in dallas. he died of a gunshot wound in the brain. i have no other details regarding the assassination of the president. >> from dallas, texas, the flash, apparently official, president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time, 2:00 eastern standard time, some 38 minutes ago. >> and good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. at this hour, all eyes are on dallas where today that city remembers the faithful day with a solemn ceremony. we'll bring all that to you live. fifty years ago today president and mrs. kennedy had just arrived in that city. at a historion wrote as they were heading to dallas the last of the clouds cleared. it was what aides on the plane called kennedy weather. wrote, seemed as if it was going to be a kennedy day. as the president and first lady were greeting the expectant crowd along the fence line, they could not know the fate that was awaiting them only 10 miles away. >> the white house press secretary has just announced that president kennedy died at approximate

>> a flash from dallas. two priests who were with president kennedy say he is dead. >> bullet wounds, this is the latest information we have from dallas. i will repeat with the greatest regret two priests who were with president kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds. >> malcolm, the assistant press secretary was filling in for the regular press secretary and then he had to draw himself up to give the most fateful announcement that a press secretary might have ever had to give. >> all the cameras were rolling and i remember he put his fingers like this on the desk and pressed very hard to stop his hands trembling. >> john f. kennedy died at approximately 1:00 central standard time today here in dallas. he died of a gunshot wound in the brain. i have no other details regarding the assassination of the president. >> the people standing here are stunned just as all of us are beyond belief, but the president of the united states is dead. >> all over the world, people are going to remember all their lives what

and dallas residents resented it. >> reporter: lee harvey oswald was not from dallas or of dallas but the perception proved hard to shake. >> it's been decades of continuous reminders this is the city that killed presidents. no, it's not, one guy did. time moves on. you know, people begin to not blame the city but to blame the right person. and especially after the warren commission report to blame other things. >> dallas mayor michael rollins. >> when people think today about dallas, they think about business and what they do down here. >> it's become the mecca for curious and sentimental. >> and continues to fascinate to the extreme with some running into the street to stand on the spot where the president was assassinated. most recognize the downtown sky line as a image of success and glamour, but for some it will never obscure the dark day in dealey plaza. >> do you think of jfk? >> yes, that's probably the first thing that comes to mind. >> reporter: always? >> always. >> i'm not sure we ever want to escape history. it's something you talk to your kids about. >> reporter: alex wi

a rainy and ray say in dallas. this area below freezing you could see the rain falling and freezing on contact. that's the area of concern now. there's warm air here across the southeast, even as far up as philadelphia and new york, temperatures into the 50s. some very cold arctic air. there is a little thin line. and that is the very cold arctic air. we will talk about this arctic blast this weekend. now the outlook for this weekend, talking about the great lakes, getting lake effect snows by saturday. there is this cold arctic air. the temperatures drop and the winds will pick up. sunday it moves across the mid-atlantic in the northeast, some very cold air there. high-pressure and low-pressure, you can getting wind chills. this is what it would feel like. that is this weekend both saturday and sunday. see that temperature drop in chicago. 29 down to 26. lows in the teens. wind chills below zero. 40s and upper 30s monday and tuesday in the midwest. but wind chills easily down to about zero in new york. wednesday h

from dallas. it is the first word we have that they are, in fact, still alive. it is the first thing definitive that we have. we can only give you as much as we have. it is that both men were wounded by an assailant, or assailants. it is not known who did it, or why. and it was reported from dallas that it was not determined whether the secret service and dallas police returned the gunfire that hit the president and the texas governor. there is no word that the assailant or assailants have been captured. the focus is understandably on the president and not so much on those who committed this act. >> i have some additional information that would indicate that the secret service men guarding the president had no chance to return fire. this item says reporters about five cars length behind the chief executive heard what sounded like three births of -- bursts of gunfire. the damage was done. the president was slumped over in the backseat of the car face down. and governor connally, after slumping to t

