Baltimore, maryland, this morning after becoming the first africanamerican lawmaker to lie in state in the u. S. Capitol yesterday. President bill clinton also expected to speak. Lying in state, by the way, in honor that his only then bestowed upon, 20 former senators, representatives and president s in the history of this country. His casket yesterday as it lied in state, sitting upon the same platform as abraham lincolns. House speaker nancy pelosi, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton just paid their tributes to his life of service. A final goodbye to a man whose legacy will live on in the halls of congress and the hearts of many of the americans he inspired as well. Let us start this hour with Geoff Bennett who is there in baltimore, maryland. Geoff, how is the congressman being honored and remembered today . Reporter craig, he is being honored as a fierce advocate for truth, justice and kindness. We learned from the pastor of this church that Elijah Cummings himself wrote his Funeral Program and determined who he wanted to participate in it. Already today, we saw Elizabeth Warren, senator Elizabeth Warren read the 23rd psalm. Gospel singer b. B. Winans singing the roof off the church. Hillary clinton spoke and said in her mind it was no coincidence that Elijah Cummings shared the same name as an Old Testament prof fis who can call down fire from heaven. Here is a bit more of what the former secretary of state had to say. It is no coincidence, is it, that Elijah Cummings shared a name with an Old Testament prophet whose name meant in hebrew the lord is my god. He weathered storms and earthquakes, but never lost his faith. Like that Old Testament prophet, he stood against corrupt leadership of king ahab and queen jezebel. Our elijah always made a seat at the table for others. He made a seat at the table for children in education, for even members of congress so he could mentor them, for all who wanted to be part of the American Dream. Elijah himself personally lived the American Dream and wanted everybody else to have that opportunity. Reporter that, of course, was House Speaker nancy pelosi, as she called him, master of the house given his keen political sense, but also a mentor of the house, given that he trained up freshmen lawmakers to do the oversight work he cared so much about. That was an important point to make because, yes, while Elijah Cummings is remembered as one of the last remaining giants on capitol hill, he could have, if he wanted to, skated on that reputation. But instead, he stid did the work. Nancy pelosi spoke to the point that, yes, he still introduced legislation to protect whistleblower protections. He still sought to integrate the military, introducing legislation amtd at that. Still tried to rein in the cost of skyrocketing prescriptions. In that way she was making a larger point that even as he fought for civil rights and civility in the congress, he was still really intent on passing what he saw as being valuable policy, craig. Jeff, we are waiting for president obama and clinton to speak, perhaps an hour, hour and some change from now. We know, of course, congressman cummings worked with both of those men in washington. What do we expect were going to hear from them . Reporter well, even though cummings became the chairman of the House Oversight committee this past year, he was the top democrat on that same committee since 2011. In that role he defended the obama administration. He was a close friend of president obama and, in fact, was one of his first supporters back in 2008. So Elijah Cummings was on capitol hill, served the people of baltimore for some 25 years, served under a number of different administrations. He had a particular closeness to former president s clinton and obama. His wife, was widow maya, asked those two men to speak here today, to euligize him and they agreed to do that. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell saying Elijah Cummings didnt just represent the city of baltimore, he embodied the city of baltimore. One of my fondest memories, jeff, of the congressman after the riots broke out there in baltimore, after the death of freddie gray, it was Elijah Cummings that stepped off and made this impassioned plea to the people of baltimore to calm down and remember freddie gray that way. He will be remembered, he will be missed. Geoff bennett, well check in with you in just a bit. Right now as we continue to look at live pictures there, we just saw senator Elizabeth Warren, of course, democratic president ial candidate, who is sitting next to former attorney general i think she was sitting next to eric holder. I didnt see that last shot. At one point she was sitting next to eric holder. The optics of these gatherings, susan page, also something that a lot of folks like us Pay Attention to. Usa todays Washington Bureau chief. Tiffany cross, cofounder and managing editor of thebeatdc. As i understand it, your initial meeting with congressman cummings was quite memorable, shall we say. It was. Congressman cummings was the first member of congress i had ever met. I was a young woman, new to d. C. , just finding my way to politics. At the time the congressional director of the Congressional Black Caucus was often referred to as the 43rd member there were 42 members at that time. He brought me in to meet with chairman cummings. A young woman determined to present myself in the most distinguished way possible. I spoke in a very dignified yes and said greetings, congressman cummings, im tiffany cross. He mocked me in front of everybody. I was embarrassed of course at the time. He put me at such ease. That said so much about him. Everyone new congressman cummings. He was be loved by the people of