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future.
(APPLAUSE)
But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other.
(APPLAUSE)
That we cannot do.
(APPLAUSE)
That we cannot do.
As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let's use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together. After all...
(APPLAUSE)
After all, that's what most of us do when we lose somebody in our family, especially if the loss is unexpected. We're shaken out of our routines. We're forced to look inward. We reflect on the past.
Did we spend enough time with an aging - an aging parent, we wonder?
Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices that they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in a while, but every single day?
So sudden loss causes us to look backward, but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us.
(APPLAUSE)
We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we're doing right by our children, or our community, whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality. And we are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.
(APPLAUSE)
And that process - that process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions, that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires.
For those who were harmed, those who were killed, they are part of our family, an American family, 300 million strong. (APPLAUSE)
We may not have known them personally, but surely we see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners.
Phyllis, she's our mom or our grandma, Gabe, our brother or son.
(APPLAUSE)
In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America's fidelity to the law.
(APPLAUSE)
And in Gabby - in Gabby, we see a reflection of our public- spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never- ending process to form a more perfect union.
(APPLAUSE)
And in Christina, in Christina, we see all of our children, so curious, so trusting, so energetic, so full of magic, so deserving of our love, and so deserving of our good example.
If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost.
(APPLAUSE)
Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of politics and point-scoring and pettiness that drifts away in the next news cycle.
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better, to be better in our private lives, to be better friends and neighbors and co-workers and parents.
And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy - it did not - but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud.
(APPLAUSE)
We should be civil because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.
(APPLAUSE)
They believe - they believe and I believe that we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here, they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another, that's entirely up to us.
(APPLAUSE)
And I believe that, for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
(APPLAUSE)
That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina-Taylor Green believed.
(APPLAUSE)
Imagine - can you imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy, just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship, just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation's future.
She had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.
I want us to live up to her expectations.
(APPLAUSE)
I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
(APPLAUSE)
As has already been mentioned, Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life: "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope - I hope you jump in rain puddles."
If there are rain puddles in Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today.
(APPLAUSE)
And here on this Earth, here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.
May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal peace. May he love and watch over the survivors. And may he bless the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
*
ROBERT N. SHELTON, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Thank you.
Thank you, President Obama, for your remarkable, inspiring words.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: I also thank all of the speakers here tonight, as well as all of the federal, state, and local leaders who have come tonight to lend their support. We have heard many, many inspirational thoughts from our distinguished guests.
At this time, I invite everyone here at the McKale Center and those watching here in Tucson, and indeed, around the nation, to join together in a moment of silence, which will be followed by a musical selection. Join me, please, in a moment of silence.
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
(CHOIR SINGING)
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: I now conclude the program tonight by reading a poem that was written by W.S. Merwin, who is the current poet laureate of the United States of America. Mr. Merwin has a long history with the poetry center here at the University of Arizona.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: The poem is entitled "To The New Year."
"With what stillness it lasts, you appear in the valley. Your first sunlight reaching down to touch the tips of a few high leaves that do not stir, as though they have not noticed and did not know you at all. Then the voice of a dove calls from the far away, in itself to hush of morning.
So this is the sound of you, here and now, whether or not anyone hears it. This is where we have come with our age. Our knowledge, such as it is, and our hopes, such as they are, invisible before us, untouched and still possible."
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Thank you for coming and good night to everyone.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END
KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST: Good evening from New York. This is Countdown special coverage of tonight's memorial on the campus of the University of Arizona, a memorial called "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America." A memorial for the victims, six dead, 14 wounded, about to begin, a memorial for Saturday's attempted assassination of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. There is her husband.
As important as this event will be over about the next hour with the president speaking, Gabby Giffords is the headline tonight. She is delighting her doctors, and not just for these photos released by the family. Without prompting by physicians, she adjusted her hospital gown, put up two fingers in a "V" shape, and scratched her nose. The latter seems like nothing - neurologically, this complex, key indicator of good brain function. She also touched her wounds - her wounds.
There are so many wounds - the invisible ones of family and friends, of those who were shot. National wounds, torn open along old scars by the shooting. To salve if not bind up the nation's wounds, part of the reason the University of Arizona invited the president and the first lady to the McKale Center at the U of A tonight for this memorial.
Aides say the president will focus on consoling, on the personal, and on the lives lost, the lives damaged. Mr. Obama visited the congresswoman's bedside about 90 minutes ago. In the minutes before this memorial was to begin, he's been meeting with the families of the other victims, including those lost. Judge John Roll, young Christina Taylor Green, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwin Stoddard, Dorothy Morris, Gabe Zimmerman.
