Michael bloomberg, and governor chris christie. This is an hour. Theres a place for us somewhere a place for us peace and quiet and open air wait for us somewhere theres a time for us someday a time for us time together with time to spare time to learn time to care someday, somewhere well find a new way of living well find a way of forgiving somewhere theres a place for us a time and place for us hold my hand and were halfway there hold my hand and ill take you there somehow someday somewhere theres a place for us theres a place for us a time and place for us hold my hand and were halfway there hold my hand and ill take you there somehow someday somewhere [cadence] present arms. O say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming . Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched ere gallantly streaming . And the rockets red glare he bombs bursting in air gave proof to the night that our flag was still there o say, does that starspangled banner yet wave er the land of the free and the home of the brave . Honor, halt. [drum roll] we are here today to help edicate a great museum, one that rises out of the bedrock of our city, our history, and our hearts. In the years to come, the 9 11 emorial museum will take its place alongside the fields of gettysburg among the waters of pearl harbor, and the Vietnam Veterans memorial, as a sacred marker of our past and as a solemn gathering place, a place we come to remember those who died and to honor acts of courage and compassion that saved lives and lifted spirits. The outstretched hands that rushed forward that they and in the hard weeks and months that followed. In the streets of new york, on the grounds of the pentagon, in the fields near shanksville, pennsylvania, kindness poured forth on a colossal scale, for on a day when terrorists refused to see our common humanity, we saw only the humanity in one another. This museum, built on the site of rubble and ruins, is now filled with the faces, the stories, and the memories of our common grief, and our common hope. It is a witness to tragedy. It is an affirmation of human life. It is a reminder to us and to all future generations that freedom carries heavy responsibilities, and it is a reflection of our believe that the true hope of humanity resides in our compassion and kindness for one another. Walking through this museum can be difficult at times, but it is impossible to leave without feeling inspired. Each story here beats with a human heart, which, if we allow it, touches our own. The stories are the proof that what we do and the choices we make affect each others lives in the course of human history. This morning, we would like to share just a few of these stories the museum tells. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce the president of the United States of america, barack obama. Mayor bloomberg, governor cuomo, honored guests, families of the fallen, in those awful moments after the south tower was hit, some of the injured huddled in the wreckage of the 78th floor. The fires were spreading. The air was filled with smoke. It was dark, and they could barely see. It seemed as if there was no way out. And then there came a voice clear, calm, saying he had found he stairs. A young man in his 20s, strong, emerged from the smoke, and over his nose and his mouth he wore a red handkerchief. He called for fire extinguishers to fight back the flames. He tended to the wounded. He led those survivors down the stairs to safety and carried a woman on his shoulders down 17 flights. Then he went back, back up all those flights, then back down again, bringing more wounded to safety. Until that moment when the tower ell. They didnt know his name. They didnt know where he came from. But they knew their lives had been saved by the man in the red bandana. Again, mayor bloomberg, distinguished guests, mayor de blasio, governors christie and cuomo, and the families and survivors of that day, to all hose who responded with such courage, on behalf of michelle and myself and the american people, it is an honor for us to join in your memories, to recall and to reflect, but above all, to reaffirm the true spirit of 9 11 love, ompassion, sacrifice, and to enshrine it forever in the heart of our nation. Michelle and i just had the opportunity to join with others on a visit with some of the survivors and families, men and women who inspire us all, and we had a chance to visit some of the exhibits. And i think all who come here will find it to be a profound and moving experience. I want to express our deep gratitude to everybody who was involved in this great undertaking, for bringing us to this day, for giving us this sacred place of healing and of ope. Here, at this memorial, this useum, we come together. We stand in the footprints of two mighty towers, graced by the ush of eternal waters. We look into the faces of nearly 3,000 innocent souls, men and women and children of every race, every creed, and every corner of the world. We can touch their names and ear their voices and glimpse the small items that speak to the beauty of their lives a wedding ring, a dusty helmet, a shining badge. Here we tell their story so that generations yet unborn will ever forget, of coworkers who led others to safety, passengers who stormed a cockpit, our men and women in uniform who rushed into an inferno, our First Responders who charged up those stairs, a generation of service members, our 9 11 generation, who have