>> a flash from dallas. two priests who were with president kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds. this is the latest information we have from dallas. i will repeat with the greatest regret, two priests who were with president kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds. >> malcolm kildovv, the assistant president secretary, was filling in for the regular press secretary. then he had to draw himself up to give the most fateful announcement that a press secretary might have ever had to give. >> all the cameras were rolling. and i remember he put his fingers like this on the desk and pressed very hard to stop his hands trembling. >> president john f. kennedy died at approximately 1:00 central standard time today here in dallas. he died of a gunshot wound in the brain. i have no other details regarding the assassination of the president. >> the people standing here are stunned just as all of us are beyond belief. but president of the united states is dead. >> all over the world, people are going to remember all

in dallas. police are allowing pedestrians to walk in front of the white house but not to congregate there. crowds contain the outside the white house, and to surround the white house on all sides. traffic is moving normally and there are no other changes. we are also told that an assistant to vice president lyndon johnson has also arrived at the white house, torch -- george reedy. there is not a lot of word coming from the white house press office. pressrst word was that a officer was asking to enter. the mood there was one of utter shock, utter disbelief. the press house come at the white house press office is jammed with reporters waiting for some bits of information, waiting for any kind of word on what is going to happen next. to repeat, most of the news from here is being received from dallas. there's no late information on what the next the elements will be. -- developments will be. the crowd is still gathering outside the front of the white house. across pennsylvania avenue. the weather

wvaptv going to switch to in dallas. >> just moments ago, parties and dallas took -- authorities in dallas took a young man into custody. [no audio] >> as you can appreciate, communications facilities, as you just saw, win-win and -- went in and out. the arrangements for that switch to fort worth were made entirely hastily under conditions of extreme pressure, which is why the picture came and the audio didn't, and when the picture dropped, the audio came in. again, to recap to the best of our knowledge at the moment, both kennedy and texas governor john connally have been wounded by an assassination attempt in dallas, texas. they were moving in a motorcade through the downtown section of the city. was ridingt mcneil in the motorcade. mrs. kennedy was not injured at all. she was riding in between the two men. a white man was seen with a gun in a building about a block from the car. had areports that he high-powered rifle. no indication yet that he is who fired shots -- that the person who fired shots at the president and governor connally has been found. president has been given blood tran

dallas was wounded itself. not just when the president was killed but dallas was wounded over this event and took many years to heal. >> did you have more that was intended in design? or was it just that moment, that purative six seconds in american history? >> as reporters, we tend to concentrate on what is happening now and not thinking necessarily 1 or 2 days down the road. i think we were sufficiently overwhelmed with the facts and trying to determine what was going o. and where was oswalt. he was finally brought in and we saw him four times in that period and he brushed shoulders with me and other reporters as we jockeyed on the position of a narrow hallway as they brought them down in to the interrogation room. we were caught up in a copunnedium of events that we couldn't predict and he was shot. >> and you were at that scone as well. and you were on the phone in a hallway as oswalt came in and he was shot and tell us about your impregs for that moment. abc had a great affiliate and there was one remote u

in dallas. this is the picture of the president and mrs. kennedy. >> i think the camera -- is that -- >> hold it up over here. this is the picture of the first family of the president and mrs. kennedy, rather, arriving in dallas. only a couple of hours before the assassination attempt. it was reported he was badly shot by the shooting. the doctors are trying to keep him as quiet as possible and he is under heavy secret service protection. it was also noted that throughout the trip in texas where the president and vice president have been the same motorcade, they have been kept in separate cars, a precaution against just such an attempt as was obviously made today. >> i'm red -- i read an excerpt from the speech the president gave this morning at a breakfast. people rose innovation after the speech and a few minutes later, the president said he felt like he did in france two years ago when he identified himself as the man who accompanied this is kennedy through paris. >> excuse me just a moment,

>> a flash from dallas. two priests who were with president kennedy say he is dead. >> bullet wounds, this is the latest information we have from dallas. i will repeat with the greatest regret two priests who were with president kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds. >> malcolm, the assistant press secretary was filling in for the regular press secretary and then he had to draw himself up to give the most fateful announcement that a press secretary might have ever had to give. >> all the cameras were rolling and i remember he put his fingers like this on the desk and pressed very hard to stop his hands trembling. >> john f. kennedy died at approximately 1: 00 central standard time today here in dallas. he died of a gunshot wound in the brain. i have no other details regarding the assassination of the president. >> the people standing here are stunned just as all of us are beyond belief, but the president of the united states is dead. >> all over the world, people are going to remember all their lives what

we want to take you now to dallas. heidi zhou castro joins us from dealey plaza to tell us about the events scheduled there, and it is a huge event there as thousands are expected to attend. >> that's right. dell. as the ceremony is about to start, so is the sleet. a very cold and windy day for dallas. nothing like the bright sun shown over dallas in 1963, but as you can see this is not keeping the crowd at home. 14,000 wanted to be here today, they applied to be here, and only 5,000 were picked in a lottery, randomly to be here, and they are not letting this chance escape them to be here. no umbrellas are allowed for security reasons. the city of dallas is putting a lot of emphasis on making this event flawless after having gained the reputation of being, quote, the city of hate, following the assassination 50 years ago. this is a chance for the city to come full circle and show the world how far it has come. >> and heidi you did something fascinating earlier today. you showed us your perspective and where -- the book

in the oak cliff section of dallas. then the manager of a shoe store saw the suspect walk into the texas theater. >> someone has been arrested in one of the downtown theaters. they don't know if it was the man who shot the policeman or the person who actually shot president kennedy. >> police suddenly jumped this man and dragged him out of theater. grabbed this man trying to run with him. they shouted murder and the officers hustled him into the car and ran away just as fast as they could. >>> as we mentioned a short while ago, a number of arrests have been made in dallas in the wake of president kennedy's death. we have scenes of one of those arrests in the downtown area. this was just after a dallas policeman was shot in the vicinity of a downtown movie house. >> bentley. >> paul bentley. >> how did you approached him? >> as he approached him, the man hit mcdonald in the face with his left hand and reached for the pistol with his right hand and as he reached for his pistol, i grabbed him with two or three other office

dallas is determined it won't define a city. alan fisher, al jazeera, dallas, texas. >>> thank you for watching al jazeera. i'm del walters. stay tuned for special coverage of remembering jfk 50 years later. we're going to go live to dallas, texas where a memorial service is set to begin. >> the powers that be at home and around the world... >> not only do they not get compensation but you don't even have to explain why? >> well thats exactly what i said. >> we question authority. >> so you said we could get access... >> that's enough! >> ... and those affected. >> investigative journalism at it's toughest. >>> welcome back to a special edition of al jazeera america. i'm del walters. remembering john f. kennedy 50 years later. >> president kennedy has been assassinated. it's official now. the president is dead. >> a half century later the nation pauses to remember one of its darkest hours. the death of a beloved president. it is the first official ceremony to mark the event in dallas. the memorial set to coincide with the time a

brian williams reporting tonight from dallas. >>> and good evening from dallas, texas. we're in dealey plaza just across from the sixth floor window in the texas schoolbook depository building where three shots were fired 50 years ago today that changed the course of american history. and here in the shadow of that very building it was a perfectly awful day. 35 degrees, rain and wind, perfectly matching how dark it felt to be here today. and going back 50 years ago tonight, by this time of night, right now, air force one had just landed back in washington, d.c. carrying the president's casket, his widow jacqueline kennedy and the new president, lyndon johnson. most americans were home for the day. schools and offices let out early, and millions by this time were huddled around their television sets where they would remain transfixed, watching the coverage on and off for the next four days. here now is how david brinkley started off this broadcast on this very night 50 years ago. >> good evening. the essential facts are these. president kennedy was murdered in dallas, te

as do we here in dallas. but we're fortified by the knowledge that we have always had big goals and big aspirations in this city. set by our founding fathers like john nili brian and george dealy, the namesake of this plaza. reenergized by mayor eric johnson, the mayor who led dallas in the post assassination years. these five decades have seen us turn civic heartbreak into hard work. they've seen us go from youthful invincibility to existential vulnerability to greater maturity as a city and a community. on the one-year anniversary of the assassination, the late rabbi eli -- levi ohland of temple emanueiman iman yell, ga voice to dal lease's communal pain unleashed on that day. rabbi ohland said then "contrary to the impassioned judgment of that horrible moment, the city is not guilty of the crime. but in those awesome days following the assassination, the most powerful searchlight man possesses was focused on this city. every flaw, every raw spot, every were and every uncleanness was put under a microscope

ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. >> and we will be taking you live to dallas as the city honors president john f. kennedy on this 50th anniversary of his assassination. stay with us. we'll be right back. [ lane ] are you growing old waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula. to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. i can't get this place it's such a peaceful place. it's so full of life. a place where the artisic beat of the big city, but the flavor of a traditional mexican town. ♪ imagine being on the green in the middle of the sea. some things can't be explained, you have to experience them. vallarta-nayarit, live it to believe it. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my emplo

johnson is sworn in in dallas and remaining for the moment in dallas. the president's brother and senator, ted kennedy, the sister, the wife of sergeant shriver are on their way to massachusetts. the family is from boston. it's assumed they're going to be with the parents of the president. the last worder with had on mrs. kennedy is she was at the hospital when the president died. she probably is not at the hospital. her privacy is being respected as well it should be under these circumstances. millions johnson is no doubt with the new president johnson. >> some members of the family paid their respects on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. among them is gene kennedy smith, a sister. she was joined by her son, william kennedy smith, and other family members. >> today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of president john f. kennedy. next, ceremony from boston at the j.f.k. presidential library museum. it starts with governor duval patrick reading a portion of the new frontier speech. this is about 45 minutes. ♪ >> a man may die. nation

in dallas with j.d. tippet then. >> he was 39 years old and had heard there was a call out for a suspect and he saw a man walking down the street, didn't know who he was. but it was oswald, he pulled up with him and that's when oswald shot him four times and went a couple of blocks away to the texas theater and that's where they found him and took him into custody. my widow said, my husband was killed by the killer of the president and that helped police got oswald in custody sooner. >> mark, thank you. >>> on that november day journalist sid davis was reporting for a radio station in dallas, he was behind the president's motorcade. i asked him what he heard and saw as the shooting started. >> i looked out the window to see the crowds that had gathered a moment ago. holding their kids on their shoulders to glimpse history. i saw women running in their bare feet, i saw a motorcycle cop trying to go up the grassy knoll, he heard what he thought was a ricochet, he almost fell off his motorcycle. i saw anoth

rained in dallas half a century agree. the sun was bright enough to see the pink dress and the top down and the president exposed in the car. a rainy day in dallas would pass into history and john f. kennedy would continue his term and go into a second term perhaps. for better or worse we would be living his legacy instead of marking his murder half a century later. ♪ ♪ >>> tapping this morning john f. kennedy's grave. there was a wreath laid not far from where brothers ted and bobby lie. she's 85 years old, the last surviving sibling. had he lived this long he would be 9 6 years old. remembrances across the city today. in ireland, as well. in dilly plaza a outpouring of affection for a president so many texans viewed with suspicion in 1963 but so many others flocked to see. as the governor's wife told the president, well, mr. president, you can't say dallas doesn't love you. moments later, shots rang out. this is how millions of americans 50 years ago to the day experienced the moments that followed. >> president kenn

the dallas police trying to keep them back. this is great for the people and makes the egg shells thinner for the secret service. >> the trip had gone terrifically well in texas. pretty hard to write a script for it going any better. >> thousands will be on hand for that motorcade now, which will be downtown dallas. >> a number of my classmates were gone. they were at the parade. my father had been invited to have lunch with kennedy at the trade center. there was a mood, a climate of excitement. >> the speech of president kennedy will be broadcast. stay tuned for the president's speech on 570 radio. ♪ ♪ motorcade of president kennedy in downtown dallas. >> police radios are carrying that the president has been hit. >> the hospital has been advised to stand by for a severe gunshot wound. >> this is walter cronkite in the newsroom and there has been an attempt on the life of president kennedy. ck a little bit? is it all right now? is this all right? ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce the chief camera man and assi