As the president arrives, sharing the stage with him tonight, the attorney general, Eric Holder, Arizona's Republican governor, the previous Democratic governor of Arizona, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano.
The president is expected to speak, as we see Mrs. Obama embracing husband of Gabby Giffords. The president is expected to speak for a little less than 20 minutes. He will give the last remarks of any length tonight.
Our bookkeeping here, if this memorial service concludes before 9:00 p.m. Eastern, I'll rejoin you. If after that, we'll go directly to "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" and I'll rejoin you with a live special edition of Countdown at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 p.m. Pacific.
The ceremony tonight is to begin fittingly with Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" performed by the Tucson Symphony. The choir you will hear throughout is the Arizona choir with the University's symphonic orchestra.
The Native American blessing will be given by Dr. Carlos Gonzalez of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona.
The national anthem will be sung by that university alumnus, Dennis Tamblen.
An introduction tonight from University of Arizona's president, Robert N. Shelton. And the university student body president, Emily Fritze with her fellow student, Daniel Hernandez, Jr., Congresswoman Giffords' intern who helped save her life as the carnage unfolded and incidentally, he'll be with us at 11:00.
Governor Brewer will speak. Her predecessor, Secretary Napolitano, will. Attorney General Holder, and then the president. And now as the memorial begins with the playing of Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" - we take you inside the McKale Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
(FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CARLOS GONZALES, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Welcome. Let me start in the traditional way by introducing myself. I am Carlos Gonzales. On my mother's side, I am Mexican - a child of descendents of this family, pioneer family from Mexico that came in the 1800s.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: On my father's side, I'm Yaqui, refugees from Mexico that escaped the genocide in Rio Yaqui in the 1800s.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: We have been here, for myself, I am fifth generation in the valley of Tucson.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: Now, please, understand, I am not a medicine man. I'm really just a family doctor, fortunate enough to teach here at this university, and fortunate enough to learn the sacred ways and the sacred words so that I can share them with you.
I have been given permission by my elders to say blessings of this type. Although to tell the truth, I've never done one with so many people.
So, I've also been fortunate to grow up in this great country where a
barrio poor kid
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: - from the south side of Tucson -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: - could get an education at a fine institution like the University of Arizona. Then even better, to come back and teach here, and teach students at this institution. So with that, I would like to start the blessing after my brief introduction. I'm sorry, I have to do it the traditional way. It's the way we do it.
Now, for those of you that know the traditional blessing way, please feel free to do it. For those of the rest of you, just please stand. So let me begin.
Ahayuta Achi (ph), oh, Creator, I come to give a blessing, at this time - at this time of harmony, at this time of disunity. Please, after hearing my blessing and my prayers, let us work towards harmony, towards wholeness and balance.
Let us begin by honoring the eastern door from where we get visions and guidance. May each of us get the vision and guidance to proceed in a good way.
From the southern door, where we get the energies of the family, please, let us honor the families of those that have passed on, let us honor the families of those that are healing, and- also let us honor our own families. Let us remain humble and also use humor when appropriate, for humor is healing and can help people.
From the western door, please, let us honor the sacred ways and our sacred ancestors. For without them, we would not be here. Oh, Creator, that is the door through which those that have passed on have walked to the next world. Let us honor them as they've passed on. Let us also look within ourselves to see how we can improve and be better human beings.
From the northern door, where we receive challenges and the strength to meet those challenges, let us all receive strength to meet the challenges that face our great country. Please, give us that strength as we proceed.
From Father Sky, where we get the masculine energy, the energy to be responsible, to be respectful, and to protect those that need protection, give us that good energy.
For Mother Earth, where we get the feminine energy, give us that energy to nurture and care for those that need it, and also to help those that ask for our help.
Oh, Creator, may the two energies, the masculine energy and the feminine energy come together in our center, where the Creator exists, for each of us has a piece of the Creator.
Ahayuta Achi, please, you have given us each a gift. May we use these gifts to help our fellow human beings.
O, Creator, let us bless the families of those that have lost their loved ones. Let us bless the family of those that are healing. Let us bless those people that are here today. Let us bless those that are outside in greater Tucson, in Arizona, and in our country. Let us bless them so that they too can heal from this tragedy that has occurred.
