A televised conversation between two former mayors whose terms were marked by terrorism will be part of the observance of the anniversary of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
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Oklahoma City's Ron Norick and New York's Rudy Giuliani will discuss how their cities responded to terrorism and tried to recover from it.
The program is presented by the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, which will host other events Thursday in conjunction with the bombing anniversary.
Norick was mayor when domestic terrorists blew up the federal building, a blast that claimed the lives of 168 people in what at the time was the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil.
Giuliani shepherded New York through the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked two commercial airplanes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Centers.
The two men are expected to share their views on leadership and dealing with large-scale disasters in the one-hour program moderated by Burns Hargis, chairman of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation.
The goal, organizers said, is to gain insights that might help other communities prepare for such disasters and recover from them.
The program, which begins at 11 a.m., will be broadcast by KFOR in Oklahoma City and nationally on C-SPAN.
Giuliani and Hargis also are scheduled to speak at the annual Remembrance Ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. They will be joined by Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett.
The ceremony will feature a reading of the names of the 168 people who died as a result of the bombing.
Admission to the memorial museum will be free on Thursday, courtesy of Cox Communications. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and the last visitors will be admitted at 5 p.m.
The National Park Service will offer special talks about the outdoor memorial at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. under the Survivor Tree.
The day will end with the presentation of the 2007 Reflection of Hope Award to Seeds of Peace, an organization dedicated to teaching young people about tolerance and peace.
