Look at a Church Service thats about to begin. Brown chapel ame church, john lewis family is beginning to arrive and those who will pay their respects today as well. This will be an hour of emotional memories, as you might imagine, of the life that was extraordinary of an american, his body will follow the route of bloody sunday. On his way back march 7, 1965, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Congressman lewis described what happened that day and its impact all these days later. Lets watch together. Selma, help free and liberate not just american south, we help liberate our country. As a nation, weve come a great distance. White, colored signs are gone. The only place we would see those signs today would be in a book, in a museum, on a sled owe. We still have a distance to travel before we lay down the burden of race. I thought i was going to die on this bridge. Somehow, some way, god almighty almighty can i give up now . If can i give in . Can i give many in . Keep the faith, keep your eyes on the prize. Those that never, ever voted before. [cheers and applause] some gave more than a little blood, some gave their very lives. Go out, speak up, speak out harris and from here we will go back, this is selma, alabama, on march 1st. As you see congressman john lewis there. Theres so many details about his life that stand out on a day like today. For instance, he was born 79 years after the start of the civil war, and there was much work to do, as you heard him say, and his very words not long ago. And now we revisit some of his journey. And this is a celebration. His family has been part of planning all of this weeklong celebration nearly, six events that will commemorate his life. So you will hear a lot of that type of tone today. Lets watch the Church Service in selma. We are so deeply blessed to have touched, been touched by his greatness. He will forever change selma and this nation. On bloody sunday in 1965, john was confronted by Alabama State troopers and their dogs. They beat him with billy clubs, fracturing his skull. But john was determined to fight for equality and justice, putting his own life on the line in the service of others and a Brighter Future for everyone. John crossed bridges so many times, insisting that our nation live up to the ideals upon which it was founded. As he always said, he gave a little blood on that bridge. As always, john was humble. His humility rang true. As he takes his final march, that final crossing, john bridged the gap that so often divided us. Our political a parties working day for a more just and equitable america. My heart is full knowing that john is crossing that selma bridge today in his final march. His final march, that final crossing so different from the first speaks to the legacy that he leaves behind and the lives that he has changed. Its poetic justice that this time Alabama State troopers will see john to his safety. They will accompany him on his last trip over the selma bridge and on to montgomery where he will lie in state at the capitol. John has left this earth, but his legacy remains on. And we continue to benefit from his lifes work. Hes laid out the blueprint for us to pick up the baton and continue his march for Voting Rights, for civil rights, for human rights. John believed firmly that the best days of our nation lie ahead of us. I hope his passing causes us to rededicate ourselves to getting into good trouble, necessary trouble. Cant you hear him . Never give up. Never give in. Keep the faith. Keep your eyes on the prize. For john and our nation, lets make him proud. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome gospel recording artist crispin glover. Precious lord, take my hand. Lead me on and let me stand. I am tired, i am weak. And i am through the storm and through, through the night. Lead me on to the light. Take, take my hand, precious lord, and lead me home. When my way draws precious lord, linger near. When, when my life is hear my cry, hear my call. Hold my hand, hold my hand, lord, lest i e fall. Take, take my hand, precious lord and led lead me home [applause] please welcome the pastor of the Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church [inaudible] oliver. If you would, pray with me. Father of [inaudible] god of our [inaudible] thou who has brought us thus far all the way, thou who [inaudible] led us into the light, keep us forever in thy path, we pray. Most gracious father, we come before your presence this morning reverent to you as our god, understanding that it is you who have made us and not we ourselves, that we are the sheep of your pasture, and it is in you that we live and have our being. Finish we thank you for this day. We thank you for life and another opportunity to serve you this day and live out your purposes in the world. We thank you, lord, for this occasion as we have assembledded ourselves here to assembled ourselves here to give thanks to you for a life well lived. Thank you for congressman john lewis. Thank you, father, for his legacy. His legacy of being a freedom fighter, his legacy of being a foot soldier for justice, the legacy of being a servant of humanity. As he walked humbly with you and as he always remembered his roots and always strived so that this world could be a better place, a more equitabling world, a world that is more just and more righteous. Thank you for your service to humanity. Thank you, lord, that he was willing to get in the way. Thank you that he was willing to stir good trouble. Thank you for his voice, the voice that will resonate in our hearts and minds for years and generations to come. Thank you for his message. Thank you, lord, for using him for such a time as this to bridge divides and help us become a more Perfect Union. I pray this morning for his family, i pray, lord, that you will comfort them as only you can, that you will undergird them with your strength and grant them your grace. I pray for your peace that you are passes all understanding surpasses all understanding to guard their hearts and their minds through christ jesus, our lord. And, lord, i pray that we who are still remaining, who still have blood running warm in our veins, that we too will stand for justice, that we will stand for righteousness, that we will lift our voices for you, lift our voices for the cause that is just and right. Until we hear your welcome voice say well done, good and faithful servant. As congressman lewis crosses the alabama river, we rejoice today knowing that hes already crossed the jordan river, and hes now resting in your presence. In jesus mighty name we pray and can all these things and ask all these things, amen. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the structured program, but we just have a few notes that we need to give everyone. First and foremost, if we can just show some appreciation to the congresswoman for helping to put this Wonderful Program together. [applause] and, of course, the pastor and the leadership here at the historic brown chapel ame church. [applause] so this announcement, these announcements are specifically for all of our friends who have joined us this morning. Given that we are still very much in a covid19 season and to insure the Public Safety of everyone that wants to be a part of harris so as they have wrapped up the very short ceremony at brown chapel ame church in selma, alabama, theyre getting ready to do the ceremonial crossing with congressman john lewis carried by a caisson across that bridge. Given the time that were in with coronavirus and a pandemic, the notes that they give and a socially distanced posture that weve just seen during the Short Service are stark reminders of present day, arent they . You probably noticed, as i did, that the social distance was filled with beautiful voices, filling the spaces between them and all of us on this day. March 7th,1965, a route across the bridge 1200 feet would begin to change america. House minority whip Steve Scalise with me now as we watch this procession. Congressman, youre with me . Yes, harris, good morning. How are you . Harris good morning. Of you know, this is meant to be a celebration of the life of john lewis, and you knew him. You and i were born a week apart in 1965, and this hadnt happened yet, but it would be months later, and you were born in the south, as i was as well. And i want to get from you today what the journey was like to take it with john lewis for years in congress after this crossing. What difference did he make . What an unbelievable difference he made and what an honor it was for me to be able to serve with him and to get to know john lewis. He was a legend, he was a giant of the Civil Rights Movement, and you knew that when you walked into the capitol for the first time and you look at some of the people you get to serve with. And yet john was incredibly approachable. John was such a warm person, and he really did believe in sharing that history. He invited members on a regular basis to go to selma with him, and i was able to do that in 2016. In fact, my colleague that just gave those wonderful remarks, we started off at that brown ame church, the church where Martin Luther king jr. Would give so many passionate speeches from the pulpit, where john helped organize with other leaders, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which john was the head of, they would meet there at the church. And then ultimately, that day of bloody sunday, we marched that same route in 2016, and i was honored to be arm in arm with hum. And you know, harris, as we were walking the that long walk, you turn left are on broad street and you see the Edmund Pettis bridge, and it strikes you because i know the history of what happened to john that day. He was brutally beaten crossing that bridge, but he knew what was ahead of him, and yet he knew that he had to blaze that trail so that others could blaze bigger trails. And as we started down that road and youre looking at the bridge and im arm in arm with john, he starts pointing out land a marks, and he said, you know, thats where this group used to meet, and thats where they started organizing against us. He remembered that history as if it was yesterday, and he relived it because he wanted others to know that history as well. Just seeing that history, understanding how far weve come and how far we still want to go as a nation. Weve gotten so many of those miles because of great giants like john lewis. Harris you know, im curious, i mentioned that year of 1965, and it was part of that journey, those years, few if you will, that were so critical for america. And it wasnt just about people of color, africanamericans, it was about freedoms for everybody as we moved forward as a nation. And arguably, you and i might not be together today, yet we were born about the same time. And the differences that have happened in the country between then and now, were not in the same place. And, you know, as we look today and they get ready to take this journey with john lewis in a caisson across that bridge, we just can look and forecast a little bit of the future, i would imagine. You knew him. He was ill for a while with pancreatic cancer. Did you have a chance to talk with him, representative, about what he saw for our future . I got to talk to him about a number of things and, in fact, you know, john was battling cancer these last few months, and he wasnt able to come to the capitol every single day, but every now and then he would come. You know, we all smiled when we saw john because he was one of those people where as significant as he was in history, he never acted hike that. He had an incredible humanity and warmth humility and warmth. He didnt come to the podium to speak all the time, but when he did, everybody would just stop because you knew you were listening to somebody who spoke with a larger than life voice and had walked those miles to earn that respect. And he didnt carry it as if he was better than anyone else, he just wanted other people to share what he had and to understand what he had been through in a way that would help us all want to get to that same place. And so the just always a treat to be able to talk to john and to go and, you know, just look him in the eye e and get that warm smile back from him. Harris yeah. You know, were navigating a tough time right now, and i mentioned, you know, they were giving the instructions before they began to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge, per covid19 safety reductions and suggestions and guidelines restrictions and suggestions and guidelines. But were also at a time of strife in our country. Culture, race, our differences sometimes exploited in the streets across america and sometimes advocated for equality and justice. And im, you know, thinking back about what it would have been like in 1965 and what it should be like in 2020. What is it like on capitol hill . He was such a big voice, and, you know, with him now gone, we just flashed up on the careen that he was the last on the screen that he was the last surviving member of the march on washington in 1963. What did you take away, and what will you remember as you go forth . Because you its left to everybody else at this civil rights struggle moment. It sort of feels like that right now in america for some. Yes, it is, and, you know, you and i, as you say, were both born in 1965. Our country was a are different place back then a very different place back then, the south was, and weve come such a long way because of people like john lewis. He was one of the big six, like you said, one of the organizers of the march on washington. They were really marching at that time to get the Voting Rights about passed and, of course, it was bloody sunday that was that Pivotal Moment really that many people point to that say really turned the corner for our country to get that significant landmark passed into law. John was one of the original people that pushed for it with Martin Luther king jr. And the whole, the big six as the group was known. He was there at the white house and was honored by president kennedy and, ultimately, president johnson who worked with him on other achievements. But he never stopped fighting. He did believe in that nonviolent mantra that Martin Luther king jr. Always a talked about as well that, you know, you always keep fighting for what you believe in, you keep pushing. John just had that friendly way about him, but we all know he had been through some very brutal times, personal brute brutal beatings himself, but he always talked about the prize, continuing to fight for a more Perfect Union. We are a more Perfect Union because of john lewis. Harris minority whip Steve Scalise, appreciate your time and your perspective and your memories and your focus for the future today. Thank you. The caisson which will carry john lewis across the Edmund Pettus bridge is now moving. And you see people are gathered there. Our Steve Harrigan is actually on the ground, and i believe you can see some different perspectives from steve too, because youll see the bridge behind him. John, tell me a bit about the crowd, the people gathered there. Reporter harris, despite the social distancing and efforts by the family to tell people to watch this on tv, not to come because of the virus, people are still come out, some from very far away to get a glimpse of what were seeing here today, get a glimpse of a real hero making what they are calling the final crossing. This caisson is going to pause at the peak of this bridge for about 60 seconds, and then theres going to be a salute, an honor salute by the Alabama State troopers. Those Alabama State troopers 55 years ago were part of the force that beat john lewis and beat some of those 600 nonviolent protesters, 17 people hospitalized, lewis with a fractured skulker tried to get up again, beaten again. Thought he was going to die on that bridge. So in 55 years its gone from a beating to an honoring. A harm part of that is how america has changed, but also a large part of that is due to john lewis himself, harris. Harris you know, steve, as we look at this, i had mentioned that its about 1200 feet across that bridge. Youve given us kind of the lay of the land of what this will look like as they take that pause. There will be those people at the church as well, and so you can kind of see all the perspectives of this. Tell me about what the crowds are doing. Its obviously very quiet there. And we are going to pause take a moment and see if theres sound here. Please stand by. [inaudible conversations] [background sounds] [background sounds] harris and now we are watching, we were listening to see sometimes you will take in the silent moments because they fill in the gaps for what you see on screen, and its important to know whats going on on the ground. I want to bring back Steve Harrigan because he is there live for us in selma, alabama, and has so many vantage points from where hes standing up high. Steve, youre still with me . Reporter harris, a lot of people that weve spoken to, some young people too, really recognizing the debt they owe e to john lewis saying they are standing on john lewis shoulders, that theres still work to be done. And its interesting for people who have covered a lot of the protests since ferguson, missouri, on and the violence in those protests. Weve heard john lewis described today as a fighter and someone who got in the ring, but those protests when you go back and look at some of the black and white footage which changed america, they are simply astounding because they were violent, but in most cases the violence was on one side. When he comes down that pettus bridge, when he pauses there, his hands are in his pockets. He knows whats coming. To there is violence there, but there is also on the other side a real commitment, a deep commitment to nonviolence as well. Harris yeah, you remind us of those very important moments, those decisions that john lewis was making constantly to be nonviolent, to keep his hands in his pockets, as you so eloquently remind us of, Steve Harrigan<