O, creator, if I may, my sons in Afghanistan, a little blessing to him to.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GONZALES: O, Creator, let us not forget our fellow creatures, those that stand, those that blow in the wind, those that are tall and stately, those that crawl in the earth, those that slither on the earth, those that live under the earth. Let us remember and bless the winged ones, those that swim in the waters, the four-leggeds, and also our brothers, the two-leggeds that walk throughout this world.
When we all come together at this time and may the words that people hear here sink in to their hearts, so that they too can heal, so that they, too, can feel better.
O, Creator, I ask this humbly. I ask this so that we all can once again achieve harmony and balance in our lives.
O, Creator, welcome - we welcome those people that come to our beloved city here, our beloved city of Tucson, or Tucson as it's known. Welcome here, and please, bless each and every one here. And with that, I would like to end my blessing to all my relations.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: To guide us through this evening's event, please welcome Dr. Robert Shelton, president of the University of Arizona.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROBERT N. SHELTON, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Good evening.
On behalf of the faculty, the staff, and the students of the University of Arizona here in Tucson, Arizona -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: - I am privileged to welcome you to "Together We Thrive:
Tucson and America." Our thanks to Dr. Carlos Gonzales, a member of the Pasquia (ph) Nation for offering tonight's blessing.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: We shall now be led in the national anthem by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Hanson and by Dennis Tamblen, a doctoral student in music here at the University of Arizona.
("STAR-SPANGLED BANNER")
SHELTON: Please be seated.
Tonight, we have gathered here as a community to mourn a tragic and senseless loss. We are here to try in a small way to bring comfort to those whose lives have been forever changed by an act so heinous that it is simply impossible to comprehend. No one who lives here was untouched by the events of last Saturday. Over the past few days, I have repeatedly heard people ask, "How could such a thing have happened? And how could it have happened here, in our town, and to people so loved and so admired?"
One of the characteristics that has always struck me about Tucson's uniqueness is how such a vast metropolitan area of more than 1 million people can function so much like a small college town.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: It is in the truest and best sense of the word a community, where people know each other and care about each other.
The University of Arizona sits in the middle of that community, both literally and figuratively. By hosting this ceremony, we hope that we can begin the process of healing.
Tonight, we have a chance to pray for those who were wounded, to remember those who were lost, and to reaffirm, reaffirm our commitment to each other.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords is a good friend of mine, as she is of almost everyone in this community.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: This attack on her and on her constituents, our neighbors, our friends, has changed us all. The question we have to answer is whether that change will make us angry and afraid or whether it will inspire us to commit to building a more sensible and caring world.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Tucson is a city that is unique for its diversity and its passion. That so many of you would come out tonight speaks to our unity of spirit and our desire to stand by our friends and our neighbors in this time of great need.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Our society has many serious challenges. But, fortunately, we have great leadership to help us through these difficult times. Many of those leaders are here with us tonight to offer their support.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: To offer their support to the families and friends so tragically affected by the events of last Saturday.
Among the many heroes this week was one of our students, Daniel Hernandez, Jr. -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Daniel showed extraordinary poise at a most difficult moment. As you have seen, he is here tonight with the president of the associated students of the University of Arizona - please welcome ASU President Emily Fritze and Daniel Hernandez, Jr.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
EMILY FRITZE, UNIV. OF ARIZONA STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT: Good evening.
I would like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude to our guest and to everyone in the Tucson and university community for coming tonight to show your support for the families and friends affected by the heartbreaking events of this weekend. As a student and a young member of this city, it is uplifting to see everyone tonight and to witness the outpouring of support from all of you.
I think it is important to take a moment and recognize that the victims on Saturday were attending Congresswoman Gabby Giffords' event in order to participate in the democratic process. It is this process which Gabby loved so dearly and has spent the better part of her life serving. Like many students at the University of Arizona and other young people, I have had the opportunity to interact with Gabby and her staff as an intern and to gain a sense of appreciation and inspiration for public service in its most genuine form.
From my experience, I believe that one of the things Gabby would want us to take away from Saturday is that we need to continue to be devoted public servants and citizens. On Saturday -
(APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: - on Saturday violence reared its ugly head to silence our voice in government, but we know our community will not be silenced and our representative will not be silenced.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: One of the most impressive examples of this spirit is my friend standing next to my, Daniel Hernandez.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: Many of you have heard his story as someone who displayed courage and heroism in the face of danger. As someone who knew Daniel before he has been called a hero, as a friend, one who has stayed up late with me many long nights of work and brought me many cups of coffee, I was not surprised to hear of his actions and selfless courage.
