Tina Brown delivers her opening remarks at The Daily Beast's Hero Summit, held October 10 in Washington, D.C. The Hero Summit: An Exploration of Courage, Character & Our National Security got off to a fiery start as Sen. John McCain unleashed on both fellow Republicans and President Obama in the day's first panel. From there, the event kept guests waiting for the next bold statement or moving story as Nobel laureates, decorated combat veterans, celebrated politicians and journalists took the stage to discuss topics ranging from the government shutdown to the meaning of heroism. Click through the gallery to see photos and recaps from the summit's best moments.
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Sen. McCain wasn't shy about expressing his displeasure. He had a list of targets to get to: the shutdown, obstructionist fellow Republicans, and the Obama administration's recent Middle East policy. “We’re going to suspend some aid, but not other aid. What is the message to [Egyptian] General [Abdul Fattah] al-Sisi?” he asked, in response to news that the White House is cutting some aid to the Cairo government. McCain also assailed current policies toward Libya and Syria that, he argued, have shunned America's responsibilities abroad and allowed the situations there to deteriorate.
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Matt Eversmann and Craig Nixon, two former members of Task Force Ranger famous for their heroic actions during the battle of Mogadishu (as immortalized in the film Black Hawk Down), shared a panel with the film's producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. The audience was rapt as Eversmann and Nixon described the events of that day.
Scott Henrichsen,Photographer
In "The Changing Terror Threat" panel, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly seemed focused on learning lessons from the Nairobi mall attack in time to prevent similar acts of violence in New York. Kelly discussed NYPD training exercises that are focused on "active shooter response" scenarios, a technique that's used to stop small groups and lone gunmen who open fire on civilian populations.
Tina Brown talks with Bob Woodward before the big panel on "What's Wrong With Washington?"
Arnold Fisher is angry and he didn't hold back, taking politicians to task in his talk with Martha Raddatz. Fisher has a right to be angry: He's the man respsonsible for stepping up to help the military when the government failed to do its job. Most recently, Fisher's organization donated money to restore death benefits for the families of service members who have died on duty since the shutdown started.
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Recent veterans, including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a congresswoman from Hawaii, Kate Norley a former combat medic who's now attending med school, and Anthony Smith, a tae kwon doe champion who is also an ordained minister, joined Gulf War veteran Carl Tegen to talk with The Daily Beast's Executive Editor, John Avlon, about the newest generation of veterans and their unique accomplishments.
A national-security expert clashed with a former CIA and FBI agent over the question of intervention in Syria. Check out the full story here.
When Nobel Prize winner and writer Wole Soyinka sat down to talk with Tina Brown, he didn't avoid controversial subjects. Discussing one Nigerian jihadist group, he said that its members' actions are so violent that they “should not be considered as humans.” Later, Soyinka drew a line from Africa's current troubles back to the complicity of Africans in the slave trade.
When a Veterans Administration representative and the spouse of an injured veteran start talking, things can get contentious. This panel did have some passionate moments, but stayed focused on how we can better care for veterans and their families when they return from service.
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Joseph T. Jones was a drug addict who was in and out of jail for 17 years before turning his life around. He sat down with The Daily Beast's Joshua DuBois to discuss the crisis in the black community.
According to Lt. General Russel L. Honoré, the key to crisis leadership is “break the rules, the rules were written for peacetime.” He got a nod of agreement from William McNulty, the co-founder and vice president of Team Rubicon, a group that uses veterans as volunteers providing relief in areas struck by disaster. The panel was rounded out by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who lamented how the government shutdown has hurt relief effrorts for recent flooding in his state: The agencies are “doing everything they can every single day, but the shutdown slowed things down and put at risk people going through the most difficult time in their lives.”
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A four-star U.S. Marine general, a New York Times columnist, a Chinese immigrant author, and a Nigerian novelist found different and remarkably subtle ways to define those qualities. But in every case, their answers had more to do with a code to live by than with momentary glory on the battlefield.
