that was patrick downes, 30 years old, survivor of the marathon. he and his wife moved to a more accessible apartment because he lost his leg below the knee as did she. as an enduring statement of our commitment to peace. welcome back, this is "ronan farrow daily." we have live coverage of the ceremony and we'll take the much remarks from another survivor, coming up next is david yepez and his son luis, speaking about their experiences. let's take a listen. >> vice president biden, governor patrick, mayor walsh, mayor menino, first responders, and distinguished guests, today marks one year from when our lives were changed forever. a change that none of us wanted nor change we would wish on anyone else although each of our paths to recovery have been unique and we all travel at our own pace, we continue to move forward. today i will not focus on the past but be mindful of our successes and thank those that have helped us take our first steps and reclimb our first mountains and reclaim our lives. to the first responders, for running into harm's way and giving ugs the aid that we needed, to the doctors, surgeons and their staffs who completely gave of themselves to ensure that the most severely injured were given a chance to live again. to all law enforcement agencies who worked tirelessly and quickly to make our city secure again, to the physical therapists and counselors who continue to support us physically and emotionally to the boston athletic commission and countless others who gave us the strength to recognize each day as a new beginning and hope for a brighter tomorrow. thank you for your love, compassion and generosity. you have touched our hearts in a way that many times our gratitude could only be expressed through our tears of joy. [ applause ] >> thank you for your leadership during one of the city's darkest moments, you're symbols of strening and compassion. during the early days you gave us the opportunity to mourn, to grieve, and to reflect in private on boyleston street and through the creation of the one fund you immediately provided critical and much needed financial and emotional support. barbara thorpe, lori van dam and entire one fund staff, thank you for your tireless commitment to the survivors and families. you have been pro active in anticipating our needs, and are completely devoted to each and every one of us on a personal level. to the survivors although your journey has not been easy and the road is still long, your inner strength and determination and resolve displayed during the past 12 months have made you an inspiration to many. each step forward is a step away from the past and step towards a new tomorrow. thank you all for exemplifying the highest qualities in man kind and bless those that lost their lives as a result of this tragic event. be proud of what you've accomplished and be proud you've decided to take control of your life and be proud that you've chosen to live and know that each of you are making a difference in the lives of others. in the words of our president, barack obama, one year ago, stated that even when our heart aches, we summon the strength that maybe we didn't even know we had and we carry on and finish the race we finish the race because of who we are and we know that someone around the bend, a stranger, has a cup of water, around the bend someone is there to boost our spirits. and on that toughest mile, just when we think we've hit a wall, there will be someone there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. this day next year on the third monday, the world will return to this beautiful american city to run harder than ever to cheer louder than before for the 118th marathon and bet on it. president obama was right. here we are one year later, we're all boston strong and see you on monday. [ applause ] >> talking about their experiences being caught in the middle of the horrific bombing one year ago today. we heard from the son, david about his experiences and we heard from the father about the strength of boston. we're now about to hear from adrian haslet davis, a ballroom dancer who lost her lower leg. >> good afternoon. one year ago my husband, major adam davis, had just returned from afghanistan where he was fighting the war on terror uninjured. we talk a long walk into sunny boston and in a matter of seconds, our world was changed forever. it is difficult to believe that it has only been one year. it feels like only a few weeks and we have a long road yet to walk. i stand here today as a proud bostonyan, although adam and i moved to boston three short years ago, the city has stood by us and supported us and helped us heal. together we held each other in the face of terror and we grieved in the face of tremendous loss and we grew in the face of adversity. our survivor community is not something any of us have chosen to be a part of. yet we are just that, a community. there were many moments we could have not made it through had it not been for one another. we find peace in finding a shoulder to cry on and hand to hold in the crowd. we know just by eye contact what the other is feeling. i am thankful for our friendships. as i look back on this past year, i think of the lessons that we have learned and have had to relearn that no milestone is too small to celebrate, even walking into a nonhandycapped bathroom stalling for first time doing a happy dance. [ applause ] >> it's the little things moods are contagious, our first responders and surgeons and physical and mental therapists would not and will not let us fail. and their unwavering demotion to strength is why we stand here boston strong today. i have learned it is okay to not be okay. that we still have to let ourselves grieve. we can stay in bed even for a few days. yet it is that boston strong attitude that gets us back out. when we cannot find the strength to do it ourselves, we have those around us that lift us back up. my wish if i were allowed to grant one, is that we use this day, not as just a day of remembrance but a day of action. i wish that everyone who is facing adversity today would have the support that we have had. if anyone is wondering what they can do, what you can do, i would answer, look around. people in your community need your support. they need your patience and they need your time in dealing with similar situations such as ours. let april 15th be a day when we all work together to make this world a better place. the biggest lesson of all of the lessons that i have learned over this past year is that something in your life in anyone's life can go horrifically terribly wrong in a matter of seconds. yet, it is up to us to make every single second count after because believe me, they do. thank you. [ applause ] >> you've been listening to survivors tell their story adrian describing doing a happy dance the first time she walked into a nonhandicapped bathroom and the strength of the community and also it not to be strong all the time. it is an understandably difficult day in boston as the city remembers one of its darkest hours, the attack at the marathon's finish line one year ago today. we'll take a listen to a moment to the musical part of this event and we'll go live to vice president biden in just a few moments. ♪ that people come in our lives for a reason ♪ ♪ bringing something we must learn and we are led to those who help us most to grow ♪ ♪ if we let them and we help them in return ♪ ♪ well i don't know if i believe that's true ♪ ♪ but i know i'm who i am today because i knew you. like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun ♪ ♪ like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the woods ♪ ♪ who can say if i've been changed for the better but because i knew you ♪ ♪ i have -- >> that is ren ease king singing, beautiful musical number. obviously the responders gathering together, 3,000 guests and dignitaries gathered now. they are paying tribute to those who answered calls for help when the two bombs exploded. those who continue to fight back from the unthinkable are there. and those who lost their lives that day are remembered. today's tribute began with remembrances to the three who were killed and remarks from the man who led the city through that moment. >> this day will always be hard. to gather close to the finish line or or gather close to the place where our lives broke apart. will always be hard the part in all of us that wish it were someplace else. >> as we await the vice president's remarks on this day, let's go to nbc's ron mott live in boston's copley square. ron, tell ugs what is the feeling like in the city today? >> reporter: hey, there, ronan, a lot of emotions. a beautiful moving ceremony, a lot of emotions coursing through bost boston. three of them lost their lives on boyleston street and the fourth, the officer from m.i.t. this day is to honor and remember them and this is a day of triumph, a day of success, a day of overcoming for a lot of these survivors, 260 some odd people, some severely who clearly could have been among those who lost their lives if not for the heroism of spectators who leaped into action and first respondsers and firefighters and police officers and extraordinary teamwork at the hospitals that we saw that helped save a lot of lives. a lot of those folks are back here to say thank you as we've seen today. this is a day that people will always remember here in boston. patriot's day of course is the day we run the baoston marathon on monday. as we all know from those famous words about david ortiz, this is our city and i think there's a spirit of how dare you bring this kind of violence. we will not be broken. >> this is our city is a sent. that a lot of us are feeling. appreciate it. one year ago the finish line of the boston marathon became a symbol of carnage and pain. it's clearly something much different, a symbol of a city ha has shown so much strength through adversity. president obama paid tribute to the victims in a statement saying this, one year later we stand in awe of the men and women who continued to inspire us learning to stand, walk and dance and run again. joining me now is bruce mendleson, he was at the scene when the bombs went off and helped the injured and scott helmand, author of the book "the long mile home" and captain of the men's hockey team when it e defeated soviet union, miracle on ice and resident of boston. i want to start, bruce with your personal story. you were there when you heard the bombs. you help the hurt. what was the day like? take us inside that moment. >> that's right. i was right down the street, it's really emotional thing to be back here now, i haven't been back here since. i'm not an army medic, i received -- and that -- 20 years later when i was fortunate enough to be on the scene and save the life of a young student at northeastern, what mike and patrick and adrian said, this is a resilt yent city and we will overcome. that's the takeaway from that day for me at least personally. >> and bruce, after the brothers were identified and on the run, they killed an m.i.t. officer as well, sean collier. you have a connection to him, don't you? >> yes, i saw sean on thursday night and i used to work in washington, d.c., the national law enforcement officers memorial where all of the names of fallen law enforcement officers are indescribed. i saw sean and i was kidding with him, stay safe. he liked to work nights because that's when the action was. and you know, who would have known on our little campus that such a thing would have happened. it compounds the tragedy and makes me feel even more close to the whole episode. it was overwhelming, it's too much. for many other people in the city and area, it's almost too much tragedy. and so when you talk about group therapy, it's going to be 26.2 miles of therapy on monday and i'm going to run it. i can't wait. >> i want to come back to you on that because i think everyone felt it was too much tragedy and you are running again which is so moving to so many. i want to go to you, scott, in your book, you chronicled the apprehension of the brothers on the run and took another life. it was a pretty distinctive and i found quite chilly moment how you described their identification in footage during these events. tell us about that moment. >> yeah, i mean one of the great ironies of all of this, were something like this to have to happen, this is in some ways an ideal spot not just because of world class medical facilities nearby but because it is the busiest area sidewalk of the city. you have untolled numbers of security cameras pointed at that spot. investigators starting from monday night were poring through billions of pixels looking for something