>>> MOST PEOPLE OUT ON THE
STREETS, THAT’S A SEA CHANGE.
>> THEY’RE GOING TO HELP REDEEM
THE SOUL OF AMERICA AND SAVE OUR
COUNTRY, AND MAYBE HELP SAVE THE
PLANET.
>> WE ARE BACK ON THIS SATURDAY
MORNING, JULY 18th, 2020.
THAT WAS FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK
OBAMA, HOLDING A VIRTUAL TOWN
HALL LAST MONTH, ALONGSIDE
CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS.
THE TWO SPEAKING ABOUT RACIAL
INJUSTICE IN AMERICA AND THE
WAVE OF PROTESTS IN THE FACE OF
GEORGE FLOYD’S DEATH.
>> WE ARE REMEMBERING
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS THIS MORNING,
AFTER HE DIED ON FRIDAY AT THE
AGE OF 80, AFTER A BATTLE WITH
PANCREATIC CANCER.
IN 1965, LEWIS WAS BRUTALLY
BEATEN BY ALABAMA STATE TROOPER,
HORRIFYING THE NATION, AND
FOCUSING ATTENTION ON THE CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
HE LATER WENT ON TO BECOME AN
INFLUENTIAL MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
HE DEDICATED HIS ENTIRE LIFE TO
BRINGING JUSTICE AND EQUALITY TO
THE UNITED STATES EVEN IN HIS
FINAL DAYS.
TRIBUTES ARE POURING IN FOR
LEWIS, OFTEN KNOWN AS THE
CONSCIENCE OF CONGRESS, A MORAL
LEADER, RESPECTED BY DEMOCRATS
AND REPUBLICANS ALIKE.
TODAY, PRESIDENT OBAMA AND
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, PAST AND
PRESENT, ARE REMEMBERING LIEUEWI
AS AN AMERICAN HERO.
YOU SEE THOSE IMAGES THERE WITH
FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.
HE TALKED ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANT
FOR HIM, TO SEE BARACK OBAMA
ELECTED, AND THE TWO OF THEM
CONTINUING, HE WOULD SAY, TO
TALK TO YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT THIS
MOMENT.
>> AND SO FEW LEADERS WHO GET TO
WITNESS THEIR LEGACY IN REAL
TIME AS WE’VE SEEN WITH THESE
NONVIOLENT PROTESTS IN RECENT
MONTHS.
ANDREA MITCHELL HAS COVERED
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS FOR DECADES,
SINCE HE JOINED CONGRESS IN
1986.
ANDREA, YOU KNEW HIM FOR YEARS.
CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE ABOUT
HIS IMPACT ON THAT INSTITUTION?
>> HE HAS BEEN DESCRIBED, OF
COURSE, AS THE CONSCIENCE OF
CONGRESS, AS YOU’VE BEEN
REPORTING TODAY, BUT THAT IS
SUCH A DEEPLY, DEEPLY FELT ROLE
THAT HE PLAYED, BECAUSE HE WAS
THE MORAL LEADER.
HE WAS THE CORE OF WHAT WE USED
TO KNOW AND RESPECT AND ADMIRE
ABOUT CONGRESS.
AND HE WAS ALWAYS CALLING US TO
A HIGHER LEVEL, AND CALLING HIS
COLLEAGUES TO BE IN THE MOMENT.
AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE
BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS AND
HOW HE MARCHED AND WALKED WITH
MAYOR BOWSER THERE IN THAT
SIGNATURE MOMENT JUST LAST
MONTH, AS ILL AS HE WAS, AS WELL
AS THE SIT-IN, THE SIT-IN FOR
GUN RIGHTS JUST STRUCK ME AS
SUCH A MOMENT.
I SAW LAST NIGHT ONE OF THE
CONGRESSWOMEN TALKING ABOUT HOW
THEY WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
HOW TO GET A VOTE.
JUST TO GET A VOTE AFTER THE
PULSE SHOOTING, THE NIGHTCLUB
SHOOTING, AND HE SAID WE HAVE TO
DO THE GOOD FIGHT.
WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING
DRAMATIC, AND THAT WAS TO SIT
IN, IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS.
IT’S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.
FOR 25 HOURS, THEY SAT ON THE
HOUSE FLOOR AND STILL COULD NOT
GET THE VOTE, BUT THEY MADE THE
POINT.
OF COURSE, THEY DIDN’T ACHIEVE
THE GUN REFORM, THE GUN CONTROL
MEASURES THAT THEY WANTED, BUT
THAT ALSO GOES BACK TO WHEN I
WAS INTERVIEWING HIM BACK IN
2015 AND ASKED HIM ABOUT DR.
KING AND THE MARCH, AND HOW THEY
GOT THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT.
HE SAID THEY WENT TO JOHNSON AND
LYNDON JOHNSON SAID YOU HAVE TO
MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO DO
THIS.
WE JUST DID THE 1964 CIVIL
RIGHTS BILL.
I CAN’T DO THAT AGAIN.
YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE.
BY THAT HE MEANT MAKE THE
CONDITIONS POSSIBLE, AAROUSE THE
NATION.
THAT’S WHAT LED TO SELMA AND THE
OTHER MARCHES THAT LED TO THE
VOTING RIGHTS ACT.
WHEN WE SEE THE ARC OF HISTORY,
HIS ROLE WAS SO CENTRAL AS A
STUDENT.
THAT’S THE MESSAGE THAT STRIKES
ME.
AS A STUDENT HE BECAME ONE OF
THE FIRST FREEDOM RIDERS.
HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS.
I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL IN THOSE
DAYS, AND I REMEMBER AND, IN
FACT, LOST SOMEONE FROM OUR
COMMUNITY WHERE I LIVED UP
NORTH, WHO WENT DOWN THERE,
MICHAEL SHWERNER, AS ONE OF
THOSE ORIGINAL FREEDOM RIDERS,
WHO WAS KILLED IN MISSISSIPPI.
THEY WERE PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON
THE LINE.
AND WHEN JOHN MEACHAM DESCRIBES
HIM AS A SAINT WILLING TO SPILL
BLOOD, HE DID IT REPEATEDLY, IN
THE CAROLINAS AND AGAIN IN
ALABAMA, IN MISSISSIPPI.
WHAT JOHN LEWIS DID WAS ALWAYS
PUT HIMSELF IN THE LINE OF FIRE.
AND WHAT COULD BE MORE SAINTLY
THAN THAT? WELL, CALLING ALL OF US TO BE
WELL, CALLING ALL OF US TO BE
BETTER ANGELS TO OUR BETTER
SELVES.
>> HE WAS RELEASED FROM
PARCHMONT FARM PENITENTIARY FOR
USING A SO-CALLED WHITE RESTROOM
DURING THE FREEDOM RIDES OF
1961.
HE CAUGHT, BE CONSTRUCTIVE, NOT
DESTRUCTIVE.
ANDREA, THANK YOU FOR SHARING
YOUR MEMORIES.
>> REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR