welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. the house impeachment inquiry reaches out to john bolton for possible testimony. the president's former national security adviser reportedly called rudy giuliani a hand grenade and likened his foreign policy to a drug deal. plus a flip-flop for joe biden. he began the campaign with a promise not to accept help from big money superpacs. but now he has a superpac green light and his writings call hypocrisy. and elijah cummings funeral in baltimore. on hand, two former presidents and the former secretary of state. >> his integrity and character, his can-do spirit made him a

guiding light in the congress. he pushed back against the abuse of power. he was unwavering in his defense of our democracy. he had little tolerance for those who put party ahead of country or partisanship above truth. >> presidents clinton and obama to speak at that ceremony, that funeral. we will take you there when that happens. as well, president trump speaking outside the white house. we'll bring you that as soon as we can. we begin the hour with the impeachment inquiry list and the possibility of adding a formidable west wing insider. security adviser john bolton. they are confirming now that bolton's lawyers have had talks with investigating committees about a possible deposition. other witnesses place bolton at or near the center of several key conversations about security aid withheld from ukraine. bolton deputy fiona hill notably

saying that her boss, mr. bolton, called mr. rudy giuliani, quote, a hand grenade and compared his foreign policy to, quote, a drug deal. bolton would be a powerful add to a list that already includes current officials. those inside accounts so far have been damning and they are urging efforts at the white house now to put together a better defense strategy. their strategy is telling. senator lindsey graham, for example, sponsoring a resolution that calls the house inquiry unfair, a process argument, not a defense of the president's conduct. >> i'm not here to tell you that donald trump has done nothing wrong. i'm not here to tell you anything other than that the way they're going about it is really dangerous for the country and we need to change course while we can in the house, because what's happening in the house, in my view and the view of at least 41

republicans, is not acceptable. >> graham now says 46 republican senators have signed on to his resolution. that's just short of a majority. democrats are moving quickly and aggressively on the house side. there are depositions this weekend and throughout next week, including from another bolton deputy, tim morrison. cnn's manu raju joins us live from capitol hill. a number of officials from the state department. why are a number of them saying mr. morrison could be a special impact? >> reporter: we are hearing from numerous sources that tim morrison could corroborate key testimony that investigators heard earlier this week from bill taylor, who is the top diplomat in ukraine, and taylor testified that he had been told that the president had sought to withhold vital aid to ukraine, aid that was needed to combat russian aggression until ukraine announced investigations into the bidens as well as into the 2016 election interference and investigation. the president and rudy giuliani

probe pursuing to undercut the findings that the russians interfered in the u.s. elections to help president trump. in taylor's testimony, there have been at least 15 references to morrison's name because they had multiple conversations about why this aid had been withheld. and in one conversation, morrison reads out a phone call between trump and gordon sondland, the ambassador to the european union, in which morrison said he had a sinking feeling about na cathat call according to taylor's testimony, because what the president wanted was for them to to go out to the microphones and declare these investigations just as that push for aid intensified. what we are told from sources is he will corroborate to what taylor testified to. we're also told that he does not necessarily view what the administration did as wrong in any way, but will have some nuance to his testimony, but he will head what will be a very busy week of witnesses coming behind closed doors as the investigators move to try to

wrap up this investigation in the coming weeks. john? >> manu raju live on the hill. a very busy time. i appreciate the reporting from there. with me in the studio, cnn's abby phillip, paul kane with the "washington post," jackie co sin itch, the daily beast and morgan ha hhaverman, the "new york times." viewing what he didn't like, apparently, according to fiona hill. the she saying rudy giuliani's shadow foreign policy like a drug deal. do we think his testimony is a certainty? >> it seems so. they are talking about the terms of possible testimony, but the question still remains what does john bolton say when he's under

penalty of perjury, and that i don't know. there's been a lot of agreement about the basic facts of this, all right? we've seen central overlapping details from several witnesses. the question seems to be on intent. fiona hill, we know, gave a pretty grim picture of the president's intentions and she described john bolton as sharing that to morrison, who has yet to testify, according to cnn's reporting, is expected to say he didn't see a problem with what the president was doing. i think this gets back to a lot of what we saw with the mueller investigation as it goes back to donald trump's state of mind because the facts don't seem to be that in dispute. >> and we know, and you know in your days of covering the white house, that bolton and the president disagreed about a lot of things. that doesn't mean john bolton is going to go up there, to maggie's point, that this was some sort of crooked enterprise. he could just say he wanted someone he trusted, saying i didn't like it, but. >> a lot of officials were