To me, Daniel exemplifies the spirit of youth and an individual committed to his friends, community, and greater humanity. Yet, Daniel is only a representation of many that stepped up and took action. Those individuals are a symbol of the character found throughout this community, that in all of us is the potential to act with kindness and to rise up when we have been called to do so.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FRITZE: It is with great honor that I introduce you my fellow student and dear friend, Daniel Hernandez, to say a few words.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, JR., INTERN, REP. GIFFORDS' OFFICE: Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to start off by thanking Emily.
But I also want to start off with a few words. The first of which is "E Pluribus Unum," never had those words have been truer than they are today. "Out of many, one."
One thing that we have learned from this great tragedy is, we have come together. On Saturday, we all became Tucsonians. On Saturday, we all became Arizonians. And above all, we all became Americans.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HERNANDEZ: Despite the horrific actions that were taken on Saturday, where so many were lost, we saw glimmers of hope. These glimmers of hope come from people who are the real heroes.
Although I appreciate the sentiment, I must humbly reject the use of the word "hero," because I am not one. The people who are heroes are people like Pam Simon, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Gabe Zimmerman, who unfortunately we lost that day, Ron Barber, the first responders. And also, people like Dr. Rhee who have done an amazing job at making sure that Gabby is OK and those who were injured are being treated to the best of our ability.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HERNANDEZ: Thank you. Thank you. We have all come together to realize that what defines us is not the differences, it is that we are all together, we are all a family. We are all Americans.
And we must recognize that the real heroes, like I mentioned, are the people who have the dedicated their life to public service, whether it's direct care in nursing or being a physician or being a great representative like Congresswoman Giffords, or being a staffer. They are the people who we should be honoring. And they are the people that we need to keep in our thoughts and our prayers.
So, I thank you for this opportunity, but I say we must reject the title of "hero," and reserve it for those who deserve it. And those who deserve it are the public servants and the first responders and the people who have made sure that they have dedicated their life to taking care of others.
And with that, I thank you all.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: These two young students are examples of why I am so proud of this university. They should give all of us a great sense of hope for our future. Thank you, Daniel. Thank you, Emily.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: I'm now honored to bring to the lectern, the leader of our state. She is providing great leadership at a difficult and challenging time. Please welcome to the podium the governor of the state of Arizona, the Honorable Jan Brewer.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: Thank you. And thank you, President Shelton.
Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, Justice Kennedy, Attorney General Holder, Secretary Napolitano, Minority Leader Pelosi, and my fellow Arizonians - good evening.
First, let me say again, thank you, Daniel, for your very uncommon courage, that likely saved Gabby Giffords' life. Thank you.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BREWER: Mr. President, on behalf of the people of the state of Arizona, I thank you for coming today to help us with our healing.
(APPLAUSE)
In the aftermath of Saturday, your words have been a source of comfort and strength to every Arizonan. Your presence today serves as a reminder that we are not alone in our sorrow. America grieves with us.
(APPLAUSE)
This great nation stands ready to help our wounded heal, to join our neighbors and our state in mourning a loss beyond measure.
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to measure what Tucson and all of Arizona lost this past Saturday. A day that began as a warm Arizona morning, neighbors were grocery shopping, running errands. They were gathering to meet their congresswoman, to see the Gabby Giffords smile all of us know so well.
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to -
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to quantify the loss of a fine public servant like United States District Court Judge John Roll.
(APPLAUSE)
There is no way to measure the deaths of good people, parents, and grandparents, like Dorwin Stoddard, Phyllis Schneck, and Dot Morris.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabe Zimmerman, also killed, was only 30 years old. He was soon to be married, devoted to social work, and a fighter for justice.
(APPLAUSE)
There is absolutely no measure in the idea that the void someone like Gabe leaves behind.
We also lost Christina Taylor Green.
(APPLAUSE)
Born on another day of unparalleled sadness, September 11th, 2001, Christina was only nine years old. She was a new member of the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School. She loved ballet, swimming, and baseball.
We can never know what Christina might have become. We can't imagine what the families of our six innocent neighbors are feeling. Nor can we know the pain of the wounded, some whom are still struggling for their lives.
Saturday's gunfire didn't simply take six lives, injure my friend Gabby Giffords, and injure several others. It pierced our sense of well-being. It raised questions of which we can make no sense, questions begging for answers that will not come anytime soon.
I know this though: Arizona is united in a mission of recovery. This state, bound together by prayer and action and hope and faith, will not be shredded by one madman's act of darkness.
(APPLAUSE)
We have come to understand, aided by your presence, that we are being lifted up by the thoughts and prayers of others who mourn with us. We will remember how to smile again.
I know Arizona. I know it's every corner, I know its proud, courageous citizens. We will go forward together, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, devoted to prayer.
We will go forward unbending, unbowed. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "it is a way which is plain, peaceful, generous and just. It is a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless."
May god bless all the victims, their families, and those suffering from Saturday's tragedy.
May God bless those who serve us in the cause of freedom and in justice.
May he bless you and your families and our great state of Arizona.
And may god always bless and protect the United States of America.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Thank you, Governor Brewer.
Confronting the challenges to our nation's security is an enormous undertaking. We are safer as a country because we have the right person leading that effort. Please now welcome back to Arizona our former governor and the current secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
(APPLAUSE)
JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you. Thank you, Tucson. Thank you, Arizona.
(APPLAUSE)
We know - we know that the violence that occurred Saturday does not represent this community, this state, or this country.
(APPLAUSE)
At these times, words can fail us. So let us listen instead to the words of the Old Testament. And I will provide a reading now from the Book of Isaiah.
"Comfort, yes, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her inequity is pardoned. For she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, who brings out their hosts by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one is missing.
Why do you say, oh, Jacob, and speak, oh, Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God. Have you not known - have you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. This is the word of the Lord."
(APPLAUSE)
SHELTON: Thank you, Secretary Napolitano. I am honored now to introduce the leader of the United States Department of Justice. He is our nation's leading law enforcement official. Please welcome the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder.
(APPLAUSE)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you. Thank you.
Like Janet, I will read words far a beyond any that I might employ. A reading from "the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians."
"Since we have the same spirit of faith, as he had who wrote, I believed and so I spoke. We too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and bring us with you into his presence.
For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart, though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal wait of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
For we know that if the Earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God. A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is the Lord's word."
HOLDER: I think you can see by those who are in the program and by the many dignitaries and elected officials in the audience how deeply our country was affected by the terrible events last Saturday. We are truly honored to have the leader of our great nation with us here tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
We are obviously saddened by the circumstances that have brought President and Mrs. Obama to Tucson. But we are comforted - we are comforted by their compassion and inspired by their determination to reach out and help. America has been blessed through its glorious history by visionary and committed presidents, who often at great personal sacrifice step forward to lead us to better futures and greater hope.
Barack Obama assumed the presidency at a perilous time in our history. We are fortunate to have someone with his intellect, his energy, and his heart to lead us forward.
(APPLAUSE)
Please welcome the president of the United States, Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Please.
Please, be seated.
(APPLAUSE)
To the families of those we've lost, to all who called them friends, to the students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow.
(APPLAUSE)
There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy will pull through.
(APPLAUSE)
Scripture tells us, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the most high dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."
On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech.
(APPLAUSE)
They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders: representatives of the people answering questions to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns back to our nation's capital. Gabby called it "Congress on Your Corner," just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.
(APPLAUSE)
And that quintessentially American scene, that was the scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday, they, too, represented what is best in us, what is best in America.
(APPLAUSE)
Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years.
(APPLAUSE)
A graduate of this university and a graduate of this law school...
(APPLAUSE)
... Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain 20 years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona's chief federal judge.
His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his representative.
John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five beautiful grandchildren.
(APPLAUSE)
George and Dorothy Morris - "Dot" to her friends - were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their R.V., enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon.
Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife.
(APPLAUSE)
Both were shot. Dot passed away.
A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return east, where her world revolved around her three children, her seven grandchildren, and two- year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she'd often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes she'd sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants...
(LAUGHTER)
... to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby and wanted to get to know her better.
(APPLAUSE)
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together about 70 years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed, they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy's daughters put it, "be boyfriend and girlfriend again."
(LAUGHTER)
When they weren't out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.
(APPLAUSE) Everything - everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion, but...
(APPLAUSE)
... but his true passion was helping people. As Gabby's outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits that they had earned, that veterans got the medals and the care that they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks.
He died doing what he loved: talking with people and seeing how he could help. And Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancee, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.
(APPLAUSE)
And then there is nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. Christina was an A student. She was a dancer. She was a gymnast. She was a swimmer. She decided that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the Major Leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her.
(APPLAUSE)
She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age. She'd remind her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.
Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken, and yet our hearts also have reason for fullness.
Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak.
And I want to tell you - her husband, Mark, is here, and he allows me to share this with you. Right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabby opened her eyes.
(APPLAUSE)
Gabby opened her eyes, so I can tell you, she knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey. We are there for her.
(APPLAUSE)
Our hearts are full of thanks for that good news, and our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful to Daniel Hernandez...
(APPLAUSE)
... a volunteer in Gabby's office.
And, Daniel, I'm sorry, you may deny it, but we've decided you are a hero, because you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss and tended to her wounds and help keep her alive.
(APPLAUSE)
We are grateful to the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload.
(APPLAUSE) They're right over there.
(APPLAUSE)
We - we are grateful for petite Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer's ammunition and undoubtedly saved some lives.
(APPLAUSE)
And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and first responders...
(APPLAUSE)
... who worked wonders to heal those who'd been hurt. We are grateful to them.
(APPLAUSE)
These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, all around us, just waiting to be summoned, as it was on Saturday morning.
Their actions, their selflessness poses a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?
You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations, to try to impose some order on the chaos and make sense out of that which seems senseless.
Already, we've seen a national conversation commence, not only about
the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits
of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health system. And much -
much of this process...
(APPLAUSE)
... of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self- government.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do, it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that - that heals, not in a way that wounds.
(APPLAUSE)
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "When I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we have to guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.
For the truth is, none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped these shots from being fired or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind.
Yes, we had to examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future.
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But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other.
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That we cannot do.
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That we cannot do.
As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let's use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together. After all...
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After all, that's what most of us do when we lose somebody in our family, especially if the loss is unexpected. We're shaken out of our routines. We're forced to look inward. We reflect on the past.
Did we spend enough time with an aging - an aging parent, we wonder?
Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices that they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in a while, but every single day?
So sudden loss causes us to look backward, but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us.
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We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we're doing right by our children, or our community, whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality. And we are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.
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And that process - that process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions, that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires.
For those who were harmed, those who were killed, they are part of our family, an American family, 300 million strong. (APPLAUSE)
We may not have known them personally, but surely we see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners.
Phyllis, she's our mom or our grandma, Gabe, our brother or son.
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In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America's fidelity to the law.
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And in Gabby - in Gabby, we see a reflection of our public- spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never- ending process to form a more perfect union.
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And in Christina, in Christina, we see all of our children, so curious, so trusting, so energetic, so full of magic, so deserving of our love, and so deserving of our good example.
If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost.
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Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of politics and point-scoring and pettiness that drifts away in the next news cycle.
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better, to be better in our private lives, to be better friends and neighbors and co-workers and parents.
And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy - it did not - but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud.
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We should be civil because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.
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They believe - they believe and I believe that we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here, they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another, that's entirely up to us.
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And I believe that, for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
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That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina-Taylor Green believed.
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Imagine - can you imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy, just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship, just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation's future.
She had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.
I want us to live up to her expectations.
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I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
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As has already been mentioned, Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life: "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope - I hope you jump in rain puddles."
If there are rain puddles in Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today.
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And here on this Earth, here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.
May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal peace. May he love and watch over the survivors. And may he bless the United States of America.
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*
ROBERT N. SHELTON, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: Thank you.
Thank you, President Obama, for your remarkable, inspiring words.
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SHELTON: I also thank all of the speakers here tonight, as well as all of the federal, state, and local leaders who have come tonight to lend their support. We have heard many, many inspirational thoughts from our distinguished guests.
At this time, I invite everyone here at the McKale Center and those watching here in Tucson, and indeed, around the nation, to join together in a moment of silence, which will be followed by a musical selection. Join me, please, in a moment of silence.
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
(CHOIR SINGING)
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SHELTON: I now conclude the program tonight by reading a poem that was written by W.S. Merwin, who is the current poet laureate of the United States of America. Mr. Merwin has a long history with the poetry center here at the University of Arizona.
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SHELTON: The poem is entitled "To The New Year."
"With what stillness it lasts, you appear in the valley. Your first sunlight reaching down to touch the tips of a few high leaves that do not stir, as though they have not noticed and did not know you at all. Then the voice of a dove calls from the far away, in itself to hush of morning.
So this is the sound of you, here and now, whether or not anyone hears it. This is where we have come with our age. Our knowledge, such as it is, and our hopes, such as they are, invisible before us, untouched and still possible."
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SHELTON: Thank you for coming and good night to everyone.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END
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