hey there, i'm joshua johnson. good to be with you from nbc news world headquarters in new york. dr. king once said the moral arch of the universe is long but bends toward justice. today, the nation is honoring a man that pulled that arc for decades and inspired many others to do so the same. flags at the white house and capitol hill are flying half staff in honor of georgia congressman john lewis. last night he died at age 80 after fighting pancreatic cancer. it was his last battle after a lifetime of fighting for justice and equality. he was the son of share croppers, born in a small town in alabama, one of the original freedom riders in 1961 and last surviving civil rights leader that spoke at the march on washington in 1963. >> with pleasure to present to this great audience young john

lewis, national chairman, student nonviolent committee, john lewis. >> be patient and wait, we must not be patient. we don't want our freedom gradually, we want to be free now. >> lewis was arrested or jailed at least 40 times in the '60s. this year we commemorated the march in selma known as bloody sunday where he was beaten and tore men tormented by the police. lyndon johnson introduced a bill called the civil rights act. he was elected to the u.s. house in 1987. many remember him as the conscience of congress.

but america lost another piece of its conscience yesterday, reverend ct vivian, a friend of his and civil rights icon. he called vivian the greatest preacher to ever live. both men lived to see familiar scenes of street protests and demands for justice. congressman lewis cheered them on, including the demonstrations for police reform. >> i think it sent a message that we will not give up on justice, we will not give up on fairness, that we will continue to press and press on for what is right, for what is fair, for what is just. >> for john lewis, that was the bottom line, it was about elevating justice and burying hate. >> hate is too heavy a burden to bear, so we need to lay it down. it is better to love. so all of you working together, we can turn our nation around

and create a beloved community where no one is left out or left behind because of the color of their skin and it doesn't matter whether we are black or white, latino, asian american, native american, whether we are straight or gay, we are one people, we are one family. we all live in the same house, not just the american house but the world house. we must look out for each other. >> so much to discuss in his incredible legacy. we're glad you're with us this hour. starting with context on his life. it was a life that brought him from the southern battlegrounds of the '60s to the halls of congressman. the world lost an icon, but how do you sum up the iconic impact of someone like john lewis? joining us to discuss it, professor eddie glau, chairman of african-american studies at princeton, and msnbc contributor, and lanhee bunch

iii from smithsonian institution. and congresswoman eleanor holmes that represents district of columbia. glad to have you with us. professor, let me start with you. this clip where john lewis explained to nbc news why he stood up when he was called upon to fight for justice. watch. >> when i was growing up, i saw the signs that said white men, colored men. i asked my parents and grandparents why. they said boy, that's the way it is. don't get in the way. don't get in trouble. i got in trouble. >> it is something deep within me, moving me, that i could no longer be satisfied or go along with an evil system. >> professor, paint us a picture of the world john lewis was in when he joined this movement, was the movement flourishing, in its infancy, making progress, hitting road blocks?

did he have a clear sense what he was getting himself into? >> well, i don't think a lot of people had a clear sense what they were getting themselves into but had a clear sense of what they were fighting for. look, he is from pike county, alabama, troy, alabama. family, a share cropper, slavery touched his family. he was eight years old, he lived with his great grandfather who experienced slavery. share cropping was brutal, a hard form of life. he saw and grew up in jim crow alabama, and the daily toll that involved where the landscape marked who was valued and who was devalued. but john lewis was among those probable aristocrats, people that dared to stand up nonviolently, fight for their freedom and for a better america. it is in that moment when he decided to risk everything he

gave voice to his faith. he said it is a faith he is so sure in. a faith of being so sure that the spirit, what the spirit has whispered to your heart, he said, that you believe, your belief in its eventuality is unshakeable. that faith led him to risk his life, put his body on the line over and over again. >> secretary bunch, congressman lewis learned nonviolence from mentors, ministers, people of faith. how did his christianity, faith, shape his activism? >> christianity has always shaped the way african americans have thought about their role in america. to john lewis, he was living a life that said -- it is best

america. his wife reminded us yes, there were many troubles, many challenges, but he was a force. he always believed that was possible. he knew the risk. he knew the danger, he knew the number of people who were sacrificed, but always believed. he reminded us that we have an obligation to continue to fight to make america. >> secretary bunch, we're having issues with the audio. try to clean it up in a second. let me go on to representative norton with regard to his role in congress. he was often called the conscience of the congress. talk about his role on capitol hill. how would that conscience play out, particularly in ways we as the public might not see if we were not in the halls of congress with him. >> yes. that was the reason he was called the conscience of the congress and it is not because he did engage in the same kind

of give and take on bills that everyone else did, it is because when you needed a voice, a moral voice on a bill, you would call on john because he had a meek moral presence in the congress. i don't want to downplay his role as the same kind of democrat that i am and that many of us were. he knew how to fight and to fight back. but john had what most members of congress do not have, a sense that reconciliation is always possible, not only possible with respect to race and racism but always possible with people on the other side of the aisle.

he was much respected by our republican colleagues, just as well as he was respected by all of us. >> professor, john lewis' last appearance was at a black lives matter protest alongside mayor bowser. here's what she said about his death. she tweeted, we have more work to do, but we would not be where we are without john lewis. may he rest in power and may we boldly walk in his footsteps. professor, those are huge footsteps to follow. but john lewis followed in large footsteps, too, as a young man. what is your sense of the continuity of the civil rights movement from before congressman lewis, through his life and after, is it on the same wave length he was on or is it evolving a different direction? >> we all have to, joshua, deal

with the reality of america's failures, betrayal in the context of our own time. imagine frederick douglass lives to see abraham lincoln sign the emancipation proclamation, lives long enough to see the first jim crow law passed in mississippi. he dies before the plessy versus ferguson. john lewis who dedicated his life, you can imagine he comes out of that nashville movement, those nashville students, just like the students from howard and washington, d.c. were important. he exhibited courage with the freedom riots in '61, right? participated in the march on washington in 1963 where archbishop oh boil balked at the radical nature of his speech. he said patience was a nasty,

miserable word. they took that phrase out of his speech. think about the man who watched his come patriots, called for black power, he had to make a choice. part of what we know is this struggle is long, takes different iterations under different conditions, each generation has to pick up the baton. what he was doing in the last days was giving voice to his understanding. his day, he picked up the baton. in ours, we must, too. >> and plessy versus ferguson was a supreme court decision that established a standard of separate but equal, was overturned by brown versus board of education in 1954, right? >> yes. >> representative norton, always somebody in the audience learning for the first time. representative norton, you issued a statement that reads in part, john's heroic courage came

from principled conviction so deep that it led him to repeatedly risk his life to achieve equal treatment for all americans. so seering was his example that he was elected chair of sncc, not because he was strongest but because he was the bravest. unquote. talk to us more about what he meant to you personally, what he meant to you behind the scenes, away from the cameras, away from protest lines, just a person. >> for me john was first, a colleague in the civil rights movement and sncc, then a colleague in the congress. he meant a great deal to me because his example was important to me particularly in the civil rights movement. it may be as we see people now following that original example with black lives matter, it may

not be possible to imagine the danger that john lewis confronted when he led sncc into the south. when i, for example, went into mississip mississippi, my parents thought i was crazy, not crazy, just young and foolish. that was the role of sncc, to be the young foolish americans who would lead the way, go even where martin luther king did not go. in fact, john led the movement in the deep south, opened up whole sections of the south and there followed the rest of the civil rights movement. it's impossible to overemphasize the kind of courage that took. nobody knew anything except there was an array of forces

against everything john did that were -- the police force, people in the region, segregationists who were getting into the unknown, that's why it is very important to recognize that john lewis was not just a civil rights nonviolent pioneer, that john lewis risked his life countless times in order to bring the civil rights movement forward. most people engaged in nonviolent protests did not encounter that risk. >> secretary bunch, now that we have your connection cleaned up, john lewis was overjoyed when the national museum of african-american history and culture opened. here's a quick clip of what he

said at the time. >> this is a great achievement. i tell you i feel like singing that was sung on the march on washington, how we got over. how we got over. there were some who said it can happen, who said you can't do it, but we did, and we did it. we're gathered here today to dedicate a building, but this place is more than a building, it is a dream come true. >> secretary bunch, this museum really is a triumph, it is like nothing else i ever experienced before. if you are watching this program and have never been to what some of us call the blacksonian, book a flight as soon as it is safe to do so, see this museum. it will kick your butt in all the right places and revolutionize how you look at

the country, even if you're an african-american steeped in the history, this will flip the scripts on you. if it doesn't, try it. talk, secretary, about what it meant for us as black people to be honored in this way in the world's most august collection of museums? that's an elevation of sorts that i think is kind of hard to quantify. >> i think it is important to remember that what we learned about john lewis is perseverance, resiliency. he introduced legislation for this museum almost 17 years. then when the museum was being built, john lewis was helpful every day because he understood the power of history, not as something nostalgic but that would allow you to think

strategically, how do you help a country with ideals. for me, the smithsonian is the place where the world comes to understand what it means to be an american. to have the national museum of african-american and culture shaped by john lewis, to have it on the mall means that forever the world will understand that they cannot understand the american experience without understanding the quintessential african-american experience. that this is the story that profoundly shaped us all. that it is the african-american experience that helps us understand american notions of liberty, of spirituality. john lewis knew that this museum would not just -- >> thank you all. i am proud to be part of a four

box with the three of you to spend time talking about the life and legacy of john lewis to begin this hour's conversation. appreciate you being here. reaction to the congressman's death is pouring in. president trump, saddened to hear the news of john lewis passing. melania and i send our prayers to he and his family. unquote. josh letterman is at the white house. john lewis' death was tweeted about after the president went golfing. compared to the remembrance compared to others? >> reporter: josh, the president waiting until he was in the motorcade on the way back from playing golf with lindsey graham at his golf course in virginia to issue a brief two sentence tweet that didn't say a lot

praising john lewis, acknowledged his death. that brief tweet standing in stark contrast to the praise we have seen from every other living u.s. president toward john lewis today. president obama, for instance, saying lewis had inspired generations. former president clinton calling him the conscience of the nation. even president george w. bush whose inauguration john lewis boycotted was able to put aside those past issues today to praise lewis from answering brutal violence with courageous hope. we know that president trump in the past had difficulty offering praise for people that criticized him in the past. john lewis had had harsh words to say about trump, trump had harsh words about john lewis in the past, that may be one of the reasons as the nation is coming together today to praise the legacy of john lewis at a moment that's an inflection point of civil rights, the president

keeping his words very succinct. >> thank you. still to come, more on the legacy of congressman john lewis. later in the hour, we get the perspective of someone that worked for him. first, we'll update you on the coronavirus pandemic. the latest numbers out of arizona are startling. testing has been a big problem there. we'll take you there next. there. we'll take you there next. you're clearly someone who takes care of yourself. so when it comes to screening for colon cancer, don't wait. because when caught early, it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your prescriber if cologuard is right for you. i'm on it. that's a step in the right direction. i'm on it. a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent...

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arizona is seeing the highest daily increase in covid-19 deaths since the pandemic started. the state's newly reported deaths increased by 147 people, bringing the total death toll to just over 2700. today's report shows more than 2700 new cases in one day. on thursday, arizona's governor, doug ducey, continued to express confidence in the state school reopening plan. classes are set to resume on campuses about a month from now on august 17th. vaughn hillyard is in phoenix with more. what else has the governor said about the surge and how are people responding? >> reporter: well, just today, 147 newly reported deaths, more than 2,000 new cases. the story the last two months since numbers have surged have been the demand for tests. the fact that folks had to wait days or hours for appointments and having to wait hours to get

swabbed. even if they get the test, have to wait up to a week for test results. that's why where we are today is significant. this is the first weekend in which federally backed major high capacity test locations have been set up in the state. there are two locations. we're at maryville high school. the results are expected to be returned in 24 to 48 hours which is significant. i want to bring in, introduce somebody we met. marge, you have been a nurse since 1965. you're the lead of the health care professionals at the site, they call you sergeant marge around here. what are you seeing from folks that are driving through? >> they have a lot of symptoms, they're very frightened. they're more than willing to bring in children and testing them. they're very, very happy that they've only got a 30 minute wait from beginning of the school until you get to a nurse. and they'll know the results in 48 hours. >> this is the hottest spot of

the hot spots in maricopa county. this zip code has the highest number of cases. you live in this neighborhood. you've been impacted yourself, marge. you lost somebody just this week. >> my godchild, adam, died sunday. he was a syndrome child. they went to a wedding and they came back, now four people are down with covid and he died last sunday. >> his name was? >> adam rutherford and the love of our lives. i tell you, it really hurts. but this is payback. you come out here and you work in the heat and you make sure that everybody's working, all the nurses have enough fluids, that they're being fed well, and they're just being nice to these people because they know how frightened they are. >> marge, god bless you and your family. adam, a 35-year-old. >> yes. >> joshua, when you're coming

through, they're encouraging folks to come get tested because folks are still going to work and weddings, they're still around family members and neighbors. it is imperative they get out here despite troubles of the past, it is important they get the tests. >> vaughn hillyard in phoenix. vaughn, all our love to marge for the loss of her loved one and for continuing to be part of the solution. thanks very much. just ahead, more on the extraordinary life and legacy of the civil rights icon, john lewis. meet someone close to the late congressman just ahead. and a small southern city makes a historic move. reparations for black citizens. how did this come about and where does it go from here. we speak to one of the african-american council members when we continue. stay close. when we continue stay close ♪ ♪ we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪

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it is very moving, very

moving. very impressive. i think deep in d.c. and the nation, a mighty powerful and strong message to the rest of the world that we would get there. >> that was the late john lewis reacting last month to the black lives matter protests. congressman lewis invested his life helping america get there. today, every living president is honoring him for bringing us a little further along. we showed you president trump's tweet, saying he was saddened to hear of lewis' passing. president obama wrote that lewis not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom and justice but inspired generations that followed to try to live up to his example, unquote. president george w. bush praised lewis by saying he, quote, answered brutal violence with courageous hope while marching for equality in selma. the clintons wrote that lewis

gave all he had to redeem america's unmet promise of equality and justice for all. and president jimmy carter noted that john lewis made an indelible mark in history. he co-authored the trilogy called "march." how are you reflecting on the congressman today? >> it has been a lot of phone calls with friends. moments to tell stories. you know, you lose somebody like the congressman, there's a bubble you have. he created a space between all of us that we could joke, we could laugh, we could do hard

things and yet have fun doing them and i think the image of the icon is powerful, but the image of his humanity, of his spirit is so gentle, so sweet, so funny, so calm, and so beautiful. it's been a lot of those stories with a lot of friends and a lot of colleagues. >> so he had a good sense of humor? >> oh, man, he would go into the office sometimes and he would take the jelly beans out of the little basket that was at the front desk or take a newspaper, throw them over your office wall, so they would land on your computer. he would come around and look at you an act as if nothing happened. and sometimes i remember one time it was during the protests where he got arrested for calling for immigration reform,

and the congressman went down and they blocked the road i believe it was and they got arrested and i got a phone call from the capitol police. they said, you know, i think your boss forgot his bail money. and i remember having to run out of the office, rundown, literally down capitol hill, the road beside the capitol, sneak him $50 with one of the capitol police officers so he could bail himself out after the arrest and, you know, that's the sort of thing, he was more concerned about the event. he at any time care about getting out of jail, he wanted to make the statement. >> it seems so fitting that his life was immortalized in a graphic novel. i am ashamed to say i haven't read this yet. seems like the format for this

multi facetted person. how did working on the trilogy shape the way you viewed him? >> i think "march" represented the side of john lewis that was unafraid to take risks to achieve new norms of victories, right? i think we were facing a time we looked around, something called the nine word problem. most students were graduating from high school knowing nine words about the civil rights movement. it was rosa parks, martin luther king, i have a dream, and that's it. and when i talked to him, got him to agree to do the comic book, you know, a lot of folks thought it was a little nuts. even the congressman described it, said first time he heard it from me he thought i was a little out of my mind when i suggested it, but then he

listened and i think to be honest, i think he talked to mrs. lewis about it, she was a librarian, and then he embraced it. it was so far ahead of his time to do that. he was always trying to set his own terms for what it was he was supposed to do, and i think the success of the graphic novel spoke to how good he was at seeing the future, being ahead of his time. when we would work on it with me and nate, you know, he would say make it plain. don't sweep anything under the rug. i remember the first time he held a copy of book one. >> right, right. >> i gave it to him and he held it up and he had it in front of him and he just kissed it and he said it's like it always existed in the world, you just had to go out there and pull it down.

and he was so hopeful about these ideas and doing these new projects, pushing the ball forward, doing things that were unexpected. it was part of his dna. >> i think that having such an unexpected legacy as part of a three-part graphic novel as you describe it, even more fitting. the trilogy is called "march." andrew, we appreciate you sharing memories of the congressman. thanks very much. >> thank you, joshua. john lewis did not just work for social justice. he worked for social change, including some changes that rattled a few nerves. in that way, you might see a parallel in one aspect of the civil rights movement that sparked a hot debate. reparations for slavery. he cosponsored a bill to study the issue. months of protests have

reawakened the debate over how america should make amends for slavery and undo its legacy. over a month ago, lewis told "new york" magazine it was time to get that legislation on the house and senate floors, conceded educating people on it would take time but we should be ready for debate. meanwhile, the debate has lead to action in the blue ridge mountains of north carolina. this week, asheville city council unanimously approved reparations for black residents. asheville will provide funding to promote home ownership and business opportunities. it did not approve direct cash payments. the city council apologized for north carolina's role in slavery, discrimination, and denial of basic liberties. joining us, asheville council member shanica smith and britney cunningham. great to have you with us. council member smith, let 345me start with you. how did this come to be approved?

was there a lot of resistance to it? >> you described it in the introduction, the black lives matter movement and respond to george floyd's death has awakened a lot of conversations, given marching orders for a lot of conversations about how can america repair a lot of the systemic racism and what we feel in the community. the local council started to have conversations how to present this resolution to interpret what it means to the black asheville community. so we started off by just naming all of the systemic racism present in our community and across the nation, ranging from policies and practices of discriminatory wages, unjustified incarceration, lack of opportunity to own real estate, access to quality education, and many more. so it was a direct apology, but also seeks to make amends with

the injustices and disparities, putting a preface on urban renewal. the urban renewal program had devastating effects in asheville, so it was very direct in the apology, but also direct in our city manager to establish some type of process so we can start to specifically address creation of generational wealth and economic mobility and opportunity for black residents in our city. >> britney, put this in some context. what does it say that cities are embracing this action for systemic racism. we are struggling what to do about law enforcement to what to do about confederate monuments that president trump has been defending or even just the fight over whether we should cancel the confederate battle flag. put this in larger context for us. >> well, this larger context is

precisely what is the result of getting into that good trouble that congressman lewis talked so often about. as we stand in the light of john lewis and ct vivian, his contemporary, and another of our civil rights icons, becoming ancestors in the last few days, we have to recognize that they concerned themselves with the entire system and not just a portion of it, that they were just as concerned with the scourge of lynching, of police violence as they were with the sin of poverty. and the sin of poverty in black communities across america is deeply interconnected with the legacy of enslavement in this country. you cannot leverage and use people for free, their labor for free, to build the wealth of the country, and continue to push them out of that wealth creation and that generational wealth as the council woman already talked about and not reckon eventually

with the long term generational effects that will continue to have. the gap between wealth and wages between black and white americans, the gap in home ownership, gap in access to the resources we need to keep our families healthy and whole is as much a part and legacy of systemic racism as anything else. i think there are a lot of ways to tackle the problem, but at the least, we have to recognize that if we only concern ourselves with one way the system harms black people, then we're not doing the work our ancestors and forefathers and foremothers fought for us to be doing. >> council member, to that point, have you heard about other counties and states doing something like asheville did, do you expect this for lack of another expression to catch on? >> we have multiple emails, good, bad, and ugly. i think overwhelmingly, wave

gotten a lot of support from individuals who have been working for decades to make reparations happen and to kind of give us their approval, saying thank you for stepping out and really starting the conversation across our nation on the local level because what we really envision is that we make the case on the local level, do what we can do as local authority, using the authority we have here and then moving widespread throughout the state and up yward to the feder government. i believe we will listen as well as lead and follow accordingly, and i'm ready for these conversations and to sit at the table with individuals who have been doing the work and are a step ahead in the conversation for their guidance and their solidarity. >> britney, before we move on, i wonder how you think, based on the example of john lewis, he would want the nation to handle

the various flash points. we dealt with reforming law enforcement to mary trump saying she heard her uncle say the "n" word. in all this context is there one main thread or through line that you think that congressman lewis would want us to keep in mind as we engage in all this briefly before we go? >> in all my conversations with him, the thing that always came up is to remain hopeful, determined, clear eyed. no matter how difficult the road is, it is the one worth traveling. that can certainly begin by reflecting on the kind of ancestors we will be in ct vivian's light, and making sure the politicians that won elections by suppressing the votes that john lewis bled for and that won their elections by inflaming racial injustices ct vivian fought against are not

only defeated at the ballot box but permanently reverse the harm they've done. that's a great place to begin. >> we appreciate you both being with us. thanks very much. coming up next, the latest on a disturbing situation in portland, oregon. local leaders say federal agents are targeting protesters against the city's wishes and in clandestine suspicious ways that may not even be legal. that's next. may not even be legal. that's next.

how we supposed to know who you are? how are we supposed to know you're not kidnapping us, you're civilians kidnapping us? >> it is a pop culture reference that few officers would find flattering, storm troopers. that's what house speaker nancy pelosi called the federal officers on the ground in portland, oregon.

federal law enforcement officers in portland have reportedly been grabbing peaceful protesters off the streets, putting them in unmarked vehicles. multiple online accounts show officers driving up to people, detaining them with no explanation, and driving off. t no comment and driving off. these tactics stunned even him. >> in my 25 years in federal law enforcement, i've never seen deployment of federal resources in these kinds of circumstances without a request or at least an acknowledgement and concurrence of local, county, and state authorities. >> oregon governor kate brown has called what the administration is doing an extraordinary abuse of power. she says she wants these officers out. acting homeland security secretary chad wolf has refused to call them back. we're back in a minute. stay close. we're back in a minute stay close . one wash, stains are gone. daughter: slurping

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affair. new dpiedlines in california would keep more than half the counties closed for school for in-person classes. those counties would have to hit certain benchmarks first to prove covid-19 is controlled there. nbc's jordan jackson joins us from mt. airy, north carolina, and, jordan, you spoke with a number of educators about the school reopening plans. what did they tell you? >> reporter: joshua, i have heard concerns, excitement, and

cautious optimism here, but it was just this week local districts received instructions from the governor. i actually went to high school in this district and they will, in fact, be opening up for students in person just in four weeks. i spoke with two teachers here just about how they're feeling. take a listen. >> i think my biggest question is what is going to happen when we have positive cases in the classroom. >> we know people are going to get this, and i do feel like we're going to have to trudge our way through it, the education. i don't know that too there's one right answer. i'm just trying to stay positive. >> reporter: joshua, i also spoke with, had a long conversation with a kindergarten teacher here. remember, these kids coming into her classroom are just 5, 6 years old. i want to play a little bit of what she told me. >> i was so apprehensive when i read the cdc guidelines and even

when the administration explained it to us. i was thinking, oh, my goodness, i teach kindergarten. these kids are not going to keep these masks on. >> reporter: this teacher went on to say how she's helped with summer school the week and her fears are proven wrong, that the kids are follow directions, keeping their masks on. she told me she's excited to get back into the classroom even if it looks widely different. >> glad to see they're following direction. thank you, jordan. let's meet back here tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern and after that stay with us for a special edition of "headliners" on the life of john lewis at 10:00 p.m. eastern. then a special edition of "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell at 11:00 and t"t rhe rachel maddow show" after that. stay tuned for more news with yasmin vossoughian on msnbc. e n yasmin vossoughian on msnbc.

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hi, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. we begin the hour remembering the life and legacy of a civil rights unit. congressman john lewis passed away last night after a brief bat well cancer. he was 80 years old. his house colleagues frequently called him the conscience of congress, but john lewis is known for