grandchildren jenna and barbara, waving back through the window. it s a been a long journey home for the former president. overnight, thousands of mourners streaming into st. martin s church in houston. many waiting hours to pay their respects. and today, a tribute. james baker was the president s former secretary of state and chief of staff, and the closest of friends. he was in the room with the president the day he died. we rejoice, mr. president, that you are safely tucked in now, and through the ages, with god s loving arms around you. because our glory, george, was to have had you as our president and as such a friend. reporter: the former president s grandson, george p. bush. yes, george herbert walker bush is the most gracious, most decent, most humble man that i will ever know, and it s the honor of a lifetime to share his name. reporter: remembering a
friends and secretary of state james baker. i want to talk a minute about saint martin s church specifically. the bushes worships here for some 50 years and had very close ties. the church has great photos. one of them margaret thatcher coming here as president bush s guest in 1990 during the g-7. it is important to remember that when they were here, they were active con yes ggregcongregates. so very strong ties to this community and this church community here in houston. also important to note that the bush home just not far away, right down the street. when you pass by, it is a gated community. right now there are flags, you floers, people stopping by there if they couldn t get in to pay their respects here. it is going to be an
the experience because they love this family because they give so much to those who have helped them in public service. i think anybody who works for a president has the special experience, as you all do, that s really a transcendent experience. i think it was mary kate who mentioned in an earlier segment that at the houston funeral for barbara bush, she was struck by all these volunteers. that s a huge undertaking to take these on. the military district of washington does a lot, but you need all hands on deck. here in washington, people dropped everything and flew from around the country, who had worked for president bush, to be volunteers at this funeral. stuff tickets into enveloped so they can get to church. how many people we gathered. beyond that, to david s point, this family changed the arc of so many of our lives. we met in the white house. but so many, and i think someone referenced that in the eulogies yesterday and the tributes. he changed the life of america. and was
it was very big. it was very powerful. it was very official washington, the most official washington kind of send off you could have in the national cathedral, beautiful, beautiful cathedral. and this is personal. this is who he was. i was here when the late president passed away on friday and over the weekend and went by saint martin s. it is a very beautiful church. you can see why and obviously knowing and hearing the pastor speak yesterday why it was such an important place for the late president and his late wife. i just want to echo what you are saying, having spent a little bit of time on the ground here over the past couple of days in texas and more importantly in houston. he and his wife, george and barbara bush, were people described it to me as royalty in houston. they helped so much with fund-raising. they would go to an event and it would draw, you know, as many
houston, texas. the guests have been gathering. the family will be coming in very, very soon, but this is going to be a very powerful, powerful memorial service for the 41st president of the united states. i want to welcome our viewers once again here in the united states and around the world. john king is with us, dana bash is with us, mary kate carey is with us as well, a former speechwriter for the 41st president. jessica dean is just outside the church. jessica, i understand a lot of personalities have been invited and will attend the service. yes. that s right, wolf. we ve been watching the buses roll up. people are asked to park in a different area and they re rolling up here and unloading. we have seen some sports stars here. j.j. watt from the houston texans football team, and also yao ming from the rockets, at 7 6 , he certainly stands out among the crowd. we re also expecting to see arnold schwarzenegger here. so many stories you all have