served with honor in more than a decade of war, a nation that stands tall and united and unafraid because no act of terror can match the strength or the character of our country. Like the great wall and bedrock that embrace us today, nothing can ever break us, nothing can change who we are as americans. On that september morning, Alison Crowther lost her son elles. Months later, she was reading in the newspaper an article about those final minutes in the owers. Survivors recounted how a young man wearing a red handkerchief ad led them to safety. And in that moment alison knew. Ever since he was a boy, her son had always carried a red handkerchief. Her son welles was the man in the red bandana. Welles was just 24 years old, with a broad smile and a bright future. He worked in the south tower, on the 104th floor. He had a big laugh, a joy of life, and dreams of seeing the world. He worked in finance, but he had also been a volunteer firefighter. And after the planes hit, he put on that bandana and spent his final moments saving others. Three years ago this month, after our seals made sure that justice was done, i came to ground zero, and among the families here that day was Alison Crowther. And she told me about welles and his fearless spirit, and she showed me a handkerchief like the one he wore that morning. And today, as we saw on our tour, one of his red handkerchiefs is on display in this museum. And from this day forward, all hose who come here will have a chance to know the sacrifice of a young man who, like so many, gave his life so others might live. Those we lost live on in us, in the families who love them still, in the friends who remember them always, and in a nation that will honor hem now and forever. And today it is my honor to introduce two women forever bound by that day, united in their determination to keep alive the true spirit of 9 11, welles crowthers mother, alison, and one of those he saved, ling young. [applause] my name is ling young. Im here today because of welles, a man i did not get the chance to thank. I wanted to come here today so i could say thank you to his parents and my new friends, jeff nd alison. I am welles rowthers mother, alison rowther. My husband, jefferson, and i could not be more proud of our son. He lives on in the people he helped and in the memory of what he chose to do that tuesday in september. Welles believed that we were all connected as one human family, that we are here to look out for and to care for one another. This is lifes most precious meaning. It is our greatest hope that when people come here and see welles red bandanna they will remember how people helped each other that day, and we hope that they will be inspired to do the same in ways both big and small. This is the true legacy of eptember 11. [applause] i did not realize what had happened until that afternoon. Had no idea that our son todd as on an airplane. I thought he was in italy. Was off by a day. We kind of define our history now, dont we, as pre9 11 and post9 11. Here are some bits of the wristwatch, and its function is supposed to be to tell time. It was a good watch, did its job very well, but it does not tell what time it is anymore. But what it does tell is what time it was. It says it is the 11th, and so this marks the time that the successful counterattack on ight 93 ended. We are all grateful today to the memorial board, the staff, and the families for creating this really magnificent memorial. Why dont we give them a round of applause. [applause] todd beamers watch was recovered at the site of the crash of flight 93 near shanksville, pennsylvania. It was given to this museum by his loving family. We are honored to have his father david with us here today. Todd was one of 40 men and women aboard that plane, strangers, all bound for san francisco. They decided it would take fate nto their own hands at the probable, if not certain risk of their own lives. When hijackers took control of their plane, people began calling family and friends who told them about the other hijacked planes. None of the passengers had been trained for this kind of scenario, that alone even consider such a nightmare. And yet after talking over what they had learned, they joined ith members of the crew to storm the cockpit. Nd in doing so, they changed the course of history. It was later shown that their actions prevented the plane from reaching the hijackers intended target, washington, d. C. , a mere 20 minutes away. In giving their lives, how many lives have they saved . One of the first calls made from the plane had been for mark bingham who later helped form the plan they followed. He had called his mother, alice, and alice left this message mark, this is your mom. Apparently there are terrorists, and they are hell bent on crashing the aircraft. There is one fight that they say is headed toward san francisco. It might be yours. So if you can, group some people and perhaps do everything you can to overpower them. Try to call me back if you can. Sweetie. Love you. Good morning. When you walk through this museum, what strikes you is how your emotions can feel sad at one moment in the very next moment you feel utterly astonished and grateful at how people from all over the world responded. It was as if the entire world came knocking on our door, cried with us, and asked what they ould do. People from over 90 countries died on september 11, and so the world understood that while this happened on our soil