Obama Goes To Ground Zero

Following the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama traveled to ground zero Thursday to pay tribute to 9/11 victims. Obama visited with their families, New York City emergency responders ? and he laid a wreath where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood. Melissa Block talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro, who traveled with the president.

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MELISSA BLOCK, host:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

(Soundbite of cameras clicking)

BLOCK: Just the clicks of cameras could be heard at ground zero in lower Manhattan today as President Obama placed a wreath to remember the victims, the heroes and the survivors of 9/11.

Following the death of Osama bin Laden, the White House says the president's trip to New York was intended to bring closure to a chapter in America's fight against terrorism.

NPR's Ari Shapiro was there with the president, and he joins me now.

And, Ari, before he went to ground zero, the president first made a stop at a firehouse in midtown Manhattan.

ARI SHAPIRO: That's right. The only public event on the schedule was the wreath-laying ceremony at ground zero, but the day began with a trip to both a firehouse and a police station.

The firehouse was near Times Square. It's known as the Pride of Midtown, and this is a station that lost 15 men during 9/11, more than any other firehouse in the city.

And the president spoke just for a few minutes off the cuff. He said the death of bin Laden sends a message around the world and here at home that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say. And he also tried to bring a message of unity during the events in New York today.

As part of that message, he traveled with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican who was mayor of New York during 9/11, and he said that making sure justice was done is something that transcended political party.

BLOCK: And then, the president made his way down to ground zero. Tell us about what happened there.

SHAPIRO: Well, there was a very different tone. You know, it was, as you mentioned, an entirely silent event. It was almost an iconic American scene: this beautiful day, puffy white clouds, officers standing at attention. The president walked up and placed a wreath under a tree that survived the collapse of the World Trade Center and has now grown to 30 feet tall.

There was also a girl standing there, a 14-year-old named Payton Wall, who had written a letter to President Obama. He read the letter on Monday night in which this girl described what it was like living without her father who died 10 years ago on 9/11.

He wanted her to be there, and her mother was there. He walked up to her, and he gave each of them a hug.

And then after the wreath-laying ceremony, he met in private with other family members of those who died on 9/11.

BLOCK: And, Ari, a carefully calibrated decision not to have the president make a major speech at ground zero, right?

SHAPIRO: That's right. It was a decidedly low key tone, and, you know, when President Obama decided yesterday not to release the photographs of Osama bin Laden in death, he said he didn't want to look like he was doing a victory lap or look as though he was spiking the ball.

And I think the same could be said of today. It was a very somber day even though this is marking the death of the man who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

President Obama constantly reminded everyone that this is not the end for the people who continue to live without the loved ones who died on that day, and it is not the end for the service members, military officials and others who are on the frontlines continuing to fight every day.

BLOCK: Which brings us to the president's trip tomorrow. He'll be going to speak to troops at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and there's more news that's coming out today about just what that visit will involve.

SHAPIRO: That's right. This afternoon, we learned that in Kentucky, President Obama will also meet with members of the Navy SEAL team that conducted that raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. Needless to say, the press will not be allowed in that meeting.

But there will be a public speech to troops at Fort Campbell where the president is not expected to make any news, which in some way is news in and of itself, because there has been a lot of pressure on President Obama to accelerate the timetable for pulling troops out of Afghanistan now that Osama bin Laden is dead.

But the White House has said he is going to stick with the original plan. He's not going to pull troops out any sooner. The plan right now involves beginning troop withdrawals this summer with the last combat troops leaving in 2014.

And President Obama tomorrow is going to speak to some of those people who he is sending into harm's way and explain why he thinks that's the right thing to do.

BLOCK: That's NPR's White House correspondent Ari Shapiro traveling with President Obama today.

Ari, thanks very much.

SHAPIRO: You're welcome, Melissa.

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Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/05/136030432/obama-goes-to-ground-zero?ft=1&f=1014

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