CBS News Announces Coverage Plans To Mark 50th Anniversary Of JFK Assassination
NEW YORK (CBSLA.com) — CBS News plans extensive coverage -- across a variety of their shows -- to commemorate the 5oth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
The coverage will include archival footage from the day as well as the unforgettable moment when Walter Cronkite broke into a live broadcast of "As the World Turns" to announce the president had been shot.
Cronkite, who at first was just heard in a breaking news bulletin, would announce -- his eyes filling with tears -- that the president was dead.
Shows taking part in the anniversary coverage include "CBS This Morning," "The CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley," "Face the Nation," "CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood" and a new prime-time special, "As It Happened: John F. Kennedy 50 Years" (airing Nov. 16. from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.).
"As It Happened" is produced by the makers of "48 Hours" and will be hosted by Bob Schieffer. The program will look at how the four days surrounding the assassination changed America, as well as TV news forever. The show will also examine the continual debate about whether there was a conspiracy to kill the young president and, if so, who was involved?
The following day on "Face the Nation," host Schieffer (50 years ago a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) will recount his personal experiences from that period, including the first interview with Marguerite Oswald, the mother of the accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. He will anchor the broadcast live from Dallas.
"CBS This Morning" will look back at eyewitness interviews and rare photos of the day. The show will also look at Kennedy's lasting legacy.
Also on Nov. 17, "CBS Sunday Morning" will examine what JFK continues to mean to the country, along with the Camelot mystique and how the city of Dallas is still trying to shake the negative images left from that time.
Scott Pelley will anchor the evening news live from Dallas on Nov. 22. During the week, the program will feature an interview with Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent (now 80) who famously climbed on the back of the president's limo after the assassination.
Throughout the week, CBS Radio News will also broadcast remembrances and special reports from several correspondents, including Peter Maer, Dan Raviv and Barry Bagnato, who will report from Dallas on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22. CBS Radio News will also broadcast special reports throughout the anniversary day.
CBSNEWS.com will stream original CBS News coverage in real time. The stream will cover the four-day period following the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald's slaying captured on live TV, and the president's funeral. Viewers will get to relive the extraordinary moments from Dallas, New York, Washington and around the world as Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, Harry Reasoner, Charles Kuralt, Roger Mudd and others reported the tragedy.