it happened o all of us. Letters arrived from australia and jordan, guests from india, gifts from india, ireland, and kenya, and people from all walks of life and speaking every language came to help us dig out from under and bandage our wounds. The world felt like a tightly knit community, a smaller, more aring place. This is how goodwill begins. In the understanding that we are underneath all our many differences fellow men and women, with a love and a sanctity for human life. Here in this museum we are reminded to pause and remember how many came to help us and that the true gift of friendship nd fellowship can be born of the night, for which we all remain ternally grateful. I dedicate this song to my late husband, Calvin Joseph gooding. Amazing grace ow sweet the sound hat saved a wretch like me once was lost but now im found as blind ut now i see was grace that taught my heart to fear nd grace y fears relieved how precious was hat grace appeared he hour i first believed mazing grace ow sweet the sound hat saved a wretch ike me once was lost but now im found was blind but now i see [applause] my name is florence jones. I went to work on september 11. I did not plan on walking down 77 fights of stairs. I wasnt dressed for it. Nor did i expect my boss to have to carry my shoes. I was one of the last of the 25 people to come out of the south tower. My number is 18. I had taken my shoes off on the 60th floor and i walked in my stockings the rest of the way. After that, i still walked in my stocking feet 50 more blocks to get to a friends office, barely in one piece. When i heard that the museum was looking for artifacts, i thought about my shoes. I had put them in a plastic container, and when i took them out, they still had the smell on them from that awful day. And i knew i would never wear them again. So i decided to donate them here. I wanted my nieces and my nephew and every person that asks what happened to see them and maybe understand a little bit better what it felt like to be us on hat day. [applause] a simple pair of shoes. What could they possibly tell us about 9 11, about the choices and close calls, about a quartermile climb down a staircase filled with falling ceilings, crowded with colleagues and confusion, about aking it out or not . Ordinary, everyday objects that we find here in the museum, a wallet, a ring, an i. D. Card, a telephone are unlikely but powerful keepsakes which help us understand the events of that day in human terms. Each piece carries with it a story, one that might have been our own, for dont we all wear a pair of shoes that we wear to work that could have been the ones we wore that day . For some, the last 38 steps they walked to freedom and to life were down a narrow outdoor staircase that led to the street. These stairs were also the last aboveground remnant found at the World Trade Center site. They became both a symbol of that terrible day and the months of painstaking recovery. Workers removed the 56ton staircase from its base as carefully as one would a sacred object from an archaeological site so that it could be placed in it ew home inside the museum. Today, when you walk down the museums last set of stairs that lead to bedrock, whether you alk slowly down the wide elegant staircase or stand comfortably on the moving escalator, you will travel right beside the staircase, and if you o, imagine for a moment that these hard concrete stairs were once, for hundreds of people, the last and longsought path to survival. My name is kayla bergeron. I worked in the north tower for four years. That day everyone on our floor, people who knew each other and who didnt, started walking down 68 flights of stairs together. It was orderly and calm. And for every step we took down, the firefighters and police were climbing up. When we got to the sixth floor, it felt as if the whole world started to shake. It turned out that the south tower had collapsed. Suddenly, there was confusion, and we were climbing over wires and desks. Port Authority Policeman helped us find our way through. My friend patty and i got separated from everyone, and we were long thinking there is no way out. Then we heard a bullhorn that said if we could hear the sound follow the light. We went this way and that way. And after what seemed like forever, we got to the outdoor staircase. I have walked those stairs a hundred times, to the street, to stop at the post office, never to give it a second thought. But now they were all that separated us from the devastation behind us and life n front of us. Today, when i think about those stairs, what they represent to me is resiliency, of the people there that day trying to help each other and later the resiliency of our country. Those 38 steps mean verything. [applause] we will never understand why one person escaped and another did not. How random it all seems and how powerless it makes it all feel. But what this museum does is allow us to see is that we absolutely can affect each others lives by what we do at a time of crisis, how we are strengthened by what was done that day in september 11 brought out the largest Emergency Response in new york city history. 