i feel lucky and blessed that i'm serving in the congress. but there are forces today trying to take us back to another time and another dark period. we've come so far, we've made so much progress. but as a nation and as a people, we're not quite there yet. we have miles to go. ♪ >> we do not want our freedom gradually. we want to be free now. >> we're marching today to dramatize to the world hundreds of thousands of negro citizens denied the right to vote. >> for too long, other people have been deciding for us. we must have some control over our own political destiny. >> no police departments will keep us from marching up and down the streets of the city of atlanta. >> too many people suffer and die to make it possible for every american to exercise their right to vote. >> i have on my marching shoes. >> that's right. >> i'm fired up. >> fired up. >> i'm ready to march. >> let's do it. >> speak up, speak out, and get in what i call good trouble, necessary trouble. do what is right. ♪ when i was a young boy, i remember dr. king and i remember this young guy who was marching with him. and he was this guy that didn't look much older than me. i said, how did he get involved? >> congratulations. >> he was always different than every member of congress. everybody in congress knew what he had done. he was john lewis. >> how are you doing? >> good to see you. >> good to see you, sir. >> how are you? very good. >> his voice and his example are probably needed now as much as they've ever been since he was a young man. >> when i first came here, i ran across the road. a little older and wiser. you don't need to run for everything. >> we're still in the civil rights movement because we're still in a civil rights struggle. congressman lewis gave us the blueprint, and the blueprint is to organize, it's to mobilize and it's to legislate. >> the reason why he's effective as a leader is because he's lived it. ♪ ♪ >> for many, many years in dallas county, selma, alabama, black men and women have tried to become registered voters. people stood in unmovable line, they failed the so-called literacy tests. on one occasion the people would ask to count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap. >> we must make it clear that we know when you're denied the right to vote. >> today represents a marvelous determination of this drive to register negro voters in massive numbers in the state of alabama. >> you've got 85 here. 86. that's mighty good. mighty good. >> you disobeyed the order. each and every one in this line is under arrest for parading without a permit. >> we will continue definitely to get large numbers of people registered and point out the injustices which we continue to face as we seek to register. >> arrest us, don't beat us. >> people had been beaten, arrested and jailed. a young man by the name of jimmy lee jackson had been murdered. we made a decision to march in an orderly, peaceful, and nonviolent fashion from selma to montgomery. >> we're marching today to dramatize to the nation and dramatize to the world the hundreds and thousands of negro citizens of alabama, but particularly here in this area, denied the right to vote. we intend to march to montgomery to give our grievances to governor george c. wallace. >> as we approached the bridge, we saw a sea of blue. alabama state troopers. >> it will be detrimental to your safety to continue this march. i'm saying that this is an unlawful assembly. you're ordered to disperse, go home, or go to your church. this march will not continue. >> i said, major, may i have a word? he said, there will be no word. >> -- advance toward the gate. see that they turn around and disperse. ♪ [ screaming ] ♪ >> i was hit in the head. my knees went from under me. i thought i was going to die on the bridge. >> amid record-breaking early voting this midterm season, concerns of voter suppression are at the center of some of the country's most contested races. >> things like strict voter i.d. laws, getting rid of same-day registration, cutting back on early voting, purging the voting rolls, eliminating the number of polling places. >> when we began to look at the voter suppression laws, overwhelming, african-american, latino, asian-american, young and poor. that's the group that is targeted. >> well, it's a very difficult time that we are going through in america. my greatest fear is that one day we may wake up and our democracy is gone. we cannot afford to let that happen. as long as i have breath in my body, i will do what i can. [ cheers and applause ] >> can i touch you? >> yes, yes, absolutely. you can touch me. >> please, someone take my picture. you are one of my biggest heros. you have done so much -- we need you now. we need you now. >> thank you, mr. lewis, for everything. >> thank you. >> you're wonderful. >> thank you. good to see you. >> hi, congressman. >> i became a voting rights attorney because of john lewis. he walked across a bridge so that some day i could run for office. >> this man was beaten, was bloodied so people in this country would have the right to vote. >> we got to make sure that we honor the sacrifice of everyone who has preceded us here. those civil rights marchers -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- willing to risk their lives and can we be any more blessed than to have john lewis here with us in dallas, texas? [ cheers and applause ] >> i would see the signs that say white men, colored men, white women, colored women, white waiting, colored waiting, and i would ask my mother, my father, my granders why they said, boy that's the way it is. don't get in the way. don't get in trouble. but the 1955, 15 years old, the action of rosa parks and leadership of dr. king inspired me to get in trouble, what i called good trouble, necessary trouble. [ cheers and applause ] >> it's time for all good people in this state, here in dallas to get in trouble! you know, i got arrested a few times during the '60s. [ laughter ] >> 40 times. and since i've been in congress, another five times. [ cheers and applause ] >> and i'm probably going to get arrested again for something. but my philosophy is very simple, when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, say something, do something, get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble! [ cheers and applause ] >> we have to save our country, save our democracy. i wish you well. thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you for everything you do. we love you. ♪ >> keep moving forward, please, sir. keep moving forward, please. ♪ >> vote like you never, ever voted before. >> mrs. fletcher. lizzie fletcher. now more than ever before. i see that this young man is elected to the house of representatives. ♪ >> it is in our hands to make stacey abrams the next governor of the state of georgia. [ cheers and applause ] >> go to the polls. let's do it. let's do it. let's vote. run to the polls. let's vote! i grew up in rural alabama. i started in a little place called troy. my father was a sharecropper, a tenant farmer. but in 1944 when i was 4 years old, my father had saved $300 and a man sold him 110 acres of land. we still own this land today. [ cheers and applause ] >> we used to raise a lot of chickens where i grew up on this farm. i wanted to be a priest so much, i would gather all of our chickens together in the chicken yard and my brothers and