baltimore but also around capitol hill. Covering congress over 20 years in the different capacities that i spent time on the hill, he was an institution, and the Congressional Black Caucus is often referred to as the conscioence of the congress. Congressman cummings had a very open door policy with other members and the he was just an amazing human being. Well talk later in the hour about some of the work hes done in baltimore. But he really was be loved by all the people. There are so many memories that we could share of congressman cummings this morning. Im just touched by the unity we see here at the Home Going Services for the congressman. His wife maya is a very permanent fixture in baltimore politics these days. So i think watching the next steps from her as she makes sure her husbands legacy lives on, will be an interesting journey for america to witness. Susan, there are some words from the february hearing with Michael Cohen that i want to play for our viewers and Sirius Satellite Radio from capitol hill, and well talk about what the congressman said. When were dancing with the angels, the question will be asked, in 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact. Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing . Susan page, how did that speak to his legacy . Im sorry. I cant hear you. Tiffany, were you able to hear that . I did. I think that embodied his legacy. He brought dignity to these hearings. This is a very interesting time in the country right now, craig. There is a lot of indignant behavior that we see coming out of capitol hill and out of the white house. Congressman cummings, as he had throughout his life, was able to maintain dignity. In that moment he really called into question our own moral character, our own values. When were there before on judgment day, what will we say . What will our testimony be about how we tried to maintain a sense of humanity and the spirit. Hillary clinton talked about when he begged the American People to Pay Attention. Nancy pelosi talked about this on capitol hill the other day, when he begged the American People, focus on whats happening. You can kind of understand why he had such passion about that. This was a man who looked jim crow in the eye and said not today. He was able to reach the steps of capitol hill despite a system designed for him to fail. So after going through such things and hurdling such obstacles put in his way, to do the peoples work and then have so Many American citizens not exercise their right to vote, not Pay Attention to whats happening, this man until the day he died said please focus on this work. 60 minutes did an incredible profile of him where they talked about his health challenges. He said, im here, im ready to do the peoples work. It was such a moment to see him have that resolute sense of purpose and plead with the citizens he served in baltimore and beyond to up lift that sense of service and pay homage to him by focusing on their civic engagement. I hope his legacy and his plea will be answered even in his death. You mentioned that 60 minutes interview with the late congressman. It was very powerful. We have a clip of that as well. Hes talking about what it was like to be the son of a share cropper who managed to find his way to the halls of congress. When i came in to get sworn in, ive got my hand up. I see my father, and my father is just wiping away the tears. I said why are you crying . Are you crying because your son became a member of congress . He said, no, im very pleased that youve done this. This is great. Dont get me wrong. He said, but i kept looking at your hand, and i realized that the same blood that runs in your hand runs in mind. Isnt this the place where they used to call us slaves . I said yes, sir. He said these words, steve, and ill never forget. He said, when i think about you being sworn in there, now i see what i could have been if i had had an opportunity. I want to bring in antjuan seawright, founder and ceo of blueprint strategy, former advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign. A lot of people probably dont know this about Elijah Cummings. He also earlier in life suffered with a tremendous speech impediment and talked about how a lot of Elementary School teachers, forget making it to congress, they didnt think hed amount to a whole heck of a lot in life. You wrote about a conversation you had with the congressman back in 2012 about your shared experience, being descendants of sharecroppers. I want to read an excerpt of what you wrote, antjaun. The congressman reminded me i had a voice and should use it to be loud and proud about my parents. Why . Because there is only a generation in between then and now and the world needed to know how far we have come because it wasnt that long ago for some of us. Liss legacy as it pertains to civil rights has been well documented. But the conversation you had with him antjuan . It changed my life. I want to give thanks for allowing me to have an opportunity by way of the Congressional Black Caucus institute boot camp. We had so much in common. He talked about how his family, his parents were shar croppers from South Carolina, im from rural South Carolina. He talked about his speech impediment. I, too, struggled with a speech impediment that sometimes makes its way in my adult life and i tend to mumble sometimes with my words. He talked about how we should not be shameful, as my grandmother would say, about where we come from. The world needed to know it wasnt that long ago. The most important thing, he say said, i didnt write about in the piece, if were not careful, we can easily slip back to a place in history that we do not want to go. That stuck with me for so many reasons, craig. I