it is a high baseline. the challenge to push it down. this much higher in terms of a daily case count than march or april when we hoped we were at the peak back then. even if florida gets bitter, texas and california gets a bit better, will it cycle back? go back to july 1st. maryland and virginia, july 1st, the states reopening, thought they were in better shape and you do see a slight uptick in maryland, an uptick here, steady chunky uptick here in maryland. larry hogan said he's worried about the resurgence in his state and said we are still very much in crisis mode. >> on the one hand we are doing a better job in doing more testing but the processing time has slowed down. it is starting to feel like it did back in march and april where everybody was overwhelmed although we have started to make some progress and now it's -- we are getting behind again and talking with governors across the country, there's a big lack

of reagents which is one of the kind of nine steps in the processing. >> starting to feel like it's march and april he says. bring boo the conversation, dr. larry brilliant joining us, epidemiologist, cnn medical analyst. starting to feel like it did back in march and april. is that your assessment looking at the numbers? might see evidence of a plateau at a high level if that's the case. >> john, it is my assessment that we're back in march or april. but if i might just say a word and add some praise to john lewis. when i was a teenager in 1963, he was the leader of the march in washington as part of the big six and snik and i joined them and watching the coverage i remember sitting on lunch

counters in woolworth in detroit, michigan, when the snik nonviolent activists come up behind us and hit us to remind us if we were going to be an activist we needed to gracefully fall off that stool because they wouldn't kick us but hit us on the stool and i have fond memories of him today. brings things full circle. >> it does. it is an important memory. we appreciate your adding it to the programming and for our viewers, you see the plane on the right joint base andrews, congressman lewis' cass keket a now making the way to washington soon. the sendoff here conducted in the middle of a pandemic. john lewis is receiving significant and well deserved tributes, probably not exactly as it would be if we lived in more normal times so let's come back to that if you will. when you look at california, texas and florida, if you talk

to dr. deborah birx believing there's evidence of a plateau, arizona started to go down last week and then over the weekend jumped back up. governor hogan and you say you agree with him, we're back to march and april and what needs to be done now? >> what what i see is the tail end of the effect of the fourth of july. and soon we'll be at labor day and that will give us another bump and then soon we'll in flu season and that will give us another bump. if we are unwise in the way that we open schools, if we do it carelessly and do it without regard to the viral load in the neighborhood of those schools, we are in for a very bumpy autumn. i would just say one more thing. america's always been the indispensable nation. but right now we're not indispensable in this outbreak except as a source of disease. we're not the leader. in fact, we have more deaths and cases than the next two or three

countries in the world combined. this is a very challenging time for the world. it's doubly challenging because the united states has been the indispensable helper in every single pandemic in my lifetime until now. >> and so, to that point, there's accountability for what's happened up to this point and then the challenge of the moment. i want you to listen here. this is a president's top deputy. this is admiral giroir talking yesterday saying, yes, we have a testing problem in america but we'll be on top of it. >> i'm never going to be happy until we have this under control and we're going to continue to push every single day to improve the testing, the type of testing that we have in the rapidity of turnaround. i'm highly confident that turnaround will decrease this week with the surge testing, point of care testing, nursing home testing, the emergency use

authorizations for pooling. we are middle of the crisis, a pandemic. and we're working with every tool that we have, every authority we have. >> help me and please, please, i would love to be wrong on this point but we could go back into the library and find the admiral two weeks ago and two weeks before that and before that saying we got this, we are in the middle of a pandemic. dr. birx is traveling this week to several cities and talks saying we see the positivity rate at 3% and 3.5%. we call the governors, give them a report every monday. if they have all this data, where is the breakdown? at the federal level? mayors and governors? is it everybody? >> you know, when you get a little perspective for an investment it says past performance is no guarantee of future performance. but actually, we look to the past and we see a terrible run

of bad decisions by the white house. we have no national strategy. the white house has disempowered cdc. it's disempowered the fda. when you are a destructor in chief and you come in and disable the institutions that have kept us safe and then in the midst of a pandemic you require from them heroic activities, we're not gettinging it. no, i'm not at all happy, the position we are in. i am concerned as we head into what might be a three-month period of acceleration of viral spread that we remain unprepared. we need a national strategy. all states have got to work in harmony. what you have described earlier, john, you think about it. it is whack-a-mole. back and forth between the states. that will continue for years if we don't have a singular

national strategy all in marching to the tune of the same drummer and that drummer should be wearing a mask. >> we are having a conversation about whack-a-mole six months in is depressing to say the least but as always, appreciate your expertise and historical perspective on the other big story tracking today that being the day of tribute there. the procession carrying the body of the late congressman john lewis. that motorcade making the way to the national capital. congress will begin to gather shortly for a special day of tri butd. back to that in just a moment. wayfair has everything outdoor from grills to play sets

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this is a day of celebration and remembrance here in the nation's capital. you see the motorcade there carrying the late congressman civil rights hero, american ic 0n john lewis from maryland,

joint base andrews and then a procession through the streets of the nation's capital and passing monuments and museums very close to the late congressman's heart. that would include the martin luther king jr. monument. the african-american history museum a stop. might not be there if it weren't for the persistence of congressman lewis as a member of the house of the representatives. his colleagues call him the conscious of the congress. today at the end of the journey will land at the capitol building and worked there more than 30 years and will lie in state as an american hero. among those paying tribute is members of the congressional black caucus in the capitol rotunda to honor their friend, colleague, hero, mentor, their leader congressman john lewis. cnn's dana bash is part of the coverage up on capitol hill with a special guest. >> that's right, john. joined by congresswoman. we are on. who is the representative of

selma, alabama. we were talking before, there's so many stories. i met you in selma or met you before that but spent time with you a couple of years ago when i was on the pilgrimage. you cohosted ten pilgrim you knows and met him as a teenager coming through selma over and over again. talk about that. >> yes. you know, i have so many great memories of john lewis. this is a treat of a lifetime. if you have been on that pilgrimage as you were to have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of john lewis with john lewis? it doesn't get any better than that. and i got a chance growing up as a little girl in selma, alabama, as a daughter of selma and a member of brown chapel ame church to sit in the pew to the left that my parents always sat in and witness so many amazing foot soldiers come back year after year, you know, everyone from coretta scott king to ct vivian, joseph lowrie and, of course, john lewis and so many of them are gone now.

what a heavenly crew that must be up there. but john was such an amazing mentor and friend and it's not auchl you get a chance to really meet your real life american hero and i got to meet him and more importantly got to befriend him and he became such a mentor to me. i have so many wonderful memories of cohosting those pilgrimages, ten times. only john would be so willing to give and share a platform and to put a spotlight on the importance of the next generation. john was so giving. >> and that was so key. you are the first african-american woman to represent alabama in congress. and he -- he took special interest in a lot of people but really you. because of your connection to selma, because of his obvious connection to selma, but the two of you grew very, very close and he really walked the walk with

you and teaching the next generation. what did you learn? can you even articulate what you learned from him? >> i can't. you said you weren't going to make me cry but i shared a very special relationship with john partly because of -- definitely because of the connection to selma. i couldn't be in a room where he was talking about voting rights or in the capitol when we were trying to restore the voting rights, if he saw me, anywhere in the room, he would say and, and, and terri represents selma today and grab my hand and make sure i was standing beside him or right behind him and it will be cold in that shadow of john trying to fight to restore the voting rights but i know that i -- there's a whole army of disciples of john, people that john has poured his heart out into, sowed seeds of hope into so many people and now is a time to pick up the baton and to continue his march towards making sure the full protections

of the voting rights act are restored. that's john's legacy and life and remember to vote in every election. state, federal, local, all elections are important. and john would have wanted us to continue that fight. he gave us the road map. every speech he gave he said it. he said never give up. never give in. keep the faith. keep your eyes on the prize. we have to do that. i'm just so honored to have gotten a chance to know him and just more blessed that i got to know him as a friend and as a mentor. he would -- he would call me the girl from selma. i would laugh and call him the boy from troy and he would echo back the girl from selma. and i would say, but we have so much more to do. and john in his infinite optimism always said, it will happen. we are in search, a march for that beloved community. people want to do right. he really had this way about him

that only john and this is a man who's bludgeoned on a bridge, for him to have such faith in humanity, it was infectious. >> i want to ask about that bridge which is in your district. the infamous edmund pettus bridge. this is a lot of talk about renaming it, maybe everyone after john lewis. you and john lewis released a statement saying it should not be renamed. why? >> you know, five years ago we did an op-ed piece about it because john felt and i did, too, that that name had been transcended by the movement on that bridge. and that you couldn't cover revisionist history but i called john right after the black lives matter movement and the death of george floyd -- >> edmund pettus was a grand wizard of the kkk. >> and a senator from the state of alabama.