responding to what was going on where ukraine. they seemed to be more bothered by it than other things president trump has done that might be untraditional or bothersome to them or maybe mucked up a normal bureaucratic process. it could be that what holding up the ukraine funding represented was an em boboldening of russia. it was a step that rudy giuliani was trying to get in the way of, and i think a lot of senior officials were bothered by that. so i think the question about bolton was, how bothered was he by that? he clearly believed he wanted to create some kind of paper trail, a reporting process where he instructed some of his deputies to go ahead and tell the white house counsel, tell various other officials within the white house about their concerns. he created that structure, and it could be because he was worried about what this meant for the united states' broader foreign policy, which is a little bit different from other

scenarios which clearly these officials were able to work with president trump and stay in this administration and not be totally bothered by all kinds of other things that president trump has done in two and a half years in the white house. >> i think bill taylor said as much during the testimony that we've seen, is that there were lives at stake here. particularly these diplomats who spent so much time in ukraine, really believed in ukraine felt a connection to ukraine because of their experience there. he describes looking across into russian fighters and thinking, ukranians are going to die if they don't get this funding. because of the lives at stake, i think, is why you see the urgency of some of these officials and the whistleblower felt like he needed to act. >> we'll show in the program a lot of moving parts today, but he just told them about bill taylor because he had recalled the ambassador. he was a never trumper. this is a strategy.

when someone says something damaging to the president, he immediately attacks their character or civil motivations. i think bill taylor has a history of being against the president -- i don't want to call him a never trumper -- but saying things against the president. we'll see if john bolton testifies. we know mr. morrison is going up, and the reason mr. morrison is important is people have said, john bolton was secondhand. he said people told him things. tim morrison took a lot of notes and said, if you want to corroborate my story, this is where you should look. again, he's talking about a phone call. during the same phone call i had with mr. morrison, he went on to describe a conversation that mr. sondland had with mr. yermak at warsaw. ambassador sondland told mr. yermak that the security atsz answer money would not come

until president zelensky committed to pursue the burisma investigation. i was alarmed by what mr. morrison told me about the sondland-yermak conversation. mr. morrison was key. i would assume his boss, mr. bolton, would be even more key. >> bjojohn cornyn looked at us yesterday and said, i don't know bill taylor from adam. that's their defense. we don't know who he is, some career guy, some career diplomat who lives overseas. they know john bolton really well. this is someone they've worked with for 20 years in foreign policy. if john bolton testifies corroborating all these things, this is somebody that they can't just deny, like, i don't know who he is. they've worked with him going back to the george w. bush administration. that's why he is so key to these senate republican voices. >> this whole i don't know this guy defense is straight out of the donald trump playbook. i don't remember seeing that on

the hill before this presidency and that is what donald trump has typically done when anybody who has been close to him is critical. michael cohen, paul manafort, the list goes on where suddenly they were with me for a short period, they handled specific matters, i really don't know them. so the idea that members of congress are saying or senators are saying, we don't know him, that's irrelevant, fravngly. it has nothing to do with whether they offer credible testimony or not. >> it's whether what they say can be backed up. that is the funeral for elijah cummings in baltimore. also the president of the united states just finished a conversation with reporters. impeachment was one of the issues there. when we come back, we'll bring you that as well. plus the return of the russia probe. this time it's a criminal investigation presumably into the investigators.

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we're waiting to hear from the president of the united states. he spoke to reporters outside the white house. and we're waiting for two former presidents, bill clinton and barack obama, to speak at the funeral of elijah cummings. a lot of moving parts here. we indulge your patience there. the attorney general about to release his report on whether there was an abuse in the russia

probe. because attorney general william barr asked for it, the durham investigation is viewed suspiciously by democrats. not long after the "new york times" was the first to report the shift to criminal review from house investigation. adam schiff and jerry nadler worry that it is a vehicle for president trump's revenge. it's important to know that we and the congressman don't really know the focus of durham's work and why he thinks he needs jury power. kellyanne conway was happy to offer her opinion. >> it was important to note that it was not being influenced by the elections, so i would take out the trump administration and put in the last administration. >> michael zelden joins our

conversation, but first let's listen to the president just moments ago. >> the stocks are doing really well, the economy is booming. we have a new record in sight, could happen even today, but we have a new stock market record. i think it will be about 118 times that we've broken the record. jobs look phenomenal. we're doing very well in syria with turkey and everybody else that we're dealing with. we have secured the oil. we have a lot of oil. we've secured the oil. we have a couple people that came knocking. we said don't knock. and i think i would say that things are going very well. i know people are still in a basement, in a secure room in the basement trying to make us look as bad as possible, but that's not working too well. a lot of things are happening very good, and i appreciathat i. republicans are outraged that

