Transcripts For CSPAN3 Oklahoma City Bombing 25th Anniversar

Commemoration, today mark, the 25th anniversary of the explosion outside the alfred p. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people including those children inside a daycare facility. The washington journal and our partners at American History tv on cspan 3 spending this next hour looking back at the events from 25 years ago. Joining us in Oklahoma City at the National Memorial and museum is the executive director Carrie Watkins on this 25th anniversary but first from Late Afternoon of april 19th, 1995, these words by president bill clinton his first comments about the bombing. The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it. And i will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards. I have met with our team, which we assembled to deal with this bombing. And i have determined to take the following steps to assure the strongest response to this situation. First, i have deployed a Crisis Management team under the leadership of the fbi. Working with the department of justice, the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, military and local authorities. We are sending the worlds finest investigators to solve these murders. Second, i have declared an emergency in Oklahoma City. And at my direction, James Lee Webb the director of the federal Emergency Management agency is on his way there to make sure we do everything we can to help the people of oklahoma deal with tragedy. Third, we are taking every precaution to reassure and to protect people who work in or live near other federal facilities. Let there be no room for doubt. We will find the people who did this. When we do, justice will be swift, certain and severe. These people are killers and they must be treated like killers. Finally let me say that i ask all americans tonight to pray. To pray for the people who have lost their lives. To pray for the families and the friends of the dead and the wounded. To pray for the people of Oklahoma City. May gods grace be with them. Meanwhile well be about our work. Thank you. From 25 years ago president bill clinton and joining us from Oklahoma City is Carrie Watkins. She is the executive director of the Oklahoma City national and. We thank you for joining us here on cspan and cspan3s American History tv. Thanks for having me. If you could, walk us through the events 25 years ago. What happened on the morning of april 19, 1995 . It was a gorgeous spring morning. People went to work, went about their business, a mayors Prayer Breakfast downtown. So 1,000 or more were gathered at that. People began to assemble in the Federal Building like they would at any federal facility across the country. Just before 9 00 a ryder truck pulled up in front of the murrah Federal Building. A bomb was detonated. And moments later, 168 people were killed, including 19 small children, and as part of that the world of changed forever. And, of course, Timothy Mcveigh was later convicted and sentenced to death for his involvement in this bombing. Lets go back to some of the events that led to his decision to bomb this particular building in Oklahoma City really dating back to 1992 with ruby ridge and then in 1993 the siege in waco, the bomb that detonated at 9 02 in the morning on april 19, 1995, and then, of course, just over an hour later he was pulled over and arrested. But why did these instances in waco and ruby ridge set off Timothy Mcveigh . Well, we dont totally know, but he was frustrated with how the government handled things, and instead of going through systems already in place and trying to fix things he and his friends thought it would be easier to make a statement. I think he tried to destroy what we were unified. Part of that is he was an army veteran, he hadnt gotten his way, the promotions he wanted in the army. There are numerous reasons people may say he did it. It was a senseless act of terrorism. Senseless for so many reasons including the deaths of so many children. One of the iconic photographs of an Oklahoma City firefighter rescuing a 1yearold, because there was a daycare facility inside the murrah building. Can you explain . Yeah, just on the second floor of the murrah Federal Building was a daycare. It was at capacity, actually about to be enlarged. People were hanging in the windows. There was no doubt there were children in the building. He called them collateral damage. I think that gives you the mind frame he was in. These innocence children who had gone to work with their parents and gone into daycare and their school and were enjoying the morning when he decided to change their lives forever and their parents lives forever. One of the many firsthand accounts includes florence rogers. Here is what she remembers. I just turned around in my chair and reared back and was getting ready to discuss the next item i had mentioned when the bomb went off. It had to be longer but it was just like seconds and all the girls in the office with me disappeared. And i thought they ran out and left me alone. I started hollering, where are you guys . Where are you guys . And then the realization set in somewhat and i realized that i dont know where they are. Theyre gone. Eventually i found out when the bomb went up and everything started coming down the seven floors up above us took them down into what was eventually known as the pit. Why was the murrah building the target of Timothy Mcveigh and his accomplices . I think probably because the innocence of the people. He had surveyed several Federal Buildings in the region. I think it was accessible to him. Buildings were may more accessible in 1995 than they are today. It was not incumbent to walk into a building without going through metal detectors. Its a different world were raising our kids in today. I think he saw a soft target which was just people going about their business and working and no one really ever assumes there would be a terrorist dreaming up a ridiculous sense of violence. As we look at the pictures the magnitude of this explosion, the ryder truck outside the murrah building, what was inside that caused such mass destruction and death . Well, there were like 4,000 pounds of fertilizer, racing fuel that he had put in barrels, built this bomb. Much of what he learned in his army days. He was trained to be a fighter. He worked hard at that. He dreamed this up with his army buddies. I think he was really an american terrorist, really the first time we felt as a country attacked by one of our own. We welcome our callers and do have a line set aside for those of how live in oklahoma. 