was at one point in time shy about some elements about my history and background and didnt always say them as loud as i probably should have now because of my interaction with Elijah Cummings on so many occasions. Vi no problem telling me im the proud grandson of sharecroppers from South Carolina. My dad did not have indoor plumbing growing up. Im a Second GenerationHigh School Graduate and first Generational College graduate. Those times for some of us are not that long ago. I want to bring in susan page fou as well, Washington Bureau chief for u. S. A. Today as we continue to watch the service in baltimore. Susan, we are expecting to hear from president s clinton and president barack obama as well. Theyll both be speaking roughly about an hour from now. How do you suspect, susan, theyll remember Elijah Cummings . We shouldnt lose how remarkable it is that two former president s are eulogizing the son of share croppers. A lot of problems with our country, no question about it. This is an example of the very best of america, that Elijah Cummings was able to do everything he has done, everything he did as a human being and as a member of congress and is so honored now. Im struck by how there are few members of congress, few members in washington that would command the bipartisan affection that Elijah Cummings commands. You see a lot of ranking democrats in the church. You also see some prominent republican members of congress who counted Elijah Cummings as their friend. That is not because they agreed with him on policy. Elijah cummings was as staunch a democrat as youd find on capitol hill. He approached people, whether it was someone applying to him for a job or a fellow member of congress with respect and empathy. People recognize that. You look at some of the people who have assemble here, tiffany cross, solomon baptist church. And we talked about Elizabeth Warren and a number of the president ial candidates who are here. At one point i looked up last hour and i saw adam schiff who has become quite the bogeyman for a lot of folks on the right sitting right in front of congressman jim jordan. There have been a number of pictures like this, democrats sitting next to republicans, black and whites. One of the things that continues to be striking, susan just hit on this, this kind of friendship that Elijah Cummings was able to the friendships he was able to create and maintain and call to be even in times like these where there is so much bitterness in washington and perhaps all over this country. How do our lawmakers take a page from the Elijah Cummings book here . I just want to say i think it is interesting to see jim jordan there, the Ranking Member on oversight. He was actually a part of that 60 minutes profile. He extended congressman cummings in that profile with a lot of respect. I really do appreciate congressman mark meadows words, that he said perhaps this institution would be better served with a few more unexpected friendships. I think thats something i hope other members of congress embody. I think it is important to remember, craig, these friendships do not negate a lot of the behavior that goes against the people that Elijah Cummings serve. He was a very principled member of congress. Even those these friendships are to be celebrated, a way to honor congressman cummingss legacy would be to help people who look like congressman cummings and people who live in his district. They say that things are conceivable in the masses, but inconceivable in the individual. So when you know someone who is impacted by policies. When you know someone impacted by your words. When you know someone devastated by the use of terms like lynching or whatever ridiculous things weve heard come out, i do think that can help you better serve your constituents and serve the American People better. I hope members of congress do take up mark meadows words, and i quite frankly think thats incumbent on a lot of people who have worked against some of the things that congressman cummings so passionately tried to produce in the u. S. Congress. Well see what happens. Its a scary time, craig. Honestly im not optimistic about it. But i do hope we see more bipartisan efforts happen on capitol hill through friendships. Susan page, we just saw Jesse Jackson jr. There, we saw alexandria ocasiocortez, aoc as shes known. This was congressman cummings 13th term. He ran in 96 during the special election. What do we know about the future of that see . We saw fumai. It was Elijah Cummings who filled the side of fumai who ran the naacp for a long time. What happens to the congressional seat in baltimore . There will be a special election called by the governor, but first a primary and then a general election i think october 28th is the deadline for the governor to set the date for th that. A lot of speculation that Elijah Cummings widow who is chair of the party will choose to run for his seat. It seems to me she would likely be in a pretty commanding position to do so given her political standing and this outpouring of affection. Can i jump in . I think susan is right, theres a lot of speculation about maya. I just want to say that maya has been in politics for a long time. She was actually a staffer on capitol hill, served as chief of staff to former congressman mel watt out of north carolina. She ran for governor earlier this year and unfortunately had to drop out of that race because of congressman cummings failing health. Shes also be loved by the people. Shes chair of the democratic party, replaced kathleen matthews, the wife of your colleague chris matthews. They share a very strong relationship with marilyn moseby, the District Attorney of baltimore. Shes be loved by the people. I think shell have