suspicious. it was early wednesday morning about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning that finally fbi headquarters they hit on dzhokhar tsarnaev, the younger suspect. there was something that was very chilling as you say. and that was they saw him put the back pack down and saup the explosion happen and unlike everybody else, he did not turn and react. he just kept walking to them that was a giveaway and that led to the break in the case. >> a chilling moment there of everyone reacting one way and one person in the crowd not reacting. there's been some reporting that federal authorities had enough information on the tsarnaev brothers beforehand they even went so far as to consult russian intelligence sources about it but didn't do anything. do you think they should have in light of all they knew? >> you know, i think, we've already seen a lot of hearings and investigations into this since the bombing. it's a natural thing that should happen. we should look at the possible intelligence failures and we know now that tamerlan may have been involved in this triple murder outside of boston in 2011. i think there are certainly missed opportunities, at least to pay closer attention to these guys, whether or not that would have prevented the bombing, i think is really hard to know. >> well, it's something we all hope we look forward to, time when we do look at the intelligence thoroughly to prevent this tragedy from happening again. mike, let's go to you now, you grew up in the boston area and went to boston university. you're a sports icon. this this is home to the red sox, bruins, many of those teams paid tribute to the victims and been involved in the recovery. does the unique sports culture boston has contribute to its resilience? >> no question. i think you know, see the reactions of the players, the response of the teams, the national anthem that was played at the bru inz game, to me, i've been to many places where the national anthem has been sung and it's been overwhelming, this is the greatest one i've ever seen when everybody start singing and when the red sox brought the world championship trophy and put it on the -- it was just unbelievable to see the response. that makes the city so great. today is a great day and yet a sad day. a great day as we honor the military and state police and responders and yet we pay tribute to the people that lost their lives and people who sacrificed limbs and so much damage that they have had. i think again, like you said to the question was about our city sports teams, you couldn't ask for a stronger city and better sports community than the city of boston. >> you still live in the area, of course, you even coach your own kids' hockey team. how do you see boston having changed since that day a year ago? >> you know what, boston has always been a great city and close city and has it become maybe even closer. our sports teams are value even more now as people see how important they are not only to the wins and losses but what the city means. i've always felt it's a great city and close city. but i think this maybe has made them even closer and made us all closer and made us all appreciate how fortunate we are to live in such a great place as boston. >> all right, thank you so much for that. thank all of you, appreciate your joining us. we're going to come back to you because we have more live coverage of the events today and we are again awaiting any moment now vice president's remarks at this tribute in boston as soon as they happen, we'll bring you those live. but first, up next, we are going to go to international news, the cold war may be over, but a in war that is not fully understood is unfolding and rach eting up to unheard of levels of tension in ukraine. what's at the heart of that crisis? we're going to go over a parlt of the world that we don't think about enough. stay tuned. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. and that's epic, bro, we've forgotten just how good good is. good is setting a personal best before going for a world record. good is swinging to get on base before swinging for a home run. [ crowd cheering ] good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it and do some experiments. ♪ so start your day off good with a coffee that's good cup after cup. maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop welcome back, developing news out of ukraine. a military crackdown, there are reports of gunfire and fighter jets flying overhead in eastern ukraine where government special forces have been deployed by helicopter in what they are calling an anti-terrorist special operation. it's an attempt to route the pro russia accept ra sifts who seized several towns throughout the region. his forces have retain an airport that had been claimed by those militia men, russia for its part is showing no signs of backing down. the russian foreign ministry says it is deeply concerned and a spokesman for vladimir putin says russian forces are on the ground in eastern ukraine as many are claims is an absurd thing to imply. as it appears yesterday that a phone call between president obama and president putin did little to calm the fears of european leaders. british foreign secretary william hague said today that russia has deliberately pushed ukraine to the brink and increased the risk of violent confrontation. this is a crisis that is spurring increasing calls for president obama to take action. on the hill we see more hawkish elements led by senator john mccain and the ukrainian american community calling for intervention, possibly military support for elements on the ground in ukraine, arming and training of opposition to some of these russian forces to prevent an invasion. that's an appealing idea at face value but history teaches us over and over again, when america rashly intervenes as we did for instance supporting afghanistan in 1980s, we unleash a genie hard to put back in the bottle. president obama waiting and exercising caution isn't necessarily sitting on his hands, it may be the caution we need right now. right now, we're going to say, president obama should hold the course. we'll bring you more of that story as it develops. first, coming up, vice president biden is expected to make tribute to the boston marathon bombing any moment now. we'll bring you that live when it happ