2027488002. Otherwise we are dividing our phone lines regionally. We go to ginger in bradenton, florida. Good morning. Caller good morning, and i thank you for the washington journal programs. I was at my desk at 9 02 a. M. The day this happened 25 years ago, and it left an indelible scar on many of the people i know lost loved ones in that building, and i personally lost friends in the federal credit offices. But, also, one of the things we were able to understand a little better is people from around the world that lived in other places stuff as friends i had from sarajevo who did not act very sympathetic about the situation. When we discussed it about what their problem was and their attitude they said, well, we have bombed out buildings everywhere. And that was a very difficult things to understand this was a first for us and it was a thing that we just arent able to overcome. I will never forget the fences being loaded day after day after day for years with stuffed animals and stories and pictures and sympathetic messages from people all over the world who traveled to see this and one of the things that i am concerned about is how the families are now that had victims and children who have had now lifetime respiratory problems, will be affected by not being out in the general public and pick up a virus that could further damage lungs and such, also our responders who were in the midst of all the dust and everything that was involved in the pollution of the air and from the fire from burning vehicles in the parking lot and so forth. Ginger, thanks for sharing your stories and firsthand accounts from what happened 25 years ago. Keri watkins . I think shes right. People did not understand internationally, had lived through this. I was in the lobby of the museum with the israeli journalist who said if we built this museum every time this happened wed have museums on every corner. I said thats request we built the museum. We dont want this to be something we live with forever. That is an issue that well always have to explain and understand. The other part of the families and survivors and First Responders what incredible people, truly. But because of covid19 is why were not having a live ceremony on the grounds today. We just couldnt in good conscience bring people together when were being asked to stay home. We have a program that will air here in a little bit that will be a replica of a live ceremony and read the 168 names, 168 seconds of silence. A great tribute to president clinton, governor keating. What do we do next. Make sure its kept safe and people are protected. We take that very seriously. The fence has people coming to it. I was out there this morning. People are still bringing items to the fence, placing items on the fence. We clear that fence periodically on have thousands in our archives because of the fence. Teddy bears that can be washed and put in our hope trunks sent to schoolchildren. Theres a lot of good that came from the bad. But tame, people still come here to remember. As you indicated a chance on cspan3 to watch that remembrance of what happened on april the 19th, 1995. Frank is joining us from monroe, north carolina. Good morning. Caller hi, good morning. Thank you for cspan. I enjoy it every morning. I invite mrs. Watkins to give a reply, but i basically have a statement. I have this discussion argument online quite often about the amount of american terrorists as a group that there are includes the kkk, neonazis, white separatists, militia people and i get this blow back all the time, theres hardly any of them, theres almost none of them. And then my response usually is look what one person in a truck can actually do. So it really doesnt matter how many there are. What matters is the level of hate. Frank, thank you. Let me go to that last point, and somebody who has studied Timothy Mcveigh, why did he have that hate . What do you know about him . Well, as i said earlier mcveigh was a young army soldier, decorated army soldier, didnt achieve the rank that he wanted, left frustrated, and i think he felt he had something to prove. I agree with frank, theres way too much hate in this world. We have to do something about the neonazis and the different movements underground and some are aboveground. Its ridiculous we tolerate any kind of hate, racism, the extreme gun violence that we have. We have to put a stop to this and come together as a country and resolve this. There is a place for all good things, we cannot take it to the extreme, to the right or to the left. The one thing weve lasted the last 25 years its important to meet people in the middle. Everyone has an opinion and yours is as important to you as mine is to me. We have to go to the middle of the road and work these issues out. Thats something we feel strongly about in the museum, that we want to keep teaching the next generation is to meet people