the democrats are doing nothing. we need usmca passed. it's a great deal for our country, our farmers, manufacturers, union, it's a great thing for our country. we need usmca passed. [ inaudible question ] >> well, it's a word that many democrats have used, it's a word that many people have used over the years, but that is a word that's been used many times. let me tell you something, the level of unfairness for a perfect conversation with the president of ukraine, this was a perfect conversation. and frankly, had they known what the conversation was, they wouldn't have even wasted everybody's time. but this was a perfect conversation with the president of ukraine. the president of ukraine and his foreign minister separately came out and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the conversation. the president of ukraine and the

foreign minister came out and said there was no anything. there was no -- he used the word no blackmail. they said there was no pressure, there was nothing done wrong. this is a hoax just like there was no collusion after two years, they found out, and wasted $45 million. this is a disgrace that this could happen in our country. but remember -- wait, wait. the president of ukraine right now, the president of ukraine said no pressure. the president of ukraine and his foreign minister said again, no pressure, no blackmail. they don't even know what you people are talking about. it's a hoax. it's a hoax. it's just a continuation of the russian witch hunt which turned out to be phony, the mueller deal was phony, and now they have this. and all it is is very simple.

it's one conversation that i had with the president of ukraine that was perfect, that adam schiff defrauded everybody and he made up the conversation in the halls of congress. >> are you at all concerned about the growing criminal investigation into rudy giuliani? >> i don't think so, because i think rudy is a great gentleman. he's been a great crime fighter. he looks for corruption wherever he goes. everybody understands ukraine has big problems in that regard. rudy giuliani is a fine man. he was the greatest mayor in the history of new york and he's been one of the greatest crime fighters and corruption fighters. rudy giuliani is a good man. >> would you like to see the justice department still investigate biden? >> i think what biden did and his son, and i guess they're also finding rumania or some other country, and i'm sure there are more than that. when a man walks away who has no

talent, no skill, no experience with $1.5 billion out of china, when he walks away with 168,000 a month for him and his friend from ukraine, when ukraine supposedly gave him $3 million, whatever the numbers are, and he's got no experience in oil and no experience anywhere, and now other nations are coming out. i heard one today -- i won't embarrass the nation -- all he's doing, and in my opinion, that's a payoff. because you don't pay that kind of money for any other reason, and then you look at what the father did with oil. and let's get oil, and then all of a sudden, let's not get oil. now he's a great environmentalist because the ukraine benefits by that and other places benefit by that. no, i consider what they did to be an outrage to our country. i consider that to be an outrage to our country.

>> what do you think about lindsey graham saying they're not doing enough? >> some weren't even spoken to yet. i think there were 47 and some don't even know about it yet. it only took place yesterday afternoon. they had a great response. we have great support. we had 185 out of 185 the other night, the republican congressmen. i think we had 185 present and we had 185 positive votes, and with the senators, we're doing great, too. [ inaudible question ] >> we're doing very well with china. we're moving along nicely. we're dealing with them right now. a lot of good things are happening with china. they want to make a deal very badly. [ inaudible question ]

>> we're moving with afghanistan. we're doing well in afghanistan. we're slowly bringing things down to a certain level, but we're doing very well with afghanistan. things are moving along. [ inaudible question ] >> it is said you held up military funds because you wanted an investigation into the bide bidens. are you calling him a liar? >> here's the problem. he's a never trumper and his lawyer is a never trumper and the other problem is -- hey, everybody makes mistakes. mike pompeo, everybody makes mistakes. he's a never trumper. his lawyers are the head of the never trumpers. they're a dying breed but they're still there. and here's another problem. you're with cnn and you're fake

news. [ inaudible question ] >> they have to do usmca, they have to do guns, they have to do many things. we want to reduce drug prices even more. we can go so far, but the democrats have no time to do it. [ inaudible question ] >> we ever a great republican plan, and if we take over the house, which we should, especially because of what they're doing with impeachment, i think we'll take over the house by big numbers. you'll have health care, the likes of which you've never seen. much less expensive. deductibles will be much lower. you'll have great health care. because the democrats don't have any time to do anything.