>> yes, i do. >> is he from dallas? >> yes. >> who is he? >> i couldn't tell you. >> do you know what kind of business he happens to be in? >> i wouldn't want to say. >> right. >> dallas city hall is normally a public building, but today it was really under armed guard. >> this a confirmed report as to who did the shooting? >> as far as i know. >> vic robertson from city hall reports that jack ruby, the owner of the carousel which is a bar in dallas did the shooting. >> my statement will be very bri brief. oswald expired at 1:07 p.m. he died at 1:07 p.m. we have arrested the man, the man will be charged with murder. >> who is he? >> the suspect's name is jack rubenstein, i believe, he goes by the name of jack ruby. >> and here at associated press a still picture of the moment, the split second as the shot was fired. this is the man dallas police have identified as jack rubenstein, and this of course is lee harvey oswald. you see the gun in the hand of ruby and just about to be fired. >> i know my own feelings were -- and i think the were wid

date line dallas. dallas police, shots were fired at the motorcade of president kennedy in downtown dallas. >> police radios are carrying that the president has been hit. >> parkland hospital has been advised to stand by for a severe gunshot wound. >> this is walter cronkite in our newsroom and -- there has been an attempt on the life of president kennedy. want me to move back a little bit? is it all right now? is this all right? ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce the chief camera man and assistant news director of wfaa television. this is burt ship. burt, we brought the people pretty much up to date. would you tell them exactly what you know as of this point? >> jay, i was standing at the trade mart waiting his arrival there. all of a sudden, we saw them approaching. they didn't slow down, matter of fact they were going 70, 80 miles an hour past us and i jumped in the police car and went to parkland. these two men came running in, one of them had a large -- appeared to be a machine gun an

dallas is coming full circle, dell. >> heidi zhou castro live in dallas. we turn from heidi to mike viqueira in washington. mike they are following events closely there as well. >> they are. first of all you see an honor corps lining the white house behind me. they are here for the arrival of the king of morocco. but at this hour, the president is in a way observing the legacy of john f. kennedy. he is on the telephone with peace corps volunteers in tanzan tanzania. and everyone knows that his brother created the peace corps. earlier on monday, the president joining former president bill clinton and their spouses, making the trip across the potomac over the memorial bridge to the eternal flame where john -- john f. kennedy was laid to rest. and this is how most people got their information in 1963, and it really does send a chill down one's spine when you can appreciate, when you read these accounts, the grief, the shock, the disbelief, really, the chaotic questions surrounding the line of succession. the new president lyndon johnson was set to address con

>> a flash from dallas. two priests who were with president kennedy say he is dead. >> of bullet wounds. this is the latest information we have from dallas. i will repeat with the greatest regret, two priests who were with president kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds. >> malcolm chilledoff the assistant press secretary was filling in for the regular press secretary and he had to draw himself out to give the most fateful announcement a press secretary might ever have to give. >> all the cameras were rolling and i remember he put his fingers on the desk and pressed very hard to stop his hands tremblinging >> john f. kennedy died at approximately 18:00 central standard time today here in dallas. he died of a gunshot wound in the brain. >> slow it down. >> i have no other details regarding the assassination of the president. >> the people standing here are stunned just as all of us are beyond belief. that the president of the united states is dead. >> all over the world, people are going to remember all th

we are there in dallas. this is a major milestone for a city that became known as the city of hate after the assassination. what do they have planned? >> it certainly is a mile tone for dallas. here we're having a solemn and dignified ceremony in the words of the mayor, starting at 11:30 central time here. at 1230, when the president was fatally shot, the city will mark with a moment of silence and bells ringing throughout dallas. as you pointed out, del, this is an effort by the city not only to commemorate this day 50 years ago, but also to prove to the nation and to the world which will have its eyes on that dallas once again, that the city is no longer deserving of the dark reputation it earned as a result of the assassination. >> they have made changes lately in the plaza where j.f.k. was assassinated. what type of changes are we talking about? >> well, was, there's the expected renovations leading up to this event, the new grass, new fountains. what's notable is what's been taken away. 2x's, until mond

kennedy slain in dallas street. you know, the last several decades, frankly, a lot of hate has been directed toward the city of dallas and the state of texas, for that matter. a dark cloud has really hung over this city for the last 50 years after what happened here. some of the newspaper headlines on that day read texas killed kennedy. so the purpose be of today's memorial is clearly twofold, not only to remember the fallen president and pay tribute to him, but to also help the city of that's and the people of texas continue -- of dallas and the people of texas continue to mourn and move forward. you know, in his short time in office jfk helped found the peace corps, he expanded the space program to get ahead of the russians, he likely prevented a nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis, he gave americans hope. and that is what is till -- still talked about today with his legacy. but as with any leader, the 35th president of the united states had some failures, too, in office. who could forget the bay of pigs dis

but today, dallas took a major step toward coming to terms with its grim history. cnn is in dallas. how did the city mark this important day? >> reporter: well, it was fascinating. in the shadows of the school book depository, the sixth floor window above elm street, the final street where president john f. kennedy and jacqueline kennedy were driving on their way to give a speech here in dallas on november 22nd, 1963, this is where the president's life ended. the city of dallas came together today, this afternoon, and on the very moment that his life ended, they paid tribute to his life and legacy and what president kennedy meant to this country. ♪ oh, beautiful for spacious skies ♪ >> reporter: it took 50 years but at last, an official ceremony on the very spot where president kennedy was assassinated, at the exact moment gunshots rang out across dealey plaza five decades ago. today, bells tolled as a crowd of 5,000 stood in somber reflection. >> we watched the nightmarish reality that in our front yard, our president had been taken from us. taken from his family, taken from th

in dallas, texas, three shots were fired at president kennedy's motorcade in downtown dallas. >> it was a bulletin that changed america because from here on the sixth floor. texas school book repository in dallas, 50 years ago this week, a lone gunman pointed a $21 mail order rifle through this window and shot and killed the president of the united states while his motorcade was passing below. it was an easy shot. today on "face the nation" we'll devote our broadcast to that event, the legacy of our 35th president, john f. kennedy and the impact that have weekend on america. we'll talk to lucy johnson whose father was sworn in within hours of hits death. we'll hear from reporters who covered the story, of the "dallas morning news" and mike of the associated press. and ronald jones a park land hospital doctor who treat the president and lee harvey oswald that weekend. we'll put it all in context with historian, author of "kennedy's last 100 days." the university of virginia author of "the kennedy half century" and douglas brinkley. plus, making news at the wall street journal and the ken

why did dallas policemen run up there? because somebody thought they heard something up there over the overpass at the top of the grassy noel. and where where? there is conspiracy theories that posited another gunman. grass owe knoll and the single bullet theory and all this stuff. i assume that dallas policemen were as experienced as anybody could be in hearing gunshots echoing off buildings in an urban atmosphere. somebody heard something that made them run up there and that's all i can contribute. i haven't seen anything that is real evidence of a conspiracy. >> woodruff: back in washington just minutes after oswald's death in dallas president kennedy's flag-draped casket entered the rotunda of the u.s. capitol. the following day, an estimated one million people lined the streets of washington as the state funeral procession wound its way from the capitol to the white house. to st. matthew's cathedral. and finally to arlington cemetery. >> for three days all my emotions were frozen. it was, oh, god, what a story? how do