in the middle of the road and begin to work out the issues and get rid of the hate. One of the lessons of 9 11, that tag line, if you see something, say something. Were there any red flags in the winter or spring of 1995 in which Timothy Mcveigh was buying the fertilizer and these explosive materials that did such damage . Well, im assuming there werent. Im not a part of the government, of the investigative team. Im assuming there werent or we wouldnt be sitting here talking about it. Weve spent a lot of time talking about mcveigh. Id like to talk about the people he impacted and the survivors and First Responders who figured out how to rebuild their lives in a way that is remarkable. Although mcveigh tried to ruin their lives forever, they have rallied and really a model for other people to watch and to witness as they move on with their lives and yet still remember. Their new marriages, new children, regrouping of families. All of that is so important as far as the healing process of our city. The one thing we have to realize that Oklahoma City is a city on a hill. They stand as a city of hope. We stand on a scale showing people it can be done. We can move forward in a way thats very important. And we should teach and educate as we move forward and thats a part of our mission. We want to remember but we always have to keep teaching. This story now is 25 years old. A generation has been born that was not alive when it happened. We have to remember that we have to keep teaching the story and the senselessness of the swri le violence and senselessness of it and flying planes through buildings. One of the remarkable coincidences is the Oklahoma City Highway Patrolman, charlie hanger, who in 2015 recalled how in just over an hour after the bombing he pulled over Timothy Mcveigh for a Traffic Violation only to arrest him. He tells the story. Hanger had been heading twice based on a Highway Patrol dispatcher call for all available troopers to head to Oklahoma City to assist. He had gotten a discontinue. He was about 62 miles north and he turned around in the median on interstate 35. And as he is started to head back north hes passed by this yellow mercury marquis missing its rear license plate. And so he pulls that car over and the driver gets out of the car and hanger has to order him to stay by the door of his car. And so hanger gets out, tells the guy to back up toward him, and as mcveigh is backing toward him he notices he has a bulge under his left jacket. He grabs it. Mcveigh said its a gun and its loaded. And hanger has his gun next to mcveighs head and says so is mine. And he relieved mcveigh of his gun, which was loaded with those rounds that can shoot through an armored vest. And so once he had that again and a kbar knife mcveigh had hidden on his person he took mcveigh into custody and to the noble county jail in perry, oklahoma. And so our investigator asked hanger what happened to him. And he said, i dont know. He may still be in custody. He may not. And so one of our investigators contacted sheriff jerry cooke and talked to him and said, well, mcveigh is in custody but is going to be released within probably an hour. And so we put a federal hold on him. And at that point myself and several other agents got into a helicopter and flew up to perry. The story of how an Oklahoma State trooper was able to nab Timothy Mcveigh just about an hour and a half after the bombing that took place in Oklahoma City, again, the death toll 168 people including 19 children, more than 680 others were injured. 300plus buildings in an 80block Building Sustained damage, the explosion was felt up to 50 miles away. Back to your phone calls. Donald from golden valley, arizona, good morning. I learned during king mond when that happened. This whole county was overrun with fbi and federal investigators and, i mean, they were all over the place. They arrested somewhere else. I remember stopping in Oklahoma City and had to get my car worked on, the muffler. I was having muffler problems. I was talking to the mechanic and he was only a short way away from the bombing and he was telling me how it shook everything. Thats my story. Donald, thanks for the call. The other person youre referring to, of course, is Terry Nichols. Keri watkins, what do you remember about that day . I was on my way to a class walking out the door, my garden doors bow out and come back in. I felt the blast about eight miles north, came back, turned my television on and watched the helicopter come, circle the site. Local cbs affiliate channel 9 had their helicopter up north, spun it back south to catch the glimpse of it. The first thing i ever saw. Just disbelief this was happening in my city. As people who walk through not only the museum but also outside the museum, what is their takeaway . What are people telling you about this 25 years later . I think most people want to try to figure out why it happened and how to prevent it, want to understand and know the people who were lost. Theyre amazed at the faces in the museum and names written on the chairs outside, they can put a face. It didnt happen to faceless americans. These were real moms, dads, brothers, sisters, teachers, preachers, baseball coaches. These were real people doing their job or taking part of government service. These were people that were just going about work. They didnt go to war. They went to their job, went to work. Kingman, arizona, was part of the area where the bomb was dreamed up, mcveigh and nichols sat with their friends in their trailer in arizona. Secretary napolitano helped put that piece of the puzzle together and then the fbi agents in arizona, remarkable police work, by the way, all over from the city, county, state, federal level. Remarkable pol