[ inaudible question ] >> well, i know he made the speech yesterday. i went over the speech. the speech was fine. no, the speech was fine. but i'm also working very closely with china on a deal, but the speech was fine. >> mr. president, are you trying to intimidate the whistleblower? >> that's true. we're doing very well with china. we're very good with the farmers. the farmers are going to do better than maybe anybody, but everybody is doing well. china wants to make a deal. they would like to see some reductions in tariffs, they would like to see some tariffs that are scheduled to go on very soon. they would like to see them not go on, but -- look, you know it. they really want to make a deal. they'll be buying much more farm product than anybody even thought possible.

[ inaudible question ] >> only for one reason. i did nothing wrong. the only reason. i had a perfect conversation with the president of ukraine, perfect. had they seen that conversation before they made up the story -- they made up the story about that conversation. had they seen it, we wouldn't even be talking about it right now. the conversation has been perfect. and for that reason i have tremendous support. [ inaudible question ] >> they're opening up an investigation that attorney william barr -- [ inaudible question ] >> so they started and i read the papers probably in greater detail than you do, actually, and i try to sift out the fake news from the real news. but as you know, there's been a

long-term look-see, and it looks like it's becoming very serious from what i'm hearing, investigate the investigators. whether it's strzok and page, whether it's clapner and comey and all these people, because we ever a great attorney general, a highly prestigious man, a very honorable man, and they've been looking at it for a long time. i can't tell you what's happening. i can tell you this. i think you're going to see a lot of really bad things, and a lot of people think, and they know they have problems because they were very dishonest, and again, i leave it all up to the attorney general, and i leave it all up to the people that are working with the attorney general who i don't know. but i will say this. i think you'll see things that nobody would have believed. this is the worst hoax in the history of our country, and a lot of people say that the phony deal on impeachment where i had

a perfect conversation with president ukraine, and they're using that to impeach one of the most successful presidents. we're going to hit another stock market high, we have the best jobs report, we ever the best unemployment numbers, we have the best employment. more people working today in the united states than ever before. i've rebuilt the military. we're strong. we just did a great thing in syria where we're getting our troops out. we took over oil. a lot of great things are happening in this country. i will say this. if anything ever happened with this phony witch hunt that the democrats are doing, the do-nothing democrats, i really believe that you would have a recession depression the likes of which this country hasn't seen. now, a strong statement was made by a very highly respected man this morning on wall street, a man who is very respected, about that. that if anything happened to

trump, president trump, you would see repercussions in the market like you haven't seen before. but here's the thing. i don't have teams. everyone is talking about teams. i'm the team. >> we take you straight from the white house to baltimore, maryland. this is president clinton talking about elijah cummings. >> i and all the members of the fami family. bishop, i thank you for many things, but especially for the decades of guidance and genuine friendship you gave to elijah. it is true that almost exactly 21 years ago, he invited me to a

his office the monday before the election. i'm glad you introduced me to the staff, because we would all be in trouble without the people helping us. but you're always being told why you shouldn't do something, why you shouldn't go somewhere. i remember this very well. it's tuesday, sunday before the election, why would you go -- i get why you want to go to an african-american church, but why would you go to baltimore? come on. they are so good to you. they always vote for you. why would you go for elijah cummings? he's been in the house 15 minutes. he literally hadn't finished one term yet.

i said, i just got a feeling this is something we ought to do. and if we do it, we'll know whether it was right or not. so the bishop rolls out the red carpet. thousands of people were there. you may remember we got in some trouble, didn't we? we got in some trouble. people criticized us for having a get out to vote event in a church. they said it was inappropriate. and as i remember, elijah reminded people that our constitutional rights, including the freedom of religion, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of speech dependent on people giving voice to them in elections. and end of debate.

then i got to list tonie len to talk that day. you talk about a lousy deal. i had to follow both the bishop and elijah cummings. at least i'm getting in ahead of you and president obama today. i'm just -- in my old age, i'm the warm-up act. i'm glad to do it. anyway, elijah was great. and he ended with his quiet and reasoned and rhythmic voice growing into his booming voice by quoting that wonderful verse from the 40th chapter of isaiah, the weight upon the lord will

have their strength renewed, they will wind up with wings as eagles, they will walk with the we' we' weary. he just kept saying more and more. the crowd was going crazy. over the course of these last few days, i've had the chance to think a lot about elijah's life. he really did sort of mirr mirror isaiah, who had one of the greatest one-liners in the history of human affairs. when the lord asked, who shall i send and who will go for me, isaiah said, here i am, lord, send me. elijah cummings spent a whole life saying, send me. an entire lifetime.

he was not even a teenager when he hauled down to the swimming pool and joins a group to integrate it, and for his trouble gets banged on the head with a glass bottle living with a lifetime scar, which he wore with honor. and then the people of baltimore sent him to annapolis and then the senate in washington. on behalf of the rest of the nation, i'd like to thank you. you did a good thing. and then i was looking over all the things that he worked on just in the four years we were together. he was elected the year i was reelected, 1996. he had this amazing array of

interests, but we all know now that at least until certain things happen, his legacy is how ardently he honored his oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. i think he did it for a lot of reasons. he loved the fact that his parents' humbled lives made his great american story. and he loved that it confirmed his faith, but he knew that without the constitution, the laws that were passed under it, the rights that were guaranteed by it, and the abuses it was designed to prevent, without that constitution, he would not

have been in congress. and so he said to himself, i am certain every day i will not let this promise be sullied. he did his best. and while doing his best and fighting his heart out, sticking up for hillary and lots of other people, many of whom were voiceless and weak and will never be known, while doing all that, he actually made in one of the hardest times in american history, a lot of republican friends. why did he do that? how did he do that? i think he did it because

everybody could see he was the real deal. he was doing what he believed, his heart was in it, and i think he did it because no matter how hard he fought and how passionately he argued, he tried to treat everybody the way he wanted to be treated. the way he thought america should be treated. you know, you can't run a free society if you have to hate everybody you disagree with. i mean, sooner or later, if you've been married 45 years and both of you are thinking, you're going to have a disagreement or two. sooner or later, if you're in a business or a team or in a

campaign, and you're thinking, you're going to have disagreements. he believed that he should treat people the way he wanted to be treated. and he believed if everybody accepted his broad, endearing, inclusive definition of one america where we respect our differences and think what we have in common matters more, and we all live under the same set of rules and we all believe that under those rules, those of us who have more than we need should do more to help those who don't have enough, everything would work out okay. that's what he believed. and being friends, he was so proud that he could help resolve the personal spat between his

republican congressional friend and the member of the democratic caucus. but he believed. so here's what i want to leave you with. elijah spent his working life in the tradition of isaiah. he went again and again and aga again. but i think in his lasting legacy to us, we should think again about the prophet elijah for this reason. he was about to be killed for his ardent promotion of his

faith. he hid in a cave either in or next to mt. sinai. he received a message from god to go up and stand on top of the mountain and wait for the voice of god to speak to him. he had already had a pretty hard time, just like at the end of elijah's life. he's already had a pretty hard time, you have to go through this, too. so there's elijah standing on the mountain, and a huge wind came so strong it broke the rocks of the mountain. but the lord was not in the wind. then an earthquake came, shaking everything. but the lord was not in the earthquake. then the fire came.

but the lord was not in the fire. and then what does the scripture say? a still, small voice. elij elijah, by that point, had gotten rid of all the pomp, all the circumstance, all the glory for the still, small voice. i loved this man. i loved every minute i ever spent with him, every conversation we ever had. i loved his booming voice. but we should hear him now in the quiet times at night and in the morning when we need courage, when we get discouraged and we don't know if we can believe anymore, we should hear

him. but our elijah should be for us what he himself heard. a still, small voice that keeps us going, keeps us grateful, keeps us happy and keeps us moving. thank you and god bless you. ♪

>> to the bishop and first lady and the new salmas family, to the cummings family, mr. president, mr. secretary, madam speaker, governor, friends, colleagues, staff. the seeds on good sort.

the parable of the sower tells us stands for those with a noble and good heart who hear the word "retain it" and by persevering, produce a crop. the seed on good sorting. elijah cummings came from good soil. and in this sturdy frame, goodness took root. his parent were sharecroppers

from the south. they picked tobacco and strawberries and then sought something better in this city, south baltimore. robert worked shifts at a plant and ruth cleaned other people's homes. they became parents of several, preachers to a small flock. i remember i had the pleasure of meeting elijah's mother, ruth, and she told me she prayed for me every day. and i knew it was true. and i felt better for it. sometimes people say they're praying for you, and you don't

know. they might be praying about you, but you don't know if they're praying for you. but i knew, as ruth was telling the truth,. they were the proverbial salt of the earth, and they passed on that strength and that grit, but also that kindness and that faith to their son. as a boy, elijah's dad made him shine his shoes and tie his tie, and they would go to the airport, not to board the airplanes, but to watch others do it. i remember elijah telling me

