Return to Transcripts main page

Breaking News

Court Refuses to Halt Creation of World War II Memorial in D.C.

Aired June 07, 2001 - 10:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We've got some breaking news out of Washington.

Let's go now to our Jeanne Meserve, who is standing by -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, it has to do with that very controversial WWII memorial which is slated to be built on the National Mall. You'll recall that on Memorial Day, President Bush signed legislation which appeared to clear the way for construction, appeared to do away with any further judicial review.

Well, two groups who opposed the construction of that lawsuit went back to court. The National Coalition to Save Our Mall and WWII Veterans to Save the Mall went to court asking for a temporary injunction. What they wanted was to see no construction contract signed. They felt if anything did go forward it would hurt possibility of any further judicial review.

This morning U.S. district Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. has ruled against them. He will not grant a temporary restraining order. Right now you're looking at some animation of the proposed design. Opponents of this plan say that the design itself is too grandiose, that it doesn't fit on the National Mall. They also have been extraordinarily upset with the citing of this.

It will be located, as you can see in this animation, because the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. They felt this was very disruptive to a highly used public space. They have wanted to see it stopped. They have been hoping that they could press forward, despite the legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president, with an environmental review by the National Park Service. They wanted them to look at the environmental impact of building it, where it was going to be cited, also, the effect on the National Mall. But the judge saying this morning they cannot have a temporary injunction. He told them that the coalition was unlikely to prevail in its lawsuit and would not be harmed if construction went ahead and proceeded on schedule.

Now back to you in Atlanta -- Donna?

HARRIS: Well, Jeanne, Leon here. By the way, just real quickly, do you know whether or not there were any other cases pending now that may be in the way of this whole thing going through? MESERVE: Well, this particular group has talked about exploring all possible legal options. We're still reviewing what's come out of court this morning. It is not clear at this juncture exactly what further avenues they can pursue. But you can bet that if there are any, they're going to travel down them. They are adamant that they do not want to see this memorial built where it's slated to be built on the National Mall -- Leon?

HARRIS: Got you. Got you. Thanks, Jeanne. We'll talk with you a little bit later on this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com