some allies ready to campaign for her should she decide to carry out her husbands legacy. Stand by for me, all three of you if you can, antjuan, susan, tiffany, a Major Development from the Justice Department. Bill bars original investigation into the origins of the russia probe is now a criminal investigation. But who is at the center of it . T has escalated its investigation into how the russia probe started. It is now a fullfledged criminal inquiry, meaning that the Justice Department is now investigating itself. The move gives investigators the power to subpoena witnesses and documents, convene a grand jury, even file criminal charges. And its important to note at this particular juncture, it is not clear what crime is actually being investigated or why this change in status is happening now. This latest Development Comes amid an extremely consequential week for the impeachment inquiry. More testimony expected this weekend. I want to bring in correspondent Julia Ainsley following all the twists and turns. The investigation led by connecticut u. S. Attorney john durham, tapped for the role by attorney general bill barr. Are you getting the sense that this is where things were always headed . Its interesting. We dont know exactly when this became a criminal investigation. It could be that things heated up this summer and we just now in the media are learning its a criminal investigation. It changes this investigation in some key ways. When this was just a review, the employees at the fbi or cia would have had to comply or talk to investigators or else risk losing their job. But they didnt have a criminal exposure. Now that theres a criminal investigation, they might be lawyering up. Something ken dilanian and i noticed last week. The other thing is this allows him to impanel a grand jury. One former federal prosecutor i spoke to said its actually not a bad thing no matter which side of this youre on, and this is a controversial investigation depending on whether or not you think that the russia investigation that became the Mueller Probe was opened for political reasons. Its a good thing to have a grand jury, this prosecutor said, because you can get to the heart of the matter more quickly when youre able to come people testimony. A grand jury allows you to do that. Whats not clear is what are the teeth of this investigation . Have they found anything yet that would somehow lead them to believe that perhaps there was information that wasnt credibly sourced when they went to a judge to get, say, a fisa warrant at the beginning of this investigation which goes back all the way to 2016. The doj Inspector General conducted its own probe into the fbis actions in launch the investigation. Why is that not sufficient enough, julia . We still expect the results of that any week or month. Its unclear why thats been dragging on for so long. The attorney general said the reason he needs this durham investigation on top of the ig is because of this very reason, being able to compel testimony. The Inspector General is not able to do that, so he thinks this will be a more thorough and robust investigation. At the heart of this is whether or not there were any kind of misinformation or a bias involved when this probe started. They arent questioning the results of the investigation, theyre just questioning the origins. We know thats something the president has been stuck on for a while. That is why theres a lot of controversy when you hear about an expanded scope of this investigation. Lets talk about that. Julia, thank you. Enjoy the weekend. Susan page, back with me now. Kim wailly is with me, the author of how to read the constitution and why. With me onset at 30 walk, frank fig luiz si, former fbi assistant director and an msnbc news contributor. You tweeted this news out of the doj is a, quote, travesty. We dont know the crime thats actually being investigated here. But why does this concern you so much . I question the validity of why they needed to go criminal and why to do it now. You can order employees at cia and fbi to cooperate with you. Its called administratively compelling them to do so. If they dont do it, you can draw an adverse inference from their failure to talk to you and actually fire them. So when you tell them its criminal and they face criminal exposure, here is what they do. They get lawyers and they dont cooperate with you. So were about to enter into what i call a fabricated skeptical which will play out across the white house and at places like fox news, look at this, fbi analysts and cia agents are lawyering up. Theyre doing that because you told them theyre criminally exposed. If you mirandize an fbi employee, guess what they do . They get a lawyer. Well get into the spectacle and drama that i think is unnecessary. You still have a number of friends who work inside the doj. How is this news received there . Theres some information developing that some people already skber viewed may have been asked their political standing, who did you vote for . Are you biased against trump or for trump. When you start asking career professionals in Law Enforcement and intelligence that question, you are starting your own witch hunt. Susan, we know the president has long attacked the russia investigation, calling it a witch hunt on innumerable occasions. Is he getting what he wants here . Is this something he can potentially use against his political enemies . Its possible the administration has come across something we dont know about that justifies this decision. But the concern that it creates is that it is a political decision and not a legal decision. One of the pet theories President Trump has express friday the start of his administration, that there was corrupt and