this story. robert would say, i have not flied, i may not fly. but you will fly one day. we can't afford it right now, but you will fly. his grandmother, as elijah related and as grandmothers do, was a little more impatient with her advice. your daddy, she said, he's been waiting and waiting and waiting for a better day. don't you wait. and elijah did not wait. against all odds, elijah earned his degrees, he learned about the rights that all people in this country are supposed to

possess with little help, apparently, from perry mason, elijah became a lawyer to make sure that others had rights. and his people had their god-given rights. and from the state house to the house of representatives, his commitment to justice and the rights of others would never, ever waver. elijah's example, a son of parents who rose from nothing to carve out just a little somethi something. the public servant who toiled to guarantee the least of us have the same opportunities that he

had earned. a leader who once said he would die for his people even as he lived every minute for them. his life validates the things we tell ourselves about what's possible in this country. not guarantee but possible. the possibility that our destinies are not preordained. but rather through our works and our dedication and our willingness to open our hearts to god's message of love for all people, we can live a purposeful life, that we can reap a bountiful harvest, that we are neither sentenced to wither

among the rocks or assured a bounty, but we have the capacity, the chance as individuals and as a nation, to root ourselves in good soil. elijah understood that. that's why he fought for justice. that's why he embraced this beloved community of baltimore. that's why he went on to fight for the rights and opportunities of forgotten people all across america, not just in his district. he was never complacent for he knew that without clarity of purpose and a steadfast faith

and the dogged denuclearizatite demanded by our liberty, the promise of this nation can wither. complacenc complacency, he knew, was not only corrosive for our collective lives but for our individual lives. it's been remarked that elijah was a kind man. i tell my daughters, and i have to say, listening to elijah's daughters speak, that got me choked up. i'm sure those of you who have sons feel sathe same way, but there's something about daughters and their father.

and i was thinking i would want my daughters to know how much i love them, but i'd also want them to know that being a strong man includes being kind. that there's nothing weak about kindness and compassion. there's nothing weak about looking out for others. there is nothing weak about being honorable. you're not a sucker to have integrity and to treat others with respect. i was sitting here and i was just noticing the honorable

elijah e. cummings. and, you know, this is a title that we confer on all kinds of people who get elected to public office. we're supposed to introduce them as honorable. but elijah cummings was honorable before he was elected to office. there is a difference. there is a difference if you were honorable and treated others honorably outside the

limelight. on the side of a road. in a quiet moment counseling somebody you work with. letting your daughters know you love them. as president, i knew i could always count on elijah being honorable and doing the right thing. and people have talked about his voice. there is something about his voice that just made you feel better. you know, there's some people -- he had that deep baritone, a prophetic voice. and when there were good times and we achieved victories together, that voice and that laugh was a gift. but you needed it more during

the tough times when the path ahead looked crooked, when obstacles abounded. when i entertained doubts or i saw those who were in the fight start to waver, that's when elijah's voice mattered most. and more than once during my presidency, when the economy still looked like it might plunge into depression, when the health care bill was pronounced dead in congress, i would watch elijah rally his colleagues. the cost of doing nothing is nothing, he would say. and folks would remember why they entered into public service. our children are the living m s

messengers are the future we send that we never see, and he would remind us our time is too short not to fight for what's true and what is good and what's best in america. 200 years to 300 years from now, he would say, people will look back at this moment and they will ask the question, what did you do? and hearing him, we would be reminded that it falls upon each of us to give voice to the voiceless and comfort to the sick and opportunity to those not born to it and to preserve and nurture our democracy. elijah cummings was a man of

noble and good heart. his parents and his faith planted the seeds of hope and love and compassion and righteousness in that good soil of his. he has harvested all the crop that he could for the lord has now called elijah home to give his humble, faithful servant rest. and it now falls on us to continue his work so that other young boys and girls in baltimore, across maryland, across the united states and around the world might, too, have a chance to grow and to

flourish. that's how we will honor him. that's how we will remember him. that's what he would hope for. may god bless the memory of the very honorable elijah cummings, and may god bless this city and this state and this nation that he loved. god bless you. thank you. ♪ for just about 40 years, congressman elijah cummings was an active member of the new

salmas baptist church. each and every sunday morning, his faith was enriched through the ministry of walt thomas sr. who he called not only pastor but also friend. after the choir has lifted his greatness to the church, the next voice we will hear is the voice of elijah cummings' pastor walt thomas sr., the association of the covenant pastors. i ask that we might stand and hold in reverance the office he holds as bishop and servant of the lord jesus christ. ♪ >> all right, we are watching the