that worked for him. he expected a lot of them for sure, but there s no doubt that this is a very sad day for the state department, for america s diplomats and for anyone who worked for him. well, our sympathies are with you and all those who knew him so well. michael sang, we appreciate your time today. thank you so much. that s going to do it for me this hour. andrea mitchell reports starts next. good day, everyone. this is andrea mitchell reports in washington where we are mourning the passing of a military leader, a statesman, an advocate for immigrant and minority rights, general colin powell. general powell who started as a foot soldier in vietnam and rose to four-star general and the first black chairman of the joint chiefs and later secretary of state has died at age 84 from covid complications. he was vaccinated but was also
covid-19 related complications despite being vaccinated according to his family. we are watching for reaction from the white house. we ve already seen tributes start to pour in for the man who served in high level positions for four presidents. a man who put country first. rejecting blind party allegiance and division. he was a national security adviser to ronald reagan, chairman of the joint chiefs to president george h.w. bush and president clinton and he finished his career in government as secretary of state under president george w. bush. president bush this morning says powell was such a fair of presidents that he earned the presidential medal of freedom twice. he was highly respected at home and abroad and most important, collin was a family man and friend. joining me now, kelly o donnell at the white house. nbc s chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. also with us, michael sing who served as assistant secretary to special assistant to
i want to play part of what he told her about his personal experiences, andrea touched on this, growing up in the jim crow era. for america to be america, the kind of america i love, the kind of america i served for most of my adult life, we have to make sure that we re opening up that america and the opportunities that exist in america to every person who says they re an american or an immigrant, for that matter. i m the son of immigrants. my parents came here in banana boats from jamaica, and all they said to me was do your very, very best, and always make sure that you love this country of ours now that we are members of this country of ours. michael, in the time that you worked with him, did his place in history, did his personal story weigh on him? did he see in it opportunity? both? well, you know, he was an inspirational figure for so many of us. i m the son of immigrants as well. to see what he accomplished
sought out expertise and the respect he had for professionalism, the professional military, professional foreign service. you know, i think all of that sprang from who he was as a person, and how he came up from childhood through the ranks and into this remarkable positions he had. michael, kelly, and jack jacobs, thank you for your expertise, your thoughts this morning on the extraordinary life of colin powell. we ll continue to follow reaction to colin powell s death this morning. we re also tracking a lot of other developing stories. including a kidnapping in haiti of 17 members of an american missionary group, including children. what we know at this hour. plus jury selection just getting underway for the three men charged in the murder. what we re seeing in court. and a special look at the mental health toll facing police officers. the widow of a d.c. officer who