it is interesting that dallas is going to mark the 50th anniversary. they have ever done a ceremony this big before. in a way they have tried to push it away to distance themselves from the pain and reputation it brought here, but now dallas is ready to move on. messages of love across dallas in 65 locations, an attempt to escape the shadow of one of america's darkest days and the killing of a president. more than 20,000 people in total asked to contribute to redefine the world view of a place. >> the connection between the kennedy assassination and dallas will never be erased. we intend to change that narrative a little bit so that in the scope of talking about that, the world knows that within dallas there were thousands and thousands and thousands of people who believe that love and cam passion thrive here. >> reporter: now they are trying to make the plaza look more like 1963 with restored street lamps even the infamous grassy knoll has had a makeover. for so long many tried to forget the day that john f. kennedy came to town. here preserved behind

the president's arrival in dallas. >> huge day in dallas. people say presidential visits are routine. they're not routine in the city where the president goes. certainly wasn't routine in dallas that day. my assignment that day was to cover the arrival of the kennedys at love field and stay there and cover the departure. the kennedys were only going to be in dallas for two or three hours. >> and what happened as things evolved and you were reassigned and got to the police station and you talked to lee harvey oswald. >> i talked to lee harvey oswald after word had come there had been shots at the motorcade. i was sent -- i got through to the city desk. they told me to go to parkland. i went by there. we already had a reporter there. they said go on to the police station. i had been there just a very short time when they brought in this man, lee harvey oswald. they had arrested him. they were moving him from office to office there on the detectives' floor. the place was chaos. part of the chaos were people like me, reporters hanging out. and h

we are in dallas and he joins us now. a painful, poignant day. >> indeed, a very wet and windy and blustery day as well. had the weather been like this 50 years ago in 1963 -- the weather was bright, and that is why it -- they did not use the top on the limousine. they made their way into the plaza, in front of the texas school book depository. this is where kennedy was killed. our north american editor has been considering the meaning of that traumatic day. >> a president who offered optimism in an age of uncertainty was murdered here, and in the aftermath of the assassination, dallas was called the city of hate. still struggling to make sense of what happened. a man whod in awe of literally told us to reach for the moon, though he would not live to see us achieve that goal. >> america's youngest president and its first catholic seemed to offer a fresh vision for a country that was changing fast. he and his wife had enchanted most of america. this was intended to charm the state of texas. >> something has happened in the

and dallas residents resented it. >> reporter: lee harvey oswald was not from dallas or of dallas, but the perception proved hard to shake. >> it's just been decades of continuous reminders that, oh, this is the city that killed presidents. no, it's not! one guy did. >> time moves on. you know, people began to not blame the city but to blame the right person. and especially after the warren commission report, to blame other things. >> reporter: but dallas bore that branding for a decade until 1972, when the dallas cowboys won their first super bowl championship and created the image as america's team. that was followed by the hit tv show "dallas" which captivated millions with its image of wealth and intrigue. >> dallas mayor michael rawlings. >> when people think today about dallas, they think about business and what we do down here. >> reporter: it's also the mecca for the curious and the sentimental. >> it's amazing to see the history. >> reporter: and continues to fascinate to the extreme with some running into the street to stand on the spot where the president was assassinated. m

childe collin in dallas. in our front yard our president had been taken from us, taken from his family, taken from the world. >> reporter: now of course the moment that marked the ceremony today was the moment of silence and the bells ringing all over the city of dallas. tony, those were emotional moments where people in the crowd i saw wiping away tears. in the mayor's own words was this day the climate fittingly having the rain weeping as well. take a listen. [ bells ringing ] >> reporter: now the city wanted this short and quick. the rain, unfortunately, aided in that. they had to bridge some of the portions including a planned flyover that would have ended the ceremony. crews are packing up as dallas commerates this occasion and moves forward. >> heidi, i'm curious. why hasn't there ever been a memorial at the plaza before today? >> i think it's the troubled relationship dallas has with this dark history. indeed, this is where the assassination occurred. but they know this is what draws many tourists to t