men in the civil rights movement that is what so many have recognized him as u.s. congressman john lewis, and athena jones had the privilege of sitting down and reflecting to find out what is he thinking on a day like this 50 years after being so badly beaten on this bridge behind us. that s right. i had a chance to sit down with him, had a chance to walk over this bridge the edmund pettus bridge with congressman john lewis. he talked about the violence and brutality he not only witnessed but that he himself suffered on that day 50 years ago today. and he also talked to me about the legacy of that historic march. the bridge of selma is almost a holy place. it is a place where people gave a little blood. to redeem the soul of america. in this city people couldn t register to vote simply because of the color of their skin, so we had to change that.
tissues there s going wrong. the president knows this. he is speaking to the ages 50 years ago, one of the youngest guys john lewis, almost beaten to death, now one of the older guys here. you have a president of the united states who arguably would never have been elected except for what happened on the bridge behind him. things is his big case big opportunity to speak to voting rights. voting rights are under attack still. that bill that they got beaten up for has been gutted by the supreme court. there is a chance under his administration to fix the voting rights bill. he has to make that case and bring americans back to that moment when people were pushed off the bridge but americans were pushed off the fence and stood up for voting rights. got to do it again. he has to make that case. the president was here as a senator. yes. in 2007 i think many people remember that. he said at that time because they marched, i got the kind of education i got. that i got a law degree and a
me cry, but i cried. president johnson sent out the national guard, part of the united states military to protect us all the way from selma to montgomery. reporter: on august 6th president johnson signed the land mark voting rights act ensure all citizens could vote regardless of their color. the supreme court struck down a key provision of that law in 2013. efforts to fix it have stalled in congress. if we fail to fix it many of our fellow citizens will not be able to become participants in the democratic process. reporter: it s also why he returns to this bridge every year. the vote is as powerful it is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in the democratic society. i don t want people to forget that people paid a price.
up here governor who have arrived. we saw amelia boynton, 103 years old, really the reason why dr. king and his civil rights foot soldiers came to selma. it was amelia boynton who said is there a problem in selma. people are not having the right to vote. they can t even register. we have seen jesse jackson here ct vivian bernice king martin luther king iii is also here. what does this mean for you that it is taking place in your state here, and at the historic site? well i think those of us who are of my age, of course remember all of the things that took place over the last 50 years. and this was a significant day. you know, when men and women of this state did not have the right to vote they were brave and they were bold and they took the chance. they tried to walk across this bridge. they were turned back.
states many of the nine southern states that had that protection under that voting rights act, the concern has been expressed that there they re worried local governments have the discretion to change voting rules. that s very dangerous. whether it be the i.d. you have redistricting, and that s what people are talking about when they worry about the disintegration of the voting rights act. and some of the bills that are moving forward right now, would leave even alabama uncovered. some of the bills going through right now, just don t have the teeth, they just don t have the punch that the original voting rights bill did. we still have some people who would like to limit who votes. so this president, i think, he s here can you imagine his daughters, having read the history books, having seen that bridge in the history books, to be standing there with their father now the president of the united states. this is intentional for the president to bring his daughters for that reason.