partisan intent at the launch of the investigation against him for russian meddling in our election. That is the fear thats created by news of this investigation. It allows them to more aggressively pursue this, maybe indict people if you have a criminal investigation going on . Is it for legit purposes or something thats very partisan in nature . A lot of folks are questioning the timing of it. It is important to note that we are in the midst of this impeachment inquiry. A lot of republicans slamming the process, questioning how it is being conducted, whether the process is constitutional. Lindsey graham, the senator from South Carolina he called the whole process illegitimate. So yesterday, it was on wednesday, he introduced this resolution, slamming the process, calling on the house to hold a vote. This is part of what the senator said yesterday. Give President Trump these rights that every other president , nixon and clinton have had, and take a boat to let the house be on record authorizing this. This is a rogue action by a single committee of the house thats never done impeachment inquiries before, and i think its dangerous to the preside y presidency. Kim, is the process illegitimate . No. The process is not illegitimate. There were votes in both the nixon and clinton impeachment processes. In both of those instances, nixon there was a special prosecutor. For clinton there was an independent council that did the spade work, did the investigative kind of sort of grand jury like work pursuant to a criminal process. This congress doesnt have that. There is no independent counsel or special prosecutor gathering the information and its best practices to do it in the way its being done. Secondly, as far as calling the vote, thats an internal decision by the people in power at any given time in the congress. We saw this with president obamas nominee to the United States supreme court, merrick garland. Mitch mcconnell decided not to bring that nominee to the floor. Thats an internal decision. Likewise, nancy pelosi has the authority in this moment. Really the issue comes down to the facts that are coming out and will be uncovered. Thats the issue, the facts of what happened. With respect to the internal doj investigation that was just made public, the issue is the russians interfered in the 2016 election. Its quite serious. Theyre doing it again in 2020. Its unfortunate that thats not where the administrations eye is on. Thats really where the vulnerability lies for the American People versus for the particular human being who is in the office of the presidency right now. Kim, really quickly, well put their faces on the screen here. One of the things thats been noteworthy to a number of folks are the nine gop senators who have not signed on to Lindsey Grahams resolution. Two of them, senators susan collins, cory gardner facing tough reelection battles. Lamar alexander, johnny isakson, mike enzi, theyre retiring. What does it say to you that the senators who nothing to lose or everything to lose are the ones that wont sign on to this resoluti resolution . Theres certainly pressure in congress to go along with this president , theres consequences for not doing so politically. We are seeing the federal judiciary, seeing some members of the senate, the republican senator. Were seeing career officials that are standing up for the rule of law in this moment regardless of what happens to this particular president. As i talk about in the book, its absolutely vital there be checks and balances on those in power. The framers of the constitution understood that. They did not want a monarchy. The only way to do that is to issue speeding tickets for blowing through speed limits. This president has done that. Hopefully more people in the congress will come together around the rule of law and the principles this country stands for. I think Elijah CummingsFuneral Services today remind us all of why we elect people to office, and that is to protect the principles of liberty and independence which come to having an accountable government. Thank you, kim, susan, frank. Always good to have you, especially live here in the studio. Were keeping an eye on the funeral that kim referenced. This of course the service for late congressman Elijah Cummings in baltimore. 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Former Vice President joe biden is also in at ten damages. Nbcs mike memoli is outside the church. He coffers the Biden Campaign for us. Mike, we saw the former Vice President walk in with House Speaker nancy pelosi a short time ago. They appeared to be Holding Hands at one point. Do we know whether president obama is going to be meeting with his Vice President after the service . Reporter well, craig, ive been keeping my eye outside the church, inside the church, looking for any of the body language we can see of the interactions between this remarkable collection of democratic stars for this Service Honoring a real statesman in the party, Elijah Cummings. We see the last two democratic president s. We see the last democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and not just joe biden, but five other democrats who want to be the next democratic nominee. But what this service is doing is putting a spotlight on that obamabiden relationship that is so critical to the former Vice President s campaign. This is the first time publicly were seeing them together since biden announced his candidacy in april. I say publicly because aides to both men tell me theyve continued to speak and meet in person often during that time. We know they both attended a graduation for obamas daughter, bidens granddaughter a few months ago. Theyve had a fairly regular interaction. We would expect after the service today, as the Service Breaks up, there will certainly be an opportunity for the two of them to connect. For biden, of course, we hear him mention the president often on the campaign trail. Just last week he said at a fundraiser he speaks to the president a lot. Weve heard from him in scranton the other day, talking about both on a policy basis, how important it is for him to fight for the obama legacy, especially on the Affordable Care act. Also, he jokes about their personal relationship and how, as he put it in scranton, the way you hear obama talk about me, its as if i crawled out of a coal mine with a lunch bucket in my hand. This is certainly an interesting moment to see those two men skber act and potentially see some of the other candidates look for a little face time. Also had an open line to democrats as well from those who want advice from him. Mike, thank you. Tiffany cro tiffany. Also back antjuan seawright. It seems a lot of folks want to be at this service. The church at capacity well before it started. More than 100 people waiting to get inside. What does that tell you about the kind of impact that Elijah Cummings had on that community . What it says to me is Elijah Cummings life was a sermon that all of us was able to see. Im fifth generation ame. They tell me growing up id rather see a sermon than hear a sermon any day of the week. The body of work that Elijah Cummings put together exemplifies what a true sermon is all about. This country is better, this idea of america is better because of Elijah Cummings. He was able to do something they were not able to do in 2019. He was able to put people before politics. He worked with people who did not share his political ideology on this committee to get things done in the name of this little idea called america. I commend him for that. What happens when we lose someone like Elijah Cummings. What happens next . Do we go back to the same partisan bickering, us against them or do we try to find Common Ground and work together. The other thing about the chairman is that most people do not realize he had three of the four members of the squad on his committ committee. He had a tremendous responsibility of mentorship to get them acclimated with the congressional process and what its like to work with people even when you do not agree with him. Were having this conversation. One of the congressmens three children speaking now, one of his two daughters, tiffany cross. We have not spent a great deal this hour talking about his legislative record. Of course it was the congressman who spent a fair amount of time there in the house fighting for stricter gun laws. I remember being in baltimore in 2015 when that city was very much on edge after the death after the killing i should say of freddie gray. Not only does he help ease the fears in that community. It was Elijah Cummings who actually spoke at freddie grays funer funeral. I want to play part of what he said. Family, there are those that will tell you dont cry. Im not going to say that. I my nephew in the grave four years ago, blasted away. Still dont know who did it. I mourn every day. A man who suffered a fair amount of loss in his own life, tiffany and often drew on those experiences to help people find comfort in their grief. That embodies who he was. The church at capacity. We have to remember his deep ties to this area. Hes a Howard University alum. Went to law school at the university of maryland. A member of phi beta sigma. People remember fondly when he brought together that city after the killing of freddie gray. When you see the passion he brings to his remarks, the pain he exhibit ed, thats what made him so accessible. He lived in the neighborhood he served. He had an opendoor policy. His constituents would often meet with him outside his home to talk about issues. That says something about the leader he was. With us being in d. C. And new york, we do tend to get trapped in this bubble. We completely understand what happens in the halls of congress. When you get out of these main cities and talk to people and individuals, they can be a bit intimidated by what happens here. He was one of those people who broke those walls down and made sure that people knew he was a servant, he served at their pleasure. I take antijuans point, what comes next . What comes after we lose some of these leaders. We lost john mccain, when he passed. Its a new face of the Republican Party and what comes next after we start losing some of our leaders on the democratic side. Its a transition of leadership i think here. You mentioned phi beta sigma. The sigmas, of course, went wild on that reference. He was also a member of phi beta kappa. Congressman Elijah Cummings a very, very smart man. Well continue to keep a very close eye on the services here in baltimore. Coming up, we are going to take a bit of a turn because the president is on his way to a historically black college in South Carolina to talk about criminal Justice Reform. Why his visit is causing a fair amount of controversy. Well talk about that next. Aboy buick. Got it. I bet you lunch you cant make it in there. Im thinkin sushi. Alexa, ask buick to start my suv. You can do that . You can do that . You can do that . Yeah, with a buick. What . At the heart of every buick suv. Is you. 