1000 firefighters, 2000 police officers, and 100 city and volunteer ambulances rushed into ction. When both towers fell, logic says no one could have survived nd lived to tell the tale. The south tower fell, and no one urvived. In the meantime, the men from the new York City Fire department and the Port Authority police were still inside the north tower, attempting to rescue the remaining civilians. But when they reached the third floor, the 107th floors of the north tower fell on top of hem. Lieutenant mickey cross remembered he heard a huge roar and then everything went dark and totally silent. Buried in debris, he tried to rotect himself by making himself so small that he might be able to climb into his helmet. When he heard faint voices calling out, he realized he was not alone. He sent mayday signals, hoping someone might hear them. Hours passed. Outside, there was nothing but piles of fiery wreckage. Not only could rescuers not only locate the north tower, they did not even know where to begin, and yet they kept digging and digging and digging. It is my honor to introduce to you mickey cross and 11 members of the new York City Fire epartment and Port Authority police department. All of them had been trapped together. God bless them and god bless america. [applause] we were trapped way down inside a dark hole, and after a while we saw the small beam of light about 30 feet above us. It was sunlight, and it had broken through the smoke, and even though it only lasted for a little while, it was enough to let us know there was an opening. It turned out the rescue workers could see it, too. They finally came towards us. They could not believe we had survived and we had broken out on our own. They continued to look for other suppliers. They had 14 of us trapped in a stairwell, tried to stay alive, searching for a way out. Miraculously, we survived. Once we got out we saw complete devastation. The whole trade center was gone. All you could see were huge pieces of twisted steel and fires everywhere, nd workers, never giving up on finding people. After our rescue, many of us he joined the rescue and recovery teams at ground zero to do for others what had been done for us. We had to. We had come together at ground zero to help each other out. There was a real sense of caring for one another. This is something we should never forget and never stop doing. Thank you. [applause] i am manuel rodriguez. I worked at ground zero in heavy construction for nine onths. My name is pia hoffman. I am a crane operator, and i worked at ground zero for eight months. My name is tony favara. Im a detective for the new York City Police department. I worked at ground zero for nine months. My name is stephen butler, a lieutenant with the Port AuthorityPolice Services unit. I worked at ground zero for nine onths. After losing my brother tommy, a firefighter with Squad Company number 1, i was the first person to put his picture on this piece of steel, which we call the last column. After that many others followed with pictures and ignatures. [bell rings] the last column was part of the last area that was searched. It really tells the story of the building, the obstruction, and the cleanup effort. As the site was cleared and the beam came to stand alone, people working at the site and family members began affixing the photos. Everyone was putting photos on the column. We had a flag on top of it that became an icon on the site. The sheer size of it, the number f signatures, not only to lost loved ones, but also to this new family that developed on ground zero. We have all became this family that Work Together to try to make other families feel better. We would never have filled in the hole, but if we made it smaller, that was all wed do. That column mean something desperate we completed our job and did a job well done. It symbolizes the best of hat humanity can do. [bell rings] of all the heartbreaking things we had to learn how to do after september 11, the most necessary was and the most difficult was finding a way to honor every Single Person who was on those four planes, in the pentagon, or the World Trade Center towers, and those who died trying to save them, to give their families and us a place to come and remember hem. Now near where we are now there is such a place, filled with the photos, keepsakes, and stories of those we lost. These are our book of memories. In the area called memorial wall, theres a wall that connects the footprints of the once mighty north and south towers. On it are written 10 simple words by virgil that express what this museum is all about no day shall erase you from the memory of time. From there, you walk through to the wall of faces, lined from floor to ceiling with smiling fathers, daughters, brothers, nieces, family, and loved ones. In the same way we have photos in our own homes, these pictures re live with the memories of the birthdays, weddings, barbecues, and baseball games of those we lost. What you will be looking at are the pages of the chapter in our history we call september 11. Oh, there he goes. A good picture. It is. I would be so proud of you. Just amazing, just like you. All the people. Wow. This was a couple of weeks before 9 11 actually happened. I love this one. Yeah. Mannerisms, everything, just ike your father. Thats him. You act just like him. Everything is just like your father. You look like him. And you act like him and sound ike him. So many, right . Here she is. I love that picture. You were 3 and you were 2. Remember . Over the years, i know all these names now, you know . Marion. Although she was very she was 50. She hung out with him. Remember she told us she had gone to the biker bar the night before . I know it is embarrassing, but now were doing the same stuff. When he heard the call on the radio, he told her partner she got to go, and she just ran up the stairs and he just hailed a cab, went straight to those stairs, and he just did what he had to do. He had to go help people. Lets do Something Different today. He felt like was too short to plan things. And i think i learned that on hat day. [indiscernible] robert chin. Right there. Thats uncle robert. Mama adopted you and named you roberta hope chin because i was the hope for the family. Thats right. And i am uncle roberts niece and namesake. Yes, uncle roberts niece and amesake. This is a place where thousands of stories converge, where we can touch the face of history, our history, and yet while we come here to remember the past, it is the future that stands with us in this hall. To truly honor that day, we must promise but to keep our memories of it alive and to search for ways to build something positive in the names of those we ost. They were the pride of their families and the pride of their countries, their stories, their spirits, and their examples can live on as our guides and our begins in making their names and their lives stand for something meaningful in our world. What greater legacy can there be for the lives cut short and to live in the good works created in their names . My name is ada, and my sister wendy worked in tower one of the World Trade Center. Worked two blocks away as the principal of a high school that encouraged leadership and public service. At morning, it was my job to protect our 600plus students, but i could not protect my sister. My whole life has been about educating children. After wendy died, i said imagine after wendy died, i was with friends and said, what if we went to afghanistan and built a school for girls there . What a kick in the head to osama bin laden. Kathy and countless others joined forces, and for years after 9 11, a school was opened in my sisters memory in a province in afghanistan. [applause] about 200 boys and girls came to study, and since then, many, many more. All of them entrusted with education, and their countrys future. There can be beauty out of the ashes. Its hard work, but it can be done. My name is jim laychak. My younger brother was at his desk for the pentagon. He was a civilian working for the army. After the attack, we asked, how will we remember those we lost. As a family member, we need to honor and remember them and in the process, maybe find a way to heal ourselves. Working together with friends, colleagues, families, supporters from around the world, we opened the pentagon memorial on september 211, 2008. T is a place we remember 184 men, women, and children. A place to provide solace and healing surrounded by the beauty of life. My brother dave and i had been young together and we expected to grow old together, play a lot of golf, and argue about who had the better looking grandchildren. Now there will be children born after 9 11 who only read about that day in books. Some might even think the people it happened to werent real. But we are here to help them know that they were. My hope now is to create an Educational Center at the pentagon memorial where School Children can come and spend some time getting to know their countrys story and the very real people who lived it. [applause] wed like to end our dedication sharme on a note of hope that all the visitors to this museum, those who lived through the tragedy, and those young enough to be learning about it for the first time will come away with a sense not of the worst of humanity, but of the best. There are hard history lessons to be learned here, but also shed some light that can illuminate our days ahead. To all those who have worked so tirelessly to bring this museum and its ideals to life, we owe you our deepest gratitude, and a special thank you to joe daniels of alic greenwald president the 9 11 memorial museum. [applause] this museum is a testament to the resilience, the courage, and the compassion of the human spirit that lies within each and every human being. So i think it is only fitting then that we bring our ceremony to a close with one of aaron copelands most enduring and lifeaffirming pieces, fanfare for the common man. [applause] next, a discussion about politics and public spaces. After that, a look at the after math of the socalled arab spring. Then another chance to see president and mrs. Obama at the 11dication ceremony for the 9 memorial in new york city. On the next washington journal, Bloomberg News reporter ian katz talks about the legacy of treasury secretary gethner. Hen a discussion with Dennis Kelleher and stephen moore. Djerjian on ed card a discussion of syria and chemical weapons. Washington journal, live at 00 a. M. Can you recall who encouraged you to just think about government . Father. My mother and i put it in a book called 17 traditions, how they raised people. It was conversation around the dinner table. There was no looking at tv or listening to radio or looking like this. We talked. And they challenged us in a nice way and asked us questions and needled us and joked with us. And the bottom line was, freedom requires civic responsibility. You cant just say that doesnt mean they are free. And that is it. You have to engage in democracy. If you dont use your rights you will lose your rights. Discusses immelman his recent travels where public spaces have become the site of mass protests and activists movements. This is an hour and 20 minutes