Obits

The AP reports that the Newseum in Washington, D.C. opens an exhibit on Nov. 20th that will reassemble "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert's office so that it will look exactly as it did the day of his passing:

NBC is donating the office furniture to the Newseum, and Russert's family is loaning the museum many of his belongings.

[Charles Overby, the Newseum's chief executive] said visitors will probably be surprised by all of the nonpolitical things in Russert's office that showed he was a normal person. The exhibit also will include snippets of Russert's biography and career as a newsman that propelled "Meet the Press" to the top of the ratings.

"There are many journalists in Washington who are respected," Overby said, "but not many who are both respected and liked across the country."

The father of the late Tim Russert, and grandfather of NBC News correspondent Luke Russert, Timothy Russert passed away today.

"While he was affectionately known to the world as 'Big Russ,' he carried no more important nor meaningful titles than those of father, grandfather, great-grandfather, patriot and friend," reads a statement from his family. "We warmly thank all those who were inspired by his life and his lessons."

In 2004, NBC's Washington Bureau Chief and moderator of "Meet the Press" Tim Russert wrote "Big Russ and Me, Father and Son: Lessons in Life." The book was a collection of personal stories of the lessons young Tim learned from his plainspoken, World War II veteran father. It became a New York Times Best Seller.

Russert, 85, passed away peacefully with his family at his side from natural causes.

Tim Russert preceded his father in death, June 13, 2008 of a heart attack while preparing for that Sunday's "Meet the Press."

Barbara Walters appeared on "Nightline" tonight with portions of her January interview with Patrick Swayze -- what turned out to be his last TV interview. At the end of her report, Cynthia McFadden announced the interview will air as a one-hour special. The Barbara Walters Special "Last Dance" airs tomorrow night at 10pmET/PT. Swayze died today at his California ranch after a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

This morning TVNewser attended the public memorial service for Walter Cronkite at Lincoln Center in New York City. The service included remarks from close friends including Andy Rooney and Bob Schieffer as well as major public figures including President Barack Obama who did not know Cronkite, and former President Bill Clinton, who struck up a friendship with Cronkite during what Clinton called a "tumultuous time" during his presidency.

The event was as much a history lesson as it was a remembrance and tribute. As Sony Chairman and former CBS News researcher-turned producer-turned president Sir Howard Stringer put it, "The history of broadcast journalism is the history of Walter Cronkite." But while Cronkite may represent a bygone era, the service also provided an opportunity for journalists to reflect on how Cronkite's standards will survive the changing media landscape

• Full story and more photos after the jump.

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TVNewser will be updating our Twitter from Lincoln Center today where we are spending the morning for the Walter Cronkite memorial service. We've embedded our feed on this page so you can can follow our coverage from here.

Outside at Lincoln Center, prior to the Walter Cronkite memorial service.

TVNewser editors Chris and Kevin are on the scene, and have spotted CBS's Les Moonves, Bob Schieffer, Morley Safer, Bill Plante, Rick Kaplan, Jeff Greenfield, and Erin Moriarty; former CBS News president Andrew Heyward; NBCers Steve Capus and Brian Williams; ABCers Diane Sawyer, Charlie Gibson, and Barbara Walters; and former The Insider host Pat O'Brien.

Attendees were asked to arrive early for the 10:30amET service "due to security concerns surrounding the appearance of President Obama at this event," according to a CBS press release.

President Obama has left the White House en route to the service, where he is scheduled to speak, along with former President Bill Clinton, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and others.

CBS will stream live coverage of the service on CBSnews.com, CBS.com, TV.com, and other sites as well. Chris and Kevin are providing updates today on Twitter, and will have a full report this afternoon.

Walter Cronkite passed away at the age of 92 on July 17.

> Update: Live streaming has begun at cbsnews.com. Spotted in attendance: Katie Couric, Dan Rather and Andy Rooney. Joanna Simon, who had been Walter Cronkite's companion in the last few years, is also there.

Next Wednesday, CBS will honor the legendary newsman Walter Cronkite with a special memorial at 10:30 AM in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. Friends, family, and colleagues will be in attendance and those delivering presentations include President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, son Chip Cronkite, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, CBS Corp President and CEO Leslie Moonves, CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus, CBS News' Katie Couric, Andy Rooney and Bob Schieffer, and NBC News' Tom Brokaw.

In addition, CBS has announced that, "A limited number of seats also will be made available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis via the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, starting at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, September 8."

For general public tickets, you can contact the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office at (212) 875-5079. Members of the media and former colleagues or acquaintances of Walter Cronkite requesting tickets should e-mail CronkiteMemorial@cbsnews.com.

Though two hours behind schedule, the procession for Sen Kennedy was met with large crowds and applause when it arrived at Capitol Hill around 6:20pmET. NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News had special live coverage of the motorcade appearing at the U.S. Capitol and the subsequent speeches.

Following a long break after the funeral Mass, NBC resumed special live coverage from 5:30pmET to 7pmET with Tom Brokaw anchoring. ABC resumed their special live coverage again at 7pmET. (In New York, "World News" and "Evening News" aired at 6:30pm and "Nightly News" aired at 7pm).

At 7:15pmET, there was live, wide footage of the motorcade crossing the Potomac River, which was lined with people. At 7:58pmET, the service began at Arlington National Cemetery. There was limited press coverage at the burial site, as the family requested, so the networks broadcast footage of the service from a distance with few microphones. By the time the service began, it had also gotten dark with less visibility, so overall the broadcast had a much different feeling than what we'd witnessed earlier in the day and on Friday. ABC ended its special broadcast at 8:16pmET. The cable networks stayed with the service.

Here are some images from the service at Arlington (of what was visible):

TVNewser will be following up over the next few days with analysis of the coverage and ratings from the special events surrounding the Senator's memorial services.

During today's funeral Mass coverage for Sen. Kennedy, there was ample time for newsers to add their own color to the proceedings. We've collected a small sample of the quotes we heard that supplemented this morning's coverage as we flipped between networks.

Shepard Smith anchored FNC's morning coverage and said:

"In his nearly 47 years in the Senate, Ted Kennedy worked on legislation that affects every single one of us every day of our lives. And now the nation mourns his passing and celebrates his life. Last night we watched an incredible Irish wake, I suppose it was. There were tears of laughter and joy. There were stories of childhood and adulthood, of days sailing in the harbors and bays of Massachusetts, of quiet times, of celebration throughout a storied history.There were Kennedy tales that many of us had never before heard, and here were remembrances from both sides of the political aisle, as Republicans, Democrats, moderates, liberals, conservatives remembered the man whose life had so many ups and downs, a man who shared so much triumph and so much tragedy."

Keith Olbermann reflected:

"We don't have royalty, this is the closest thing we have to it. We somehow psychologically dally with the idea, but it's more than that. That would mean a certain connection and familiarity with people from generation to generation and brother to brother. But an affection seems to be built on...that public vulnerability. It's as much the tragedies, the failures as...the story of redemption in Senator Kennedy's life, that I think threads throughout the family and has been expressed again today. That's the bind between people and a group of politicians...The benefit of the doubt, when they don't always live up to the expectation, is, I think, based on the willingness to say, 'Here are my problems. maybe you have problems too. While I'm working on mine, I'm also working on yours.'"

George Stephanopoulos, Brian Williams, James Carville, and Andrea Mitchell after the jump.

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As all the networks broadcast Sen. Kennedy's funeral Mass from Massachusetts, President Barack Obama delivered a warm eulogy of the statesman he declared "the greatest legislator of our time" as well as a "kind and tender hero." He said, "I knew him as...a colleague, mentor, and above all as a friend."

Here are some images of the coverage: