i'm joshua johnson. good to be with you tonight. from nbc news world headquarters in new york it is a busy saturday night. we are watching hurricanes off our coasts, honoring the life of john lewis, and bracing for more protests in america's streets. let's start there in louisville. three people were accidentally shot ahead of a black lives matter march. the injured were with a black militia group and the damage is reportedly not life threatening. that group and a similarly armed far right group are both part of the ongoing protests over the killing of breonna taylor. contrast that with a scene in selma a city well acquainted with protests. a week of formal ceremonies began today honoring a man who devoted his life to peaceful protests. friends and family of the late congressman john lewis remembered him as a brother,

son, and courageous civil rights leader in his hometown of troy, alabama. another service took place in selma ahead of a moment book ending his remarkable life. lewis will make one last trip across the edmund pettus bridge as he did 55 years ago when he was brutally beaten during a march for voting rights. today's services required attendees to wear face masks. it is easy to see why. coronavirus has affected more than 4.1 million americans. in the last two weeks we've recorded at least 50,000 new cases every day. more than 146,000 people are confirmed dead from covid-19. much of our economy remains on life support. the pandemic has left more than 30 million americans unemployed. perhaps you are among the folks getting 600 bucks from the government to help make ends meet. that help us almost up and there is no deal yet to provide more aid. today the treasury secretary and the white house chief of staff

were both on capitol hill meeting with the senate majority leader staff. the house passed its plan months ago. the senate hopes to release a deal by monday. there is plenty for us to discuss tonight with our first panel. we have a congressional reporter for politico and dr. ebony hilton is an anesthesiologist and critical care doctor and also associate professor at the university of virginia. good to have you both with us. andrew, let me start with you and this bill. do we have any sense of what's going to be in it aside from help for people who are struggling hopefully? do we know if there will be more money for things like testing, and tracing, and ppe supplies? >> so senate republicans and the white house have been negotiating for about a week now on this package and there have been a number of hang-ups. the main one has actually been over this issue of how to extend unemployment insurance which of course expires this weekend as you noted in your opening. millions of americans are receiving an extra $600 a month or a week, excuse me, in

unemployment insurance. and that is scheduled to expire this weekend. you know, they're trying to cobble together some sort of deal that would allow people to make 70% of their previous wages going forward because there was a concern among republicans in particular that a lot of people were making more money being on unemployment than they were at their actual jobs. that is concern number one. number two, in terms of senate republicans and the white house has been this issue of the payroll tax cut which president trump has been very high on but there's just no appetite for it on capitol hill. it doesn't look like it is going to be included in the next package, even the one that republicans released. instead they're going to move more toward direct payments to americans similar to what they did in the cares act in march. those are the two main provisions they were sort of hung up over. everything else as you mentioned, money for schools, money for testing, contact tracing, all of that are going to be in this bill. >> dr. hilton, today virginia reported a big increase in cases.

a lot of them are in the virginia beach area. you are currently working in the icu. what kinds of cases are you seeing right now -- young adults, seniors, a mix? >> right. what we know across the board not just in virginia is that the age of our patients we're seeing in the icus are getting younger and younger than first reported. i think what america has to come to grips with is that when we're comparing ourselves to other nations and saying that older people in those nations were the ones getting sick, we have to realize that our nation in totality, we rank as 34th in the world as far as the developed nations on our overall health. 34th as far as our life expectancy from birth so we have higher rates of heart disease, higher rates of diabetes and obesity, and this is not with the elderly population. this is with the 20 to 60-year-old groups. we're seeing those people get sick and we're seeing them die unfortunately. >> doctor, how are you and the other care givers where you work

holding up? >> you know, here in charlottesville i will say in virginia in totality we are fortunate we have a governor who is a physician himself. therefore, there are certain things in place that were kind of more aggressively approached as far as closing down and a more strategic plan in how to reopen our economy because you can see in some of the other southern states -- florida, south carolina, georgia, arizona, you know, in these other states we're having a sharp increase in not only the cases but also the deaths associated with it. we're trying to hold steady. but what we know is that the cases will come and especially when we start to open up the schools particularly the college age kids. >> andrew, regarding a deal, how likely does it look there might be something to announce by monday? mitch mcconnell's staff the senate majority leader, his staff is in town but he is i understand it not. >> exactly. lawmakers are back in their home states this weekend so it is very unusual for the treasury

secretary and the white house chief of staff to be meeting just with congressional staff to work through what they say are just technical fixes in this bill that republicans are going to announce to release rather on monday. remember, that is just the starting point. this bill will have to be negotiated with democrats who of course released their plan and passed it through the house two months ago in the middle of may. there are still many steps to go in this process. the treasury secretary told us last week on capitol hill that he hoped to get this done, this whole process done by the end of this coming week. that is looking increasingly unlikely given mostly due to these differences between republicans and the white house on the issues i mentioned before. >> but it doesn't look like i'm guessing even if they get this done -- correct me if i'm wrong -- even if they get this done by the end of the week, the month technically ends on friday. for people who are used to having this funding continuously, should they just expect a hiccup in those funds if indeed they continue?

>> well, there is going to be a lapse in the unemployment benefits. they really did expire this weekend for all intents and purposes because the final checks had to be processed this weekend in order to go out next week. so no matter how you slice it there will be a lapse in unemployment benefits. that is i think the most urgent thing both sides are trying to work on right now. they were floating a short term fix where they would just extend the benefits for two weeks. obviously congress loves to punt. they love to kick the can down the road. but that plan was not supported by the white house when it was discussed on thursday of this week. so it looks like there is going to be a lapse and it just, you know, is a matter of time before democrats and republicans hopefully can come together on something in the next couple of weeks before the august recess. >> let's shift gears from the legislative to the judiciary. last night the supreme court ruled on the case of a nevada church that wanted to hold services with more than 50 people. that is the limit in nevada. the church argued it should be

treated the way casinos are treated in nevada. casinos are allowed to have more people than that inside. the majority on the court didn't even write an opinion. they just basically kind of told the church no. there were two dissenting opinions writen but, doctor, what do you think of this decision particularly because the dissents focused on the risk to the church's first amendment rights. >> right. and i think in this time we just have to realize that we've been focused on first amendment rights and economy and whether or not we'll be safe but what this virus does not care about is the first amendment right nor our economy. i agree with the church in that i say that the casinos should also not be opened and allowed to have that many people in one gathering. we know across the board for instance in california we have increases in our overall cases by a thousand percent since reopening. in florida we're looking at 1300% increases in the number of cases since reopening.

and so we're starting to see this uptick in cases and what we know is that it lags about two weeks before we see an uptick in deaths. for the first time since mid -- or june we've now surpassed a thousand people dying a day again. so we're going in this upslope. i agree with the church that the casino should also have a limit on how many people go inside but we are just not ready as a nation to fully open up in the ways we are. yeah we need to take that into consideration. >> dr. ebony hilton, glad to have you both to start us off. thanks very much. >> thank you. we have our first two hurricanes of the year. one in the atlantic and one in the pacific. tonight hurricane hanna made landfall just south of corpus christie, texas. it grew into a strong category 1 storm making its first landfall.

texas has been bracing as hanna continues to intensify. it is the first atlantic storm to reach hurricane strength this season. hawaii is also preparing for a possible hit from hurricane douglas. it is about as strong as hanna is with sustained winds around 90 miles per hour on the higher end of the category 1 strength. now, this year the national hurricane center predicted an above average hurricane season. storm activity usually peaks between mid august and late october. we mentioned we've been keeping an eye on the services for john lewis. you are looking at the congresswoman who represents alabama's 7th congressional district. >> with my aunts and uncles and thousands of cousins and all they wanted was a picture with john and he was patient. you know what i mean. you can't walk with john anywhere. without someone wanting an autograph or a photo, and john

always took the time. he could walk with presidents, kings, and queens. he never lost the common touch. we would laugh about as they called him the boy from troy and me the girl from selma. we would laugh about how far our state had come. how far our nation had come. and as i would sit and talk about old battles becoming new again john never gave up hope. his optimism. is what he inspired in all of us. we're all infused with that optimism. can't you hear him? find a way to get in the way. good trouble! necessary trouble.