yes, he was. as i evolve on this, my feeling is that we have to be unequivocal. all confederate namings are offensive, offensive and they go against the quality and justice that this america is out for so seems to me what we should be doing is, you know, everything has to be on the table including the bridge talking about the con fed rate namings. selma residents should decide what it should be called. i personally would call it the john lewis bridge but i know that so many from selma fought and marched with john and shed a little blood on that bridge. i think the best tribute we can give to john is renaming hr-4, the voting rights act for the john lewis voting rights act of 2020. that's what we can do. >> sounds like -- >> in congress. i do believe symbols have their place but legislation impaktdful legislation is really what is called for. >> sounds like that will happen.

thank you for sharing your memories with your dear friend and mentor. appreciate it. john? >> dana bash, please thank the congresswoman. on the right of the screen you are watching the hearse there carrying the casket of the late congressman john lewis. coming in from joint base andrews want to pass into the district of columbia, a short drive. when we come back, we'll continue this procession through some landmarks here in washington. over the weekend, his brother recalling the day john lewis became congressman lewis. >> when john was first sworn in to congress, i think i got my year right, in 1986. i was there and during the swearing-in ceremony, right before the swearing-in ceremony he looked up. he knew where i was sitting and he looked up and he gave me the thumbs up. and i gave him the thumbs up back. i said, john, what were you thinking when you gave me the

thumbs up? he said, i was thinking this is a long way from the cotton fields of alabama. - sir. - we need a doctor. [running footsteps and siren]

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there will be several stops for the important procession today. the first one the martin luther king jr. memorial down near the nation's mall. that the first stop of many for the congressman as you see the procession come in and this is an important day of tribute. from there passing the justice department, also pass the african-american museum of history which he was so important of getting passed into law and small crowds but people on the side of the roads first in maryland and now the -- district of columbia. people young and old on the street, cell phones out taking picture churs of this historic day. john lewis as the procession continues. he will be at the united states capitol where he of course will lie in state at the rotunda, tributes throughout the day, the former vice president joe biden planning to visit today. the current vice president mike pence, as well. there is as we watch this

procession and as the special coverage continues throughout the day that's important work happening at the capitol today. senate republicans expected to unvai a $1 trillion stimulus plan that part of the coronavirus relief package. as benefits set to expire, some, at the end of this week. the big sticking point is unemployment. at the 11th hour, pushing back and suggest a sliding scale based on earnings. the house speaker nancy pelosi says she will not support that and wants republicans to meet for more negotiations and see the statement there saying if republicans care about working families, this won't take long. that's her view. let's get to cnn's phil mattingly live up on capitol hill. a lot of finger pointing and negotiating. any progress? >> reporter: progress in that republicans today are finally going to release their opening offer and some people would look at last week when they were supposed to introduce the opening offer and think that's not much progress at all since republicans and democrats have to come together and reconcile

the proposals but it is the reality of this moment. they were up here on the capitol, at the capitol, meeting with staff throughout the course of the weekend trying to hammer through the belated proposal and told at this point they expect to release it after 4:30 this afternoon. here are the basic components of the proposal. $105 billion for education, split between k-12 and colleges and universities, some money to schools that are able to reopen based on what's happening on the ground with the coronavirus, trying to spur that effort along if you will. there will be a second round of stimulus checks. you remember that from round one. more targeted loans. forgivable through the paycheck protection act but the big issue they were working on throughout the weekend was that unemployment insurance, a federal enhancement on top of the state system, set in march at $600. a flat rate and part of the reason at a flat rate at that

level is because they couldn't figure out a better way to do it or a more accurate way to do it because so many states have antiquated systems, no technology to implement anything on top of the state benefits. republicans try to pull that off with the proposal. at the moment, they're going to propose dropping the $600 flat rate to $200 over the course of a transition period at which point they believe states will be able to implement something to give approximately 70% of wages from unemployed workers, past wages. the issue republicans have had not just the white house but senate and house republicans is that that $600 flat rate for some individuals giving them more money than they were earning. i think the issue right now is kind of back to what i was talking about at the beginning. this is the opening bid and one that democrats won't accept, democrats that control the house and have to have votes to have

anything passed through the senate and given that state of play and where things are right now i think the big question when you realize most people got the last federal enhancement checks last weekend the official end of the program is on friday, how quickly can they move girp t -- given the dynamics? they proposed narrowing down a proposal to move that forward with urgency. democrats said this is a package deal. you have to do everything together and as we start this, john, start the negotiations things seem pretty far apart. >> things do seem far apart. a couple of clocks ticking. an election 99 days away. phil mattingly, keep us posted on developments throughout the day. stay with us. we'll continue to follow what you are seeing there, very important day, the procession carrying the late congressman john lewis through washington, d.c. among the stops, the martin luther king jr. memorial.

>> this monument will serve as a reminder to each of us that it is better to love and not to hate. it is better to reconcile and not to divide. it is better to build and not to tear down. it will remind all of us that to dream of martin luther king jr. is not yet accomplished. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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you see main avenue. we'll be at that memorial within a matter of moments. lauren fox is there. this is an important first stop in washington, d.c. >> reporter: that's right, john. remember that this was someone that representative lewis really leaned in to as a mentor when he was a young man and trying to get into the state college in troy, alabama. he said he sent his application, transcript and then never heard anything back and wrote a letter to dr. king and he received a round trip bus ticket in return to meet with dr. king in montgomery. a meeting with a tremendous impact on his life and how he looked at nonviolent activism for the rest of his career. and for the rest of his time fighting for equal justice in this country. of course, this is just one of the places that the motorcade will drive by today as a way to sort of take a moment to remember the impact that this place had on congressman john

lewis and the impact that the congressman had on this city. we also expect that he will drive by the lincoln memorial. of course, that is the site of where he gave that speech in 1963, the youngest speaker during the march on washington, when he was just 23 years old, john. he will also be moving past that museum, the national museum of african-american history that he fought so hard to create. introducing a bill every year that he was in congress and in an attempt to make sure that the history of african-americans in this country would be remembered saying during -- when this museum came to be and spoke at the opening, quote, giving up on dreams is not an option for me. in 2003 it was finally passed and signed into law by george w. bush that this museum would exist and just a day to remember not just the impact he had on capitol hill but the impact he had on this city and there's a small group of individuals who have come to pay their respects

here at this memorial as you noted before, you know, there are people lining up along this street as they wait for the motorcade to remember and say good-bye to congressman john lewis. john? >> lauren fox for us across from the important memorial. second away from you, lauren. it is a remarkable scene. lauren noted he is going to be right close to the lincoln memorial, also to his left, to the hearse's left across the water is the jefferson memorial. to the right the washington monument. and then the martin luther king jr. memorial. two of our founding fathers, mr. jefferson, mr. washington, slave owners. as you watch the procession go right now up through it is a remarkable moment and van jones and nia malika-henderson with us. when they get there and stop, i may interrupt you to pause and see the treasury department there, as well. the washington monument on the

left of the screen. van jones, dr. king was a man or the, a friend and then for john lewis after the tragic events of 1968 it was left to him to continue to try to spread the message, march but be peaceful, march but do not choose violence, but please march. >> yeah. you know, he actually inherited two mantles. i think he was aware of one, dr. king killed in '68 but also bobby kennedy. he was a part of bobby kennedy's campaign and trying to keep the alive to coin a phrase and to move it forward. one thing to point out is this idea of a pilgrimage, a final pilgrimage, i'm not sure the viewers know. every single year he would go back to selma and reenact what happened and talk to people and used that opportunity to go to the bridge that build bridges.

he always brought republicans with him. he always brought people who had been opponents with him and they had to absorb that john lewis magic and that spirit of reconciliation and then he would go back and try to change laws. so this idea of him being on this final pilgrimage going past all these monuments, you know? for those of us who went on the pilgrimages with him in selma, you know, it is powerful and the last thrng to say is this is not the only time he is celebrated in an extraordinary way. at the 50th anniversary when president obama went to give that speech in honor of everything he had done, i have never seen this before. usually everybody goes on stage and you welcome the president. the one thing to do it in reverse, president obama, michelle obama on stage and they welcomed john lewis. the most powerful man in the world standing there applauding this small, mighty figure coming on stage in front of the whole

world so he's been an extraordinary person and given that extraordinary love for a long time but today's especially powerful. >> van jones, just watching now as the motorcade pulls up. we expect a pause, not a stop here and see as lauren fox noted some residents trying to capture a moment of history standing in the shadow of the martin luther king memorial watching one of his key lieutenants pass by in that hearse. as you see go through here. nia, as we watch this play out ux it's sad, i don't know if that's the right word, but because of the contentious times, because -- just got to pause for a second here as you see the white marble there. that's the martin luther king memorial. the hearse passing by.

the road does not pass in a way to see facade of the wonderful memorial but you see this, the first stop, appropriately, the first stop for the procession through the streets of washington. see them slowing down but continue, continuing to move on here. they will pass soon the lincoln memorial, vietnam memorial. you see the motorcade coming to a stop here. nia, they're not far from the white house and the reason i said sad is that it was -- not criticizing anyone for what they said in that moment, that's not what i mean, but when congressman lewis passed there were those asking the president of the united states to say nothing. saying that they did not want his voice, his tweets, his words to ruin the moment if you will, to ruin the tributes. on this day where we pay tribute to this hero, that is -- i'm going to use it again, sad

statement on the course of our discourse on any issue but especially on an important issue of race and civility that an american hero can pass and it is controversial for the president of the united states to say anything. >> yeah. and john lewis himself was saddened by this fact. he, of course, did not go to the inauguration of donald trump. he lamented the lack of moral clarity, moral leadership in this white house hinting that he is pausing by the memorial to martin luther king as well as other founding fathers of this nation and that is who he was. he was one of the founders and it is fitting that we celebrate him in this way today. he was certainly saddened by what he has seen as a real i

think dedgration of the movement and that is what led him, that christian faith and the idea that you leave with love, right? that there's always room for redemption, that you might hate what people do, hate the kind of things they inspire others to do, but you don't hate the person. and so, here he is going through the streets of washington. he gave 30 years of his public service to serving those folks in georgia. i think certainly saw that a lot of the work he was doing more work to do. if you traveled throughout the south, towns like selma, many of us have been there. so much work to do. so much racial inequality, educational inequality, economic inequality so he was constantly in this fight, encouraging others to get into this fight that he brought, he was brought

into by martin luther king and had a long life. unlike mart lut king, right? he didn't live to be 40 and those folks that joined the movement didn't have long lives. he lived to be 80 years and grateful that we gotit to. >> 80 great years, well lived. in a lot of good trouble as congressman lewis would say. you see they have just left the martin luther king memorial. it is a short drive to pass the lincoln memorial. stop three is the black lives matter plaza, the new black lives matter plaza here in washington, d.c. which is steps from the white house. steps from the white house. dana bash is still with us, as well. dana, you were with congressman lewis on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of dr. king, someone whose life and legacy shaped his fellow hero, congressman lewis. >> that's right.

i was lucky enough to be on one of those pilgrimages that van was talking about. it was two years ago, 2018. and they always go to selma but then they also take different trips depending on what happens happening that year and it was the 50th anniversary of martin luther king jr.'s assassination so we went to memphis and went to the lorraine motel which is now a memorial for mlk and it was the first time john lewis had ever been there. the night that king, his mentor and friend was assassinated, john lewis was with rfk, robert kennedy working and helping on his campaign and had never gone until that moment and as you can imagine it was incredibly emotional for so many reasons. not the least of which is he was at that time 78-year-old man who lived a very long life, mourning the friend who brought him into this incredible movement.

>> you see now the motorcade at the lincoln memorial. driving up there. an american hero of the 1860s being visited by an american hero of the 1960s. who then of course after being in the civil rights movement served in the congress for 33 years. that sky, it is a warm day here in washington. a hot day here in washington but a beautiful day here in washington. as a man who was living history john lewis is taking us on a tour of some of the nation's capitol and the historic places here. retracing steps that were important to him. it is just a remarkable scene. the reflecting pool behind the lincoln memorial. congressman lewis passes in front. van jones, please. >> you know, you think about

that march on washington and it's -- he is kind of going back now past that whole place. how young he was and how young dr. king was. >> right. youngest speaker. >> dr. king was 33 or 34. he was, john lewis, even younger than that. dr. king considered the old man barely in his 30s at the march on washington and this guy was a kid already a national leader, already a part of the so-called big six because he had already taken so many risks and this was before selma. selma is '65. he is already a national figure. he is a national figure is being beaten on that bridge. just hard to get your brain wrapped around what that generation accomplished, what people like ella joe baker, dr. king, and so many others whose names we have forgotten were able to accomplish but i so appreciate what nia-malika said.

he got to live out his full life and get to be of service and put him to bed at the end of the life opposed to so many put to bed at the beginning. >> that's an excellent point. i don't know if we have this. i'm asking a lot of the control room today. don't move away from the live pictures but to putt up the image of the march on washington. they're slowly rolling away but we talked about this the sunday after the congressman passed and she mentioned this earlier. you show the lincoln memorial there. on the day of the march on washington, the elders took john lewis into a holding room inside the monument to ask him to tone down the speech. there was a fabulous story about this in "the new york post." find that story in "the washington post" about urging him because he was more radical, more aggressive, more con tron fragsal in his youth to please tone down the rhetoric a little

bit. this is a remarkable moment in the history here. we are going to move on now. i'm sorry, van. as this moves on, i want to go ahead to joe johns standing at the next stop which is become now a painted street in the middle of america's current racial reckoning. steps from lafayette park, more to the white house. you see it right there. this is now black lives matter plaza as they call it in washington, d.c. our joe johns is right there. >> reporter: john, this is seen as sort of a bridge between the youthful activism of john lewis and the youthful activism of today. we are expecting to see the procession in just a few minutes. what i want to do is point out to you what's going on in this intersection. you look over my shoulder, you can see a mural of large photograph of john lewis. that apparently is his last

public appearance we're told it was here at black lives matter plaza on june 7th. as you can see he is wearing a mask with arms crossed. now, why is this a bridge? it is a bridge for a number of reasons, including because of the demonstrations, the fact that this is the place where the president of the united states cleared a group of peaceful protesters in order to walk over to st. john's episcopal church to do a photo-op holding a bible. it is more than that. when you look at the life of john lewis, this is an activist, from the student nonviolent coordinating committee, everyone to congress and looking forward to seeing the procession pull up here. there's been some hope that

there will be a moment for the mayor of washington, d.c. who sort of created black lives matter plaza here to hand over a replica sign of black lives matter plaza, a street sign, to the procession. we don't know, though, if the hearse or i should say the procession's going to stop long enough to do that. john? >> joe johns standing by for us. i'm watching. you can't see this. the live pictures, they're moments away from you as they pass by the nation's mall. and they're prepared to turn up. van jones, i had to cut you off a moment ago about the history. i'm going to say something here. they're now -- where joe johns is, where you see the hearse and joe johns is, in between them is the white house. i know the president of the united states is traveling today. i'm not sure if he left the white house yet but what a moment for all americans if the president of the united states, democrat or republican, doesn't

matter, on this day would salute this hearse as it drove by his house but that will not happen. van jones? to that point -- van, i heard you come back in there. >> all right. some it can call issues as we work through this day. you are seeing the hearse right now traveling past the nation's mall right there. it is a spectacular place full of the monuments, the washington monument to the right there. you see the motorcade beginning to turn. i believe that's 17th street. where they will go up past the white house complex, up past the white house complex. van, this is not a day for politics, not why i said it, but seeing so much history, the hearse is about to pass.

it is turning on to 17th street. the white house will be to its right as it goes up the street here to black lives matter plaza. the newly created black lives matter plaza here in washington, d.c. if you look at the right hand of the screen you see the flags flying up there. that is the againing of the white house complex as it goes up the street to be saluted by president whether that president is a democrat or a republican. >> i agree and what i would say is that the whole country saluting that hearse and i want to remine people, people may say black lives matter, though more popular now and still so controversial they might say. why is this happening? this is something that anybody everybody can't embrace. don't forget that john lewis was not somebody that everybody could embrace. the sort of black lives matter

of its day was considered very controversial. you know? and what happens is that over time hurt people holler. if you are sitting on a white hot stove of injustice you tend to holler. people say calm down, shut up, please be quiet but over time the message gets through. you mentioned the great story of the great a. phillip randolph taking john lewis to the side at the march on washington, a couple phrases where john lewis said we'll march through the south like sherman. it was hot rhetoric and a. phillip randolph, a champion for generations said, please son, i spent a life to get us here. if you could just take one paragraph off to all stay together and birk marshall a part of the kennedy administration was prepared to literally unplug the entire rally. john lewis didn't know that but based on the strength of the

plea the young man took out that one line, still gave a very strong speech and they moved on together. generations can co-author history if they're willing. the young people in black lives matter right now, some people see them as controversial, there's john lewises out there and others who years to come will serve the country in similar ways and embraced in similar ways. i'm glad they're going by black lives matter plaza. >> when we lose an icon like this, a gift if you will, a tough word, we get to remember the history, relearn and reread the history in the tributes and learn new lessons, that is pennsylvania avenue, the hearse is crossing to the right just moments ago was the eisenhower executive office building part of the white house complex. steps from the white house which is where black lives matter plaza now is. lafayette park, the protesters cleared so the president could go to st. john's church. it is right there. where you now have a new plaza

for the new generation as van notes of activists. again, a tour through history for a man who until he was taken from us just days ago was literally living history. >> he really was and we are lucky that we get to see him celebrated in this way today through the streets of washington, d.c., in yesterday going over that bridge in selma for the last time in that horse-drawn carriage. just amazing images. you mentioned going by the white house. you know? in some ways it is fitting that the president doesn't salute john lewis. he's cut from a different cloth. right? john lewis deeply spiritual man. someone who cares about justice and equality and has a real vision for this country that is inclusive and that is very different from the vision that

this current president has for this country. again, this is something that saddened john lewis and kept him busy. that is what he was so hard at work doing for most of his life. right? beginning at the age of 15 until his last days saluting the work of these black lives matter protesters who van noted aren't necessarily embraced and john lewis and that huge movement in the civil rights era wasn't necessarily embraced either. martin luther king at the time of his death wasn't a real celebrated figure in the way he is now and so here we have john lewis 80 years old going to his rest, going to join willie may and eddie lewis, his parents who never could have imagined that their son would end up celebrated in this way by an entire nation. >> you hear "amazing grace."

let's listen. ♪ ♪ ♪ you see the scenes, downtown

washington, d.c. even the street sign, the city put up a street sign, black lives matter plaza. see the mayor of washington, d.c. right there presenting a plaque to members of the lewis family. other dignitaries from the city are there, as well. this is a new plaza and it also is moments ago when we had the wider shot to see the photograph as joe johns talked about earlier with john lewis inspecting this remarkable scene visited daily sometimes were demonstrations and others just come to see steps from the white house. in washington, d.c. just watching the pause right here and listening to the music. members of the lewis family in the procession, as well. congressional staffers. you see in the center of your

scene the street sign installed recently on what otherwise would have been 16th street in washington, d.c. again you see the washington monument, this shot is shaky. as the photographer there follows the live event but you are going straight back to the white house, to your right. going down that street you get to the white house. and the mall behind it. this is the site of the last public event. you see the motorcade, the hearse beginning to roll slowly there with the large crowd on hand. afl-cio headquarters there i believe with the black lives matter soon, as well. van jones, st. john's church, where the president came and held up the bible. the white house there in the middle of the scene. van jones, your thoughts as we see this sight play out. >> it is hard not to get

emotional. for me, i know so many of the people of that generation. i was blessed as you know, i was born in 1968. i talk about it all the time. a year they tried to kill hope in america. can you imagine being a young john lewis? having seen both of your heroes shot down in the same year within months of each other. and having seen your own friends, your personal friends murdered in the south. i mean, people want to give up now because of the frustration and all of the outrages that are going on but he never gave up. that's his legacy. the persistence, the consistency. the good days, the bad days. you just keep pushing forward. and look at what he is inspiring around the world. people around the world are looking at the great grand kid of an enslaved african, a kid of a sharecropper. went to little black school

called fisk university. please give credit to those schools. look at what he has done and done as a country. we have a long way do go but we have a roadmap now that he didn't have. we have examples of a demonstrator to a legislator, a rabble-rouser to a bridge builder that he didn't have in the same way that we have so it's a beautiful day to see him get his just reward and diane nash is watching. luckily diane nash is still alive who marched with him in nashville. still watching. it is a powerful day. >> indeed. the hearse carrying john lewis, black lives matter plaza here in washington, d.c. the white house just ahead. an honor and a privilege to be with you these last two hours. brianna keilar picks up the