At Memorial, Obama Announces Giffords Opened Her Eyes

Obama at Tucson memorial: "Gabby opened her eyes" Speech transcript
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Please, please be seated. (Applause.) To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow. (Applause.) There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in yo...

Full video and text of President Obama's speech at the Arizona victims memorial
Today President Obama spoke at a memorial service for the twenty Victims of the Arizona shootings.  Six people were killed and fourteen were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a public event hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  To the left is a full video of the President Speech.  Below is a the full text of the Speech. "To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the p...

Obama's Full Remarks At The Tucson Memorial
The White House has released the full prepared remarks of President Obama at tonight's memorial in Tucson, Ariz.: To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hea...

Obama's Speech at the Tucson Memorial Service
Remarks of President Obama - As Prepared for Delivery At a Memorial Service for the Victims of the Shooting in Tucson, Arizona January 12, 2011 To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the ...

Text: President Obama's Tucson Memorial Speech
Tucson, Ariz. - "To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We jo...

Text of President Obama's speech at Tucson memorial service
To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in yo...

Tucson Memorial Service: Obama on God, broken hearts, hopes of a nation
 An eloquent and at times emotional President Barack Obama spoke of God, broken hearts and the hopes of a nation Wednesday evening. Speaking at the Tucson Memorial Service for the Arizona Shooting Victims Obama spoke of moral imagination and the healing of the American spirit. Last Saturday, outside of a strip mall in Tucson Arizona, Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including Federal Judge John Roll and nine year old  Christina Taylor Green, and wounded more than a dozen, includin...

Obama: Giffords opens her eyes
TUCSON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., has opened her eyes for the first time since she was critically wounded in Tucson, President Barack Obama said Wednesday. Addressing a memorial service for six people killed in the shooting Saturday, Obama said he had visited Giffords in the Hospital -- where she was still listed in critical condition -- and told the audience, "Gabby opened her eyes for the first time." GALLERY: The aftermath of the Rep. Giffords shooting Earlier i...

Obama Arizona Speech: FULL TEXT
TUCSON, Ariz. — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other “in a way that heals, not in a way wounds.” Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: “She knows we’re here, and she knows we love her.” In a...

Full Text of Obamas Remarks at Tucson Memorial Service
Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion - but his true passion was people.  As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that Veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks.  He died doing what he loved - talking with people and seeing how he could help.  Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross ...

Text of Obamas Tucson memorial service speech
To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We ...

Obama goes for unity in Tucson memorial speech
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other "in a way that heals, not in a way wounds." Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: "She knows we're here, and she knows we love her." In a memorably dramatic momen...

Obama Arizona Memorial Speech: FULL TEXT
As released by the White House, below are President Obama's prepared remarks for his Speech at the Arizona memorial: Click here for live updates from the event and here for more coverage from the Associated Press on the president's speech. To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pr...

Obama calls for an end to 'sharply polarised' US
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the memorial event, 'Together We Thrive: Tucson and America', at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona, on 12 January 2011. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Barack Obama has appealed for an end to the "sharply polarised" debate that has consumed American politics in recent years and provided the backdrop to the aftermath of the bloody Assassination attempt against a congresswoman in Tucson. Speaking at a memorial event i...

VIDEO: Obamas Speech In Tucson
It’s poignant and exactly what we needed right now to help unify and overcome. Please watch. The quote that stood out to me the most? “I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our Democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us — we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our Children’s expectations.” And just in case you can’t see the video, here’s the transcript… To the families of those we’ve lost;...

At Arizona memorial, Obama urges a discussion that 'heals'
TUCSON, Ariz. — President Barack Obama played the part of "healer in chief" Wednesday night, honoring the Victims of Saturday's Mass Shooting while seeking to calm an increasingly angry political debate, urging all Americans to stop pointing fingers and "make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.'' "I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand b...

Read the Text of Obama's Speech in Tucson
Following is a text of President Obama's prepared address on Wednesday to honor those killed and wounded in a shooting on Jan. 8, as released by the White House. To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say th...

President Obamas Inspiring Speech Asks Americans to be Worthy of the 9 Year Old Victims Image of Democracy
A balm does not heal but soothe an open wound and that’s what President Obama applied tonight over the hurt of a nation. At times his words soared - as he had done before in campaign speeches and or in the face of a moral challenge. But tonight the president seemed more the loving husband and father - reminding us that after sudden tragedies we survivors often ask: did I say I love you today? But deeper still, as the father of two daughters  - one of whom, Natasha, w...

Obama in Tucson
Here's the Speech: To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We...

Obama's Memorial Speech in Arizona (VIDEO)
"That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our Democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of Citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her Student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone sh...

OOPS: Politico: Obama speech undercuts federal charge for judges murder. It may have been inad
OOPS: Politico: Obama Speech undercuts federal charge for judge’s Murder. It may have been inadvertent, but a passage in President Barack Obama’s Speech to a memorial service it Tucson Wednesday night could undercut a criminal charge Federal Prosecutors have leveled at suspect Jared Loughner for the death of U.S. District Court Judge John Roll in a shooting rampage...

Read: Obamas Remarks at Tucson Memorial
Courtesy of Politico: To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the Students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow. There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the f...

Obama's Moving But Ultimately Unsatisfying Speech
[Guest post by Noam Scheiber:] Wednesday night’s Speech in Tucson could turn out to be the trickiest assignment of Obama’s presidency. Consider what the situation called for: Memorializing Victims, comforting a traumatized community, unifying a country left even more polarized by the tragedy, projecting optimism about the future. Perhaps most challenging of all, Obama had to draw some larger lesson from events that, we’re discovering, have little intrinsic meaning. But he had ...

In Memorial Address, President Obama Pleas For Discourse Worthy Of Those Lost
It was the keynote address at tonight’s memorial for the tragic events of last Saturday, and the first time President Obama was given a full platform to address the nation and attempt to heal its wounds. In a poignant address filled with scripture, the President individually honored those killed and injured, plead with Americans not to “turn on one another,” and offered the best news about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of the night: she opened her eyes today. “There is nothing ...

Obama: Rep. Giffords Opened Her Eyes
(Newscore) - Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) "opened her eyes for the first time," just moment after US President Barack Obama visited her in the Hospital, he revealed at Wednesday's memorial service in Tucson, Ariz., for the Victims of Saturday's shootings. Giffords' husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, told Obama it happened right after he left the room. "She knows we are here, knows that we love her and knows we are rooting for her through a difficult journey," Obama said. The president ...