sisters and cousin, i would start preaching to those chickens. they would bow their heads. they would shake their heads. they never said amen, but they tended to listen to me much better than some of my colleagues on the other side listen to me today in the congress. sometimes i'd be out there working in the field, picking cotton, my mother would say, boy, you need to catch up. and i would say, this is hard work. and she would say, hard work never killed anybody. and i would say, well, it's about to kill me. and i was determined as a little child to get out of that field, out of the hot sun. >> i identify with you picking cotton. >> yes. >> i was born in '49. >> really? where did you grow up? >> i grew up here. picking cotton, i had experience, and i know what you were talking about. >> we would pick on our own place and go some place else. but we would get up early in the morning while the dew was still on it. so it would be heavy. it would weigh more. >> yeah, exactly. >> and i hated picking up cotton. >> i did too. i hated it. >> thank god i was the baby. >> she didn't do it. she rode on the back in my sack. >> you would pull her through the fields. >> god bless you. >> god bless you. those three ladies are sisters. they picked cotton. the younger one didn't. she was a little baby. she pulled her through the cotton field. >> where are they from? >> they're from texas. >> oh, texas? >> uh-huh. >> they pick cotton in texas? >> yeah, texas produce a lot of cotton. he doesn't understand. he wouldn't know anything. he probably wouldn't recognize it. >> a what. >> you wouldn't recognize a ball of cotton. [ laughter ] >> i worked from 20 years. he's been a father, a grandfather. there was a moment where i lost both of my parents during the time working for the congressman, and it was a signing of the voting rights act reauthorization. and it happened on the same day as my father's funeral. and congressman lewis was at my father's funeral. ♪ ♪ >> let's just stand right here. >> my father and mother, my oldest brother. this is my mother's mother. >> and father. >> and father. >> right. >> are you going to see the girls? >> so the horse and the cow are good friends? >> yeah. >> how many cows? >> i think we have 14. >> oh, my lord. and i said, chick, chick, they would come. >> they might. hi, girls. >> come, chick. come. come on. chick, chick, chick. come on. they're beautiful hens. >> uh-huh. >> see, when i was growing up, they would let me pet them and everything. come here, chick, chick. >> i guess he was different because he was always determined to be good, try to do something good. ♪ said, oh, lord, it sure is time ♪ ♪ got to work so hard never satisfied ♪ ♪ sunrise sun goes down >> back when we had to break the land before we would plant the cotton. we would enroll in school the first day. it might be three weeks before we were back to school because we have to get the ground ready. ♪ own oh, lord, make a bail a day ♪ ♪ going to leave this here if i have my say ♪ >> it was a back-beating, let me put it that way. that way, everybody knew john wasn't going to work. >> my oldest brother would tell mom. i'll do his share. >> if he went onto school, adolph was going to work for two or three men anyway. so he told dad, let him go. let him go. he was always preaching. not only to the chickens, he was preaching to us. in high school, he wore a tie. dressed up and carried his bible. >> and carried his bible. >> to school every day. >> i wanted to get an education and some days i would get up early in the morning and get dressed for school, get my book bag and i would hide under the front porch and wait for the school bus to come up the hill. and the moment the bus came up the hill, i would run out and get on that bus and slip off to school. i had a wonderful teacher, wonderful teachers. one teacher would tell me over and over again, read, my child, read. and i would try to read everything. >> i could tell that he felt that the world was bigger than what we were doing. he had bigger things in mind. >> i wrote dr. king a letter when i was 17 years old. i wanted to attend troy university. i submitted my application, my high school transcript. i never heard a word from the schools. i wrote a letter to dr. king. i didn't tell my mother or my father. i told one of my teachers. dr. king wrote me back and sent me a round trip greyhound bus ticket and invited me to come to montgomery. and i saw dr. martin luther king jr. and rath abernathy standing behi behind a desk. i was so scared. my heart started beating so fast. and dr. king said, you're the boy from troy? are you john lewis? and i said, dr. king, i'm john robert lewis. i gave my whole name. but he still called me the boy from troy each time he would see me. he would say, how is the boy from troy doing? >> we thought about suing the university system of alabama. dr. martin luther king jr. and his organization were prepared to support it. i had a discussion with my mother and my father. my father was very, very supportive of the idea. my mother was so afraid that we could lose the land, our home could be bombed or burned. so i continued to study in nashville. it was there in nashville that i met jim lawson and got involved in studying the philosophy and the discipline of nonviolence. ♪ >> i started attending these nonviolent workshops. bernard was my roommate. and i kept saying to bernard, my roommate, you have to come and get involved. >> i was busy with my courses, i said, listen, i don't have time for that. but he kept badgering me, and lo and behold, i got hooked. >> jim lawson told us to never engage in violence, but we had a right to protest what was right. it inspired me. it changed my life. >> nonviolence as conceived by the montgomery bus boycott is not a self-defense position. it's a militant position. how is it that i can transform the environment in which i live. and the montgomery bus boycott did a radical analysis of the racism as a tool of helping people to pick up. >> when you sit down on the bus and you sit down in the front or you sit or you sit down by a white person, you have a duty to sit down because as long as you sit in the back, you have a false sense of inferiority, and so long as you let the white man sit in the front and push you back there, he has a false sense of superiority. >> we had robust discussion about these ideas. six months of gatherings produced the consensus we're going to desegregate downtown nashville. >> i hated the system telling people that you cannot be seated at a lunch counter. you cannot go into a restaurant simply because of the color of your skin. and i wanted to be part of an effort to help change it. and i was prepared to put my body on the line. >> it was something deep down within me, moving me, that i could no longer be satisfied or go along with an evil system. >> in this letter i got from my mother, what are you fighting for? remember who are helping you, the school. it is the white people. what about the people of your race? what have they given you? i know she cares for me. i know she loves me. but she just don't understand. >> my mom, you hear my mother while she's washing dishes, she's praying, praying out loud. >> the whole time he was in the movement, it was -- it was frightening, especially for a younger brother that's, you know, 12 years younger and knowing the danger and knowing what could happen at any time. this cnn film, "john lewis: good trouble," is presented by wagon. cnn.com/johnlewisgoodtrouble to learn about the life and legacy of this civil rights icon. what sort of a person should become a celebrity accountant? and, i tell them, "nobody should." hey, buddy. what's the damage? [ on the phone ] i bought it! the waterfall? nope! my new volkswagen. a volkswagen?! i think we're having a breakthrough here. welcome to caesar's palace. thank you. ♪ and mine's unlisted.. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in new café mocha flavor. here's a choice you don't have to make:ses are always making choices. the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... or insanely great value. now, with t-mobile for business, there's no compromise. network. support. value. choose. all. three. t-mobile for business. ready when you are. . now, tonight we have the most important business to try to accomplish. and that is to try to have one major role-playing experience to set the stage for an actual demonstration for an actual sit-in. >> a bunch of niggers. look at these boys all lined up. >> hey, nigger lover, what are you doing here? why don't you go in the alley where you belong. >> i have some candy here, would you like some of that? >> let's get these niggers out of here. >> come on! [ laughter ] >> that was pretty good. >> how about that? >> what questions does this raise to us as to how we might act nonviolently? what are the basic problems here, this idea that we're working on? >> what is it that i would be able to do in the framework of passive and distance to protect myself. >> as creatively as possible, seek to be loving and forgiving in any situation. it may have much more meaning to the tracker as he strikes you on the cheek, you're looking him in the eyes. >> i've seen footage i've never seen before. >> we organized in nashville with john lewis, diane nash and the others. >> it was february the 13th and we had the very first sit-in in nashville, and i took my seat at the counter, i asked the waitress for a hamburger and a coke. >> i said, i'm sorry, it does not allow us to serve niggers in here. >> all- >> altogether there was a feeling within me that i was sitting there and demanding a god-given right and in spite of all of this, i had to keep loving the people who denied he service. >> they come in and sit town, and we're not used to them sitting down beside us. we wasn't raised with them. i've never lived with them, and i'm not going to start now. >> first, we had to change. and since we were no longer going to accept segregated lunch counters, it was over with. we protested because we had changed. we continued to give them the opportunity to also change because we believe that it was possible. ♪ >> on february 27th, 80 nashville students were arrested out of over 300 who were participating in the sit-ins that day. as the students were confronted with the choice of paying a $50 fine or spending over a month in jail, each of them chose jail. their attitude reflected the words of reverend martin luther king, we will meet the capacity to inflict suffering with the capacity to endure suffering. do what you will to us, but we will wear you down. >> we sought unity, we sought power, we felt strength. i don't think any of us will ever forget it. >> nashville became the first major city in the south to permit whites and negroes to eat together in public places. >> you come to the point, this feeling that if you don't do it, if you don't do everything you can to change things, we will remain the same. you only pass this way once, and you have to give it all you have. >> the radicalism of the civil rights movement, the social radicalism, the civic radicalism, all of that inspires a lot of the conclusions and the beliefs that i have today and i know that if john lewis as a 19, 20-year-old wasn't doing what he did, i would not be here today. >> growing allegations of voter suppression are emerging in the hard-fought race for governor in georgia. >> republican candidate and current georgia secretary of state brian kemp is accused of blocking about 53,000 voter applications, most of which are from minorities. >> democrats say he has dropped more than 1 million voters from the rolls since 2012. shuttered polling places in african-american communities. >> up until now, they only had three machines and that's forced some folks to wait in line for hours. >> those votes could be crucial for democratic candidate stacey abrams who's looking to be the first female black governor in u.s. history. >> there are forces in america today who want to take us back. but we're not going back. we've come too far. we're going forward! [ cheers and applause ] >> this is our choice and everyone who is legally eligible to vote in the state of georgia should take advantage of that opportunity. go to the polls on tuesday and cast your ballot because your voice matters. if i didn't matter, they wouldn't be trying to shut you up. >> yeah. >> we're going to meet rabid voter suppression with massive voter mobilization. [ cheers and applause ] >> the three civil rights workers that were murdered in mississippi for trying to help people get registered to vote are looking down on us. [ cheers and applause ] >> one of the great moments in my life was sharing with john lewis the voter registration card of his great, great grandfather from the summer of 1867. as soon as he was freed, as soon as the law allowed, because the reconstruction act, your great, great grandfather defied the odds and went down to the courthouse to register to vote. and i said, by my calculation, no one in your family between him, your great, great grandfather, and you because of what you did at pettus bridge, and the voting rights act, no one in your family line voted between him and you. and he looked at me and -- his head hit the scrapbook. he just cried and cried and cried. and then he looked up and said, i guess it's in my dna. >> good morning. good morning. how are you doing? good to see you. yes! yes. [ applause ] >> hi, how are you doing, my dear? >> are you voting today? >> i'm voting today. >> what's your date of birth? >> okay. >> you're all set to vote. >> thank you. i'm happy to see so many people participating, and i truly believe we're going to take back the house of representatives. >> are you concerned about voter suppression? >> well, i am concerned because there's been a deliberate, systematic effort in this state to suppress the vote. >> control of congress is at stake as voters make a critical decision on what sort of senate and house the president will deal with for the second half of his first term. >> this early in the evening, too early to call -- >> michael, do you know where we're going? i guess i'm going to go through the kitchen. fine, how are you doing? good to see you. >> you like that? boom. >> thank you. it's going to continue to be a long night. anything else on texas? >> 76%. >> hello, everybody! i said to you tonight, the vote is still the most powerful nonviolent instrument of tool we have in our democratic society and we must use it. are you with me? >> yeah! >> are you with stacey? >> yeah! >> let me hear you! [ cheers and applause ] >> good. thank you so much. >> i think it will be a long evening. >> yeah, yeah. >> do we have anything out of texas in the house? >> nothing out of texas. >> so we picked up 15 already? >> come on, baby! >> oh, god, i hope we can get rid of this guy here. no, king, king. a total racist. he is so bad. yeah! yes! oh, this is a good win. hi, lizzie. congratulations. i'm so proud of you. >> senator ted cruz, the incumbent republican will beat the democrat beto o'rourke. >> brian kemp's campaign declaring victor in georgia's gubernatorial race. >> stacey abrams' team is insisting this is not over yet. >> i'm sorry about -- well, stacey and this kid. this kid. >> they called it. doesn't look good. >> house democratic control. >> that's pretty much it. >> yeah! >> what's it like to be in the majority again? >> that's the best news. >> in the majority again. >> once again. we can't mess it up this time. ♪ drop the taco, get in the car. does this sentra feel like a compromise to you? wait what? the handling, it's good right? no compromise there... nope. watch this... brie brie... 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first native american women, the first black woman from massachusetts, the first latina woman from texas. >> democrats picked up more than two dozen house seats to take control for the first time in eight years. >> it's a happy moment. i just feel grateful and i'm ready to take that oath. >> good to see you. >> good to see you, always. >> you're looking good, brother. >> as you. >> thank you. >> it is my honor to introduce to you all the history-making 55 members of the congressional black caucus of the 116th congress. >> under the leadership of marsha fudge, terry soule, john lewis, we will be introducing and passing the voting rights act in this congress. >> i remember him saying, love your country like you love yourself. and that spoke to me because my grandfather always talked about the love that he had for this democracy that was unlike anyone else because it was the kind of love that only a person who experienced the absence of it could have. and this was a country that had a hard time loving people like john lewis. but he loved it and was willing to, as he said, get a concussion so that the conscience of the country was awakened. there are great bruises that we take as catalysts for change and the fight we embark on on behalf of people isn't often only a fight that is brought to us, it's a fight that we willingly engage in. >> i -- >> john lewis -- >> -- do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. >> thank you for all that you have done to lay a pathway for 55 members. you need to know that. >> thank you. >> all right. >> appreciate it. >> that goes to selma. that doesn't go when you first got elected. >> thank you. >> john and i took different paths after college. i got married. john went out and organized the freedom rides at the time. he's probably the most courageous person i ever met. >> i heard that the congress of racial equality would be sponsoring the freedom rides. and i applied to be accepted as a freedom rider. >> even though the law of the land says a passenger can ride interstate and participate in the lunchrooms and bathrooms and waiting rooms, everyone cannot, particularly the negroes. >> even though you had a supreme court decision made, the freedom rides was an effort to test the facilities. >> within a matter of weeks, freedom riders are boarding buses all over the south. the riders are harassed and jailed, sometimes they're beaten by angry crowds of whites while southern sheriffs look the other way. >> the night of may 3rd, we went to a chinese restaurant in downtown washington to get something to eat. growing up in rural alabama, i never had chinese food before. someone that evening said, you should eat well because this may be like the last supper. >> they were coming through south carolina. so i said to my wife that i thought i would meet the bus in rock hill. and she reminded me that i was no longer a college student. at that time we were expecting our first child. so i did not meet the bus. >> the tall gentleman with the seat on, that's abbot bigelow. he was my seat mate from washington, d.c. to rock hill, south carolina. we arrived in rock hill. we were attacked by members >> i was never as nonviolent as john is. i don't think i would have taken what he took. >> i lost all sense of fear, really. when you lose your sense of fear, you're free. too many people live in fear during those days. >> we cannot continue to accept these conditions of oppression for this is not a struggle for ourselves alone. it is a drug to save the soul of america. >> the best thing for king and all the so-called freedom riders is to return to their homes and mind their own business. >> we decided to have a mass meeting and thousands of people showed up. >> now, we've had an ugly mob outside. they burned some automobiles. we are calm, we are together, we are not afraid. >> dr. king and the reverend went to the basement of the church. they spoke to the attorney general and he told president kennedy, there was a serious problem here at this church. >> they brought in the national guard to quell the riots. >> the city is on national alert and troops are on the way. >> it led to desegregation of public transportation all across the south. >> so much of john lewis' activism was to highlight the inaction of the federal government. despite all this violence, the targeted violence in the south, the federal government had its hands tied. they were ringing their hands. they were saying, wait another day, compromise, slow down, don't get too hasty. and it was that attitude and that energy of youth of saying, why do we have to wait our entire lives to be seen as equal in the eyes of the law? >> one of my big experiences in the congress, which i treasure, was working under john lewis' leadership and other members of the congressional black caucus. we put together the voting rights act that was passed in 2006 in a bipartisan way, we walked house and senate leadership down the steps of the capitol to salute the fact that we have written a new voting rights act. >> the right of men and women to determine their own political future lies at the heart of the american experiment by reauthorizing this act, congress has reaffirmed its belief that all men are created equal. >> i view the voting rights act of 1965 and its subsequent amendments as the most important civil rights bill that was passed during the '50s and '60s because it effectively enfranchised minority voters and not just african-americans in the south. but other minority voters of different ethnic backgrounds in the north and i think that the cooperation, which has been outstanding between john lewis and myself, ends up being an example and we can get important things done by being bipartisan, whereas if we were not bipartisan, they never would have happened. >> president george bush signed the legislation and came to it for the 50th anniversary and spoke about how proud he was to have signed that voting rights act. so i think that the voting rights act and john lewis cannot be separated. (vo) with t-mobile for business, your business has an easy choice. the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... insanely great value. choose. all. three. ready when you are. it's considered one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation ever passed. but by 5-4, the supreme court took the teeth out of the law enacted nearly 50 years ago. >> president johnson signed the law in 1965, and ever since, the voting rights act has policed voting discrimination. >> today, the supreme court suck a dagger in the heart of the voting rights act. they're saying in effect that history cannot repeat itself, but i say come and walk in my shoes. >> shelby county was suing the justice department, and when you sue the justice department, you name the attorney general as the defendant in the case. and so that's why my name unfortunately appears on that case. the shelby county decision is one of the most disastrous supreme court decisions of all time. it gutted the authority that the justice had which in essence gave the justice department the ability to challenge the change that would be made and covered locality with regard to voting procedures. that way the justice department can stop something from happening as opposed to filing a lawsuit after an election had already occurred. since shelby county, about 27 states have actually passed a necessary photo i.d. laws, purged voter rolls. and over a thousand polling places around the country have been moved. polling places have been moved without any notice. a whole variety of things to playing it more difficult for people to get access to the ballot, contrary to the very work that john lewis stood for all his life. >> one federal judge said about what north carolina did, they acted with surgical-like precision to disenfranchise african-americans. that's hard for me to watch how that happened. and john lewis beat back numerous attempts over his career of people trying to alter voting rights in a way that would discrimination against not just african-americans but low income americans and so many others. >> we have state legislatures deliberately trying to make it harder for people to vote. over time, the hard-won battles of 50 years ago eroded. and our democracy erodes. >> we just came out of the 2016 election. there is the first presidential election, 50 years without the full protections of the voting rights act. >> i waited 6:15 to vote. >> the expected wait time is three to four hours. >> just open up. >> they had one polling location for 100,000 students. >> then the recorder goes out and blames the voters for this. how dare you blame us for this! >> house democrats unveiled their first major piece of legislation. it puts more power in the hands of voters by restoring the voting rights act and improving automatic voter registration. >> today we are introducing hr 1 to clean up corruption and restore integrity to government. >> the last two years made it clear there are forces that invest thousands and millions of dollars in drowning out the voice of the people of this country. >> i truly believe the way votes were not counted in georgia and florida and other states changed the election. that must never happen again. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says the senate will not vote on hr 1. >> that bill would make election day a new paid holiday for government workers. >> this new democrat socialist majority wants the federal government to interfere in our free and fair elections. >> it violates our free speech rights by requiring the publishing of the names and addresses of donors. >> every day in the congress it's a fight. i just keep believing that we can change things. that we can make things better. ♪ when the world is tossing me ♪ like on the sea ♪ thou knows, o lord ♪ stand by, stand by, stand by me ♪ >> when we got arrested, the thing that held us up and helped us go through all the brutality and uncertainty was the music. >> i couldn't carry a tune. >> congressman lewis said he couldn't carry a tune. do you want to -- >> no, no. >> they played together, the dogs from the black family and the white family. but the children couldn't play together. so they made up a song called dogs. ♪ my dog love your dog and your dog love my dog ♪ ♪ then why can't we sit under the apple tree ♪ ♪ walk with me ♪ why don't you hold my hand ♪ tell me you understand ♪ now can't you see you and me ♪ we would be so happy sitting under the apple tree ♪ [ applause ] ♪ >> welcome, brother. how have you been doing? >> i'm doing good. >> how are you doing, my dear? >> so good to see you again. >> thank you all so much. >> good to see you. >> thank you. >> that's a good sign. >> praise god. >> you got lipstick on the side, the front. >> michael, you need to stop it. pray for this guy. pray. i didn't ask anyone to kiss me. the little old lady just walked up. michael, you won't assist an old man going up the step? >> come on! >> watch the water. >> michael? >> what? >> look, i've been baptized. some water sprinkle on your head, i went under. >> what's the difference? you mean baptizing me? >> yes. i went under. in a creek. >> i had a sprinkle. what's the difference? >> just a little going on your head. we go down under the water and bring us back up. >> how have you been? >> good. >> fighting, kicking. >> one chicken is on one side. my chickens are nonviolent. i taught them the way of peace. >> that's the way i look as a young boy growing up outside of troy. >> the very first time i saw this piece, part of me thinks that's john lewis. but the other part thinks it might be jay-z. it has a little hair on it. >> that's so true. >> when i was asked by a student on the coordinating committee to chair the organization, i was elected and i moved to atlanta. i remember being in one meeting. thurgood marshall said, john, you're just a fool. keep going getting arrested and get go your head beat in. just get one case and we'll take it to the naacp. i said mr. marshall, we're still young. 21, talking to thurgood marshall? i said mr. marshall? i appreciate all your work. appreciate your contribution. but we need a mass movement. my first major responsibility was to represent snic to help organize the march on washington. >> i wrote congressman lewis's introduction speech for barack obama when he was being nominated in 2008. i said to him, congressman, have you ever spoken before a crowd this large? and he looked at me and said, brenda, i spoke at the march on washington. and i thought, right, of course! >> i have the pleasure to present him to this nonviolent coordinating committee, brother john lewis. [ applause ] >> in the beginning, president kennedy was not supportive of my idea of a march. he thought there would be violence and chaos. maybe we wouldn't get a civil rights group through congress. i learned to listen to people like dr. king, roy wilkins, james farmer, brittney young. >> sensitive and aware that he wanted things to go smoothly. when i asked him to change the speech, one phrase, marching into atlanta like shearman, which sounded a little inflammatory. he agreed that he would accommodate by taking that out. >> let us not forget that we are involved in a serious social revolution. a political party that will make it unnecessary to march on washington. we're in a political party that will make it unnecessary to march in the streets of birmingham. we will march through the streets of danville, through the streets of birmingham. but we will march with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have sewn here today. we must say wake up, america, wake up. for we can not stop and we will not be patient. [ applause ] 18 days after the march on washington, birmingham, alabama, a bomb exploded in the 16th street baptist church just before a sunday service. 15 people were injured. four children were killed. black people in this country have been the victims of violence at the hands of white men for 400 years and following the ignorant negro preachers, we thought it was godlike to turn the other cheek to the group brutalizing us. and today we are seeing that black people in this country as the white man and every other person on this earth has god given rights, civil rights, any kind of rights when it comes to defending themselves, we should have the right to defend ourselves also. >> i took the position that whatever we do, we must do it in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion. and i believe in the interracial movement. that's the only way we're going to succeed. i served three long years as chair of snic. and i remember people at one of the meetings that we had start talking about black power. during those days i never chanted black power. i think we all have power. i was elected. stokley succeeded. >> so we form our own power and we seek power. we want power and this is the way we get it. >> and i say it's time for me to leave. ♪ locating your parked car with the touch of a button might seem... excessive. unless... getting lost is the whole point. ♪ here's a choice you don't have to make:ses are always making choices. the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... or insanely great value. now, with t-mobile for business, there's no compromise. network. support. value. choose. all. three. t-mobile for business. ready when you are. keeping your oysters busihas you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo and mine's unlisted.. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in new café mocha flavor. kitty? kitty, kitty? another one went under there someplace. this piece is saying in effect that the same hands that picked cotton, but today these hands are picking elected officials. they are elected officials. this is one of the first major pieces of art that we acquired. my wife was born and reared in los angeles, downtown l.a., there was this gallery where we saw this piece. my wife fell in love with it. i fell in love with it. it's confrontation. it's a very powerful piece. my wife, she would determine some way to save enough money for us to buy it. that's what she did. >> she had come to atlanta to accept a job at atlanta university. she knew every speech that martin luther king ever made. and he had heard about her so he said, do you remember when i made the speech at the university of ohio? she said no, that was not where you made that speech. that was the university of denver. he would fall down laughing. she was very opinionated, independent, and smart. i liked john because he was just kind. and one day i got the idea, hmm, i think they would make a good match. >> she was wearing a beautiful dress. it had the peace symbols. and i said to myself, this young lady believes in peace. and i don't know whether it was planned or a conspiracy on the part of the host of the party. >> and it was a beautiful marriage. >> i love my mom. she was a ray of light in my heart right there. she loves traveling. we would go to rural alabama. she couldn't stand us fishing. she said so it was so cruel, pulling the fish out of the water and the fish is jumping and trying to breathe for life and she didn't think that was the right thing to do. but then we cooked the fish, she ate the fish. >> i think he relied on her tremendously. it's hard to tell what kind of void that creates for him. >> he got quiet, like sad, sad. you love her but you have to let her go. >> i'm honored and privileged to welcome all of you to the staff reunion for the honorable congressman john lewis. i worked for the congressman 20 years as his receptionist. i am so very grateful for valuable lessons that i learned from him. get into trouble, good trouble. speak up and speak out. and most importantly, don't get lost in a sea of despair. >> what he has meant to me, i'm sure he means the same thing to all of you folks in this room tonight. let's give him a big round of applause. come on up, mr. lewis. >> hello, everybody. you look good! all of you look so young. what happened to me? thank you for putting up with me. sometime i was not the most nonviolent person. but i appreciate you. i love you. aah! oh! you really don't want to hear that story. no, don't make me do it. don't try me. well, you know, i grew up in rural, alabama -- [ laughter ] outside of a little place called troy. any of you know anything about raising chickens? you don't want to hear this story. when i was a little boy, i wanted to be a minister and i would preach to the chickens. some of these chickens would bow their heads, some of them would shake their heads. they never quite said amen. that's enough of that. look. we all have been called to do something. you that are so young must continue to lead. >> this is what i'm saying to the committee. >> yes, sir. this is the statement for the introduction at the caucus. >> how many witnesses are we having? >> we only have five. four democrats, one republican. two former -- >> don't make me laugh. >> i won't. >> two of our witnesses -- >> it seemed like we -- doing to them -- >> what they did to us. >> it's so long, you know. now we're the majority. today's hearing, we will review whether a president, vice president, any candidate for these offices should be required by law to make their tax return available to the public. you're not a stranger. you've been before this committee before. so we'll try to keep a little humor going. >> yes, sir. you have 20 minutes. have you eaten yet, congressman? >> yes, yes. i think we're ready. >> it takes a little shine off there. >> what about my forehead? i don't want to blind anyone. >> i told him, i said oversight? like a well oiled machine. we don't do drama. >> when president nixon faced questions about his federal income taxes, he said, i welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. >> understanding president trump's financial interests could shed light on exactly how he and his businesses will be affected by the massive tax legislation he championed last year. >> it would set a very dangerous precedent. the question is, where does it end? what about the tax return of the speaker? members of congress? >> the chairman of the committee may request the tax return information of anyone from the treasury secretary who is obligated to furnish it. should the secretary refuse, we would be in uncharted territory. >> the treasury secretary steve mnuchin defying yet another subpoena from congress. this time for six years of the president's tax returns. >> house speaker pelosi became the latest democrat to call the trump administration's refusal to supply with congressional subpoenas, the first to indicate a constitutional crisis. >> john lewis! >> how are you doing? >> i want to you meet my old lady. >> how are you? how are you doing? >> good to see you. >> you're my hero. >> thank you. >> i want to thank you for all your service all these years. we really look up to you. >> what is it like walking through an airport? >> two years. it could take an hour, 30 minutes. >> good to meet you. >> i've had to impersonate john a number of times. the reason is you'll have, i'll have a whole family come up. and they're saying, johnny, this is john lewis! and i'm like, i don't want to embarrass the parents. i've gotten a lot of pictures taken where people just assumed that i was john lewis. but you know what? i am so glad that they mistake me for a great man. >> one time we were in the marketplace in ghana. john lewis! >> such an honor. >> cab drivers in egypt. >> just busy! >> the afternoon is really packed so we'll move quickly through those meetings. you have doug wilker. you remember him. >> okay. sorry keeping you. >> we would really appreciate if you would consider drafting a letter to the georgia delegation to support the project. >> the system needs to be developed in a way where it is helpful for those who are trying to follow the system. >> okay. make yourself comfortable. >> who has to advocate better for veterans when the nurse is sitting right there at the bedside taking care of them. >> i'm sorry to keep you waiting. good to see you. mostly a drink of water. we have something a little stronger. we have coca-cola, we have tea. >> we each hoping through your oversight committee that you could bring our ceo, one of our largest employers, randall stevenson, before your committee. he promised 7,000 new jobs if they pass the tax bill. so we are asking for an investigation into these corporations and what have they done with the tax breaks? >> we're coming to you to start the impeachment. >> we have to save our democracy. sometimes i feel like we're going to lose it. by winning the majority back in the house, we, as nancy pelosi said, the speaker, whatever we do, we're going to do it in a systematic way. so stand by. it has been a long day. i'm good. i just want david to stop flying like chicken. >> y'all take care. thank you for coming. >> yes, sir. >> they're coming. we get a jovial, funny, we get the lighter john lewis in the district office. it was the congressman's birthday. we had a birthday lunch and a birthday cake. we did a little singing. >> and i posted it. >> break dance! >> my song. ♪ >> the next day i was getting calls from everyone saying it had gone viral. i didn't know what gone viral meant. >> this has nothing to do with civil rights. this has everything to do with a a little mojo. >> there was so much going on in the country. it made people happy, literally. >> he loves to dance. did you see the video? 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>> good to see you. >> i know him. >> have you registered to vote yet? >> no. >> we're going to take some of your neighbors down. we'll take you down and bring you back. the easiest thing in the world. >> it's not enough to register. on election day we must vote. we must have some control over our political destiny. >> in selma, they only had 2.1% of the black people of voting age registered in 1965. today in selma, more than 30% of blacks of voting age are registered to vote. >> do you remember when you decided to run for office? >> i was in robert kennedy's room when he was murdered in los angeles. i thought maybe i should run for something and i decided to run. my first race was not that successful. i went to washington and worked with president carter for three years and came back and ran for a city council seat in atlanta. and the congressional office came open, i ran. >> julian bond and john lewis friends for 25 years, now running against each other for the same seat in congress. >> how are you doing today? appreciate your help. >> it stees highest possibility for a black elected official that would like to move up. i think most politicians like to move up. >> i'm going to win. but we're still going to be good friends. >> there were no serious issue differences between the two until lewis made one. he took a drug test and challenged bond to do the same. >> these tests are wrong and they're wrong in the workplace and wrong in your attempt to pander to the fears of the voters. >> bond called it a cheap political trick. demagoguery. mccarthyism. >> i've known you 25 years. our families have been to disneyland together. we've been to south africa together. we marched and picketed together. i've never heard you say these things you said about me this year. >> john lewis voted today a few blocks from where julian bond cast his ballot. >> it was a stunning political upset. atlanta's city councilman john lewis defeated state senator julian bond. >> john lewis, congratulations. >> thank you. >> you gained the nomination. was it worth the price, the stress on your friendship? >> well, a very difficult race. julian is a good and close friend. we were friends long before this campaign and we'll continue to be friends. >> julian bond, do you still see john lewis the way you did before this begansome >> i couldn't say that. there's been a real strain put on this relationship put on the two of us. i'll sure in time wounds will heal. >> you had a big lead and you were supposed to have won this election. why didn't you wind up with more votes? >> he got more votes than i did. >> why? >> it was pretty obvious from the returns. while black voters favored me by a pretty substantial margin, about 60/40, white voters favored him about 80/20 and that was the deciding factor. >> you were an activist on the frontlines in the 1960s. now you're a bureaucrat. you've become part of the establishment. >> i see the role today and that of others, part of government, as continuing that movement of the '60s. >> the battle ground has shifted to washington and these other areas? >> and it is no longer the drama in the streets. it is in washington, in city hall, the state capitols around the south and around this country. being on the outside, i had to struggle, i had to fight. now i'm fighting from within. i've not looked back since. it is a calling to serve. >> there is nothing wrong with putting poor people to work, providing job training and daycare. >> people don't like to think of him as a legislator. >> today, this not only protects our nation's minorities but the needs of those with disabilities and families with children. >> every representative standing up here today played an important role in the passage of this land mark civil rights bill. and i want to mention special representative john lewis. >> you are voting for a declaration of war. the american people don't want war. >> how long do we have to wait before we ban assault weapons? we have another opportunity to bring more of our citizens into political participation. >> there were offenses put in the criminal code. and he was against the death penalty as a matter of conscience. the older i've gotten, maybe the closer i've come to his position. maybe what we need is a little more reconciliation and rebuilding. >> american workers are suffering. they're working hard and they're still living in poverty. that's not right. we should have put an end to don't ask, don't tell. we are going to pass national health care. we must stop this cycle from being repeated over and over and over again. >> he challenges the conscience of a congress every day that he is here. >> we're calling on the leadership of the house to bring common sense gun patrol legislation to the house floor. let us vote! we came here to do our job. we came here to work. we will occupy this floor. >> he sat on the house floor, holding hands with other members and i thought, that's exactly what i would do. you probably didn't realize this girl sitting in