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If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. President trump about to leave the white house to make his way to South Carolina. The president set to speak at a forum on criminal Justice Reform at benedict college, hbcu in downtown columbia, an h historically black college and university. President trumps first visit to an hbcu. Its generated some controversy. The naacp released a stapled saying, what an unexpected, unpleasant situation for students, the community and many citizens of this state to experience after his insensitive remarks regarding being lynched by the democratic party. What a hell of a statement to make. Nbcs trymaine lee is in South Carolina, also antoine seawright. Why benedict, why now . Whats the benefit for trump in choosing that particular college . Craig, as you know, donald trump often touts his support among africanamericans but theres very little evidence that black folks support him. If theres any sliver of Common Ground between the right and the left, donald trump and black folks who are fighting for criminal Justice Reform, its those reform efforts. Under the obama administration, they pushed for a vast criminal reform bill that was essentially shut down. But donald trump managed to pull together the right and left and actually signed a bill that released thousands of people who were incarcerated under draconian old drug laws that kept them in prison for a long time for nonviolent offences, actually let them out of prison and put in place other reform steps. So if there is a place for Common Ground, its this one. And what better place to have this conversation about criminal Justice Reform than an hbcu. Will the president be taking questions, do we know what hell be saying . Not so far. I talked to a bunch of students who were ambivalent, saying donald trump doesnt speak for them. Another group of older folks said they werent even invited. So i get the sense that its a tailored, lockeddown group. Especially following those inflammatory comments about being lynched, you would imagine he wouldnt want reporters there. It could be nothing more than a photoop. But he has played a role in pushing some reforms so far. Antoine, the Washington Post reports that the event puts him onstage with prominent black leaders. How much is this visit about optics . Everything that donald trump does is about optics. The last president to visit the college was Barack Hussein obama. And here you have President Trump, the same gentleman who said that essentially barack obama was not a u. S. Citizen, he talked about in his remarks, he mentioned go back to where you come from, rapists and thugs for people of color. Think of all the things hes said and done in office, new here he is, South Carolina, gods country, to bojangle people about how much his administration has done for black people. I caught your bojangles reference there, there are a lot of folks in South Carolina who appreciate that. My mother went to benedict for a year or two, not far from where i grew up. Trymaine lee in columbia, thank you. I want to get those pictures back up, while i have both of you, in fact, trymaine, stick around as well. This is the scene playing out in baltimore, maryland, as we continue to remember the life and legacy of Elijah Cummings. Trimaine, i wanted to give you an opportunity as well, because i know you got to know Elijah Cummings and what he meant to the city of baltimore. We spent some time talking about the impact he had earlier, especially in the wake of freddie grays death in 2015. What will you remember about Elijah Cummings . I mean, i think there are many things. As you know, being black in this country, there are few people in the political space often that you feel represent you and that are from the community and are black like you. And Elijah Cummings for so many people symbolized not just someone they could relate to because he looks like us, but he fought for civil rights. He was a champion of the community and never once forgot about his people. You remember Donald Trumps disparaging remarks about baltimore, and Elijah Cummings said, come on out, ill show you baltimore. There is beauty there and humanity there. People in baltimore and black folks across this country have found fewer greater champions than he wiElijah Cummings. This loss is felt across the country. For young black boys and young black girls to aspire to someone, to show that you can lift the humanity of so many people, thats what Elijah Cummings has meant. For a new generation of politicians, some surging from the left with ideas of classism, they say dont forget about us, the people who live and die, struggle and strive in these communities. Thats what i remember most about Elijah Cummings, he was of the people and respected by people right and left, across the aisle, but he never let anyone forget the beauty and love and strength of black people, especially in baltimore. Very wellput. His story is one we can identify, saying you can start anywhere and end up everywhere. He went to the white house to meet with donald trump to try to work on Prescription Drug prices, a number one issue thats laying around in our country. And the president refused to work with him. Thats someone who had been dogged by the president , talked about, yet he went to him to work on an issue thats so important. That says everything about his life. Thanks, antjuan, and thank you, trymaine as well. President clinton and president obama are set to speak in baltimore. Andrea mitchell reports starts right now. Thank you, craig melvin. Next on Andrea Mitchell reports, the Justice Department opens a criminal investigation into the origins of the fbis russia probe. Whats the crime . Whos under investigation . And why are the findings of the nations 17 intelligence agencies and the Republicanled SenateIntelligence Committee not enough for the Trump Administration . Falling in line. Republicans escalate their assault on the house impeachment inquiry, trying to slow down the pace after two weeks of damaging testimony. Plus going home. Thousands gathering in baltimore this hour, including two former