her living room in southwest detroit looking at the screen of this legendary man, it was pretty incredibly inspiring. and now i'm serving with him. it's kind of surreal. >> when donald trump came in and tried to take away health care, i called john lewis and said can we just open up facebook and have a conversation? because of him, five, ten, 20, hundreds of people show up to sit with us and have a conversation about why health care is so important. >> we were in a stalemate regarding the building of the wall. then we went to the united states senate. and we did a sit-in. and i remember myself and some of my other freshmen colleagues wanting to yell out from the side, shame on you. and congressman lewis said, that's not how we do it. and i mean, you could have heard a pin drop. >> john lewis introduced the legislation in 1988 for the african-american culture and history museum. so john was always trying to tell the story of african-americans in this country and the imperativeness of treating people with dignity and equality. >> you cannot replace john lewis. sit a matter of strategy. someone who has cultivated a story to remind us that our past is not passed. >> this is something you know a lot about. i wanted to put this front and center. and to see jose holding his nose. he knew they were getting ready to use the tear gas. >> oh, that's what he was doing. >> did you ever despair? >> no. you couldn't. you have to be hopeful you have to be optimistic. you get knocked down, you get up. you keep going. >> the monday after bloody sunday, after we were beaten in selma, dr. king came to my hospital bed side and said john, don't worry. it's a call for religious leaders to come. >> the events in selma have come to a climax by a nighttime attack on a white boston minister by white men. he died two days later. >> president lyndon johnson spoke to the nation. >> it's not just negroes but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. >> and we shall overcome. >> the first time an american president quoted the words of the theme song of the movement. >> i don't know if i could participate in the march today but it is my feeling that people all over this country, particularly the people right here in alabama, right here in selma, should continue to march toward montgomery. ♪ ♪ turn me around ♪ turn me around ♪ ain't going to let nobody turn me around, turn me around ♪ ♪ ain't going to let nobody turn me around ♪ ♪ ain't going to let nobody turn me around ♪ ♪ ain't going to let nobody turn me around ♪ ♪ can't let them turn me around ♪ ♪ ain't going to let nobody turn me around ♪ ♪ just keep on walking, i keep on talking ♪ >> we have a new song that we're going sing some, "we have overcome." ♪ i keep on walking ♪ keep on talking ♪ i keep on marching >> president johnson sends to congress a bill to reinforce the right to vote. the president signs an accompanying letter urging swift passage for the bill that would outlaw discriminatory passages. >> we will use the energy, the resources of our organization to implement the voting law. we are going to the entire state of georgia, mississippi, north carolina, to get hundreds and thousands and literally millions of negro people who have been denied the right to vote and they will participate in the democratic process. >> in three years, mississippi has seen an increase of 800% in registered voters. 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what he wrote on it, it's because of you, john. barack obama. and when i saw him at his second inauguration, he said to me, and he remembered so well, he said, it's still because of you, john. i said, well, thank you, mr. president. like a dream come true to think about it, what is going on, just makes me feel like crying again. >> they want everybody to vote. i don't want everybody to vote. elections are not won by a majority of people. they never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. as a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populous goes down. >> our democracy is under attack, and it is under attack in a way that we have not seen for 50 years. ♪ >> today i come with a heavy heart, deeply concerned about the future of our democracy. people have a right to know whether they can put their faith and trust in the outcome of our election. >> some of those old battles that many of us thought had been fought and won, we have to re-engage. this is not a time for despair. this is a time for action. that's what i learned from john lewis. >> in one afternoon 50 years ago, so much of our turbulent history, all that history met on this bridge. their faith was questioned. their lives were threatened. their patriotism challenged. and yet what could be more american than what happened in this place? the voting rights act was one of the crowning achievements of our democracy. president reagan signed its renewal when he was in office. president george w. bush signed its renewal when he was in office. if we want to honor this name, pledge to restore that law this year. that's how we honor those on this bridge. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm gonna let it shine ♪ oh, this little light of mine ♪ ♪ yeah, i'm gonna let it shine ♪ everybody sing ♪ this little light of mine oh, i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ ♪ >> we will create a beloved community. we will redeem the soul of america. there may be some setbacks, some delays, but as a nation and as a people, we will get there. and i still believe we shall overcome. ♪ it might seem crazy what i'm about to say ♪ congressman john lewis leads thousands of people through the streets in downtown atlanta, a march for social justice and women. hun of hundreds of similar events organized all around the globe. >> congressman john lewis will introduce one of the nominees for this weekend's oscars. >> you know, it's good to be out of washington sometimes. ♪ clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth ♪ >> john lewis has earned ever lasting gratitude for the pursuit of equality and justice for all. ♪ what happiness is to you ♪ clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do ♪ ♪ here come bad news talking this and that ♪ ♪ there are a few first ladies who really are milestones, cultural milestones, who help us understand what's going on in larger society. >> it took me some time doing a little dreaming to be standing right here, today. >> she hadn't forgotten that journey and the challenges that she faced. >> when you've worked hard and done well and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. no, you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed. >> from the moment they enter into the white house, it becomes historic, but this is also a representation of americans' better selves. >> that is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to the stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done. so don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again because this right now is the greatest country on earth. ♪ hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, a stunning new report about trump's taxes. what we're learning about how much he paid and the debts he must repay in the coming years. no signs of slowing, india hits a coronavirus milestone as concerns grow around the world about the upcoming flu season. and -- long-simmering tensions between