can't you hear him? that was john always willing to share his life. always willing to mentor the next generation. i could be nowhere near him. but if he was talking about voting rights and we were in the capitol or on the floor he would say, and that terry sewell, she represents selma as if he was a proud father when it was i who was proud of his benevolence. we have a lot more bridges to cross without john. i would say to myself, how could we get congress to restore the vote without john who was the voice, who was the face, who had the power of the movement? but you know what? we're all disciples of john. we carry his legacy. there are armies of people who know and love john lewis.

he gave us the road map. all we have to do is dare to follow it. one year ago today john took a pilgrimage. >> that is congressman terri sewell who represents alabama's 7th congressional district, one of the most historic and important districts in the country, perhaps the most important in the context of the life of john lewis because her district includes montgomery and selma, alabama. that is the 50-mile span that was to be walked on that day in 1965 when protesters tried to cross the edmund pettus bridge. this service is continuing. we will monitor that and get back to the news in just a moment. this selenite grey is so pretty isn't it?

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it only takes one gunshot to make an already tense protest heart stopping. that happened today in downtown louisville at the demonstration over the death of breonna taylor. three people were taken to the

hospital after gun fire struck them. authorities say their injuries are not life threatening and that all of them were members of this same protest group. that startling moment came as far right demonstrators faced off against black lives matter protesters. nbc's cal perry is in louisville. what is the latest? >> reporter: this is jefferson square park. things are calm. things are very jovial. this is kind of back to the atmosphere we were hoping we would see. both of the militias, the right wing white militia and the left wing black militia have gone away. so have the police. i have to think that was prenegotiated. we don't know that to be true but i'm pretty sure that's what happened because everybody left at once. i will say earlier this summer after the death of david macatee the african-american man who lived on the west side of the city and shot by federal authorities at least one member of the national guard one member of local police the police made a point to withdraw from the area, withdraw from the city, and it brought the tension down in this city for weeks.

we hadn't seen a tense situation like the one today in quite sometime. as you said it seemed to be triggered by that gunfire. the other thing we're seeing is obviously heavily armed militias. the black blimilitia that came o town i think really organized people as to how organized they were and the show of force. it is clearly a symptom of what we are seeing in louisville. this is a city where on the west side of town people will tell you there are live rounds fired at the african-american population which continues to see systematic racism take place. on this side of town you'll see rubber bullets and pepper spray at a mixed sort of crowd. i think that sort of protest we saw today, that sort of show of force is very much a symptom of what the city of louisville continues to go through. >> these things are much more peaceful and both groups that had been armed have left. i'm sure that brought the temperature down a lot. thank you, cal. that is nbc's cal perry joining us in downtown louisville. in portland, oregon protests

also continue. federal officers remain in the city much to the dismay of state and local officials. this week president trump announced we can expect more of the same elsewhere. he says he will send federal agents into cities like chicago and albuquerque to address rising crime. now a group of 14 mayors have sent a letter to attorney general william barr and acting dhs secretary chad wolf. the mayors are calling on them to, quote, take immediate action to withdraw your forces and agree to no further unilateral deployments in u.s. cities, unquote. joining us now is one of the signers of the letter, denver's mayor michael hancock. welcome. >> thank you, joshua. glad to be with you. >> what sparked you to sign this letter along with the other mayors? >> listen, mayors communicate on a very regular basis and we all have been communicating throughout this crises we've been dealing over the past few months whether covid or george

floyd protests, breonna taylor protests, we've been communicating and we've been encouraging as well as advising one another how to get through these things. as we began to see the unilateral deployment of federal troops into portland, oregon we understand that these individuals and certainly the president does not understand what it means to execute urban policing strategies. instead of allowing the local and state officials to work to de-escalate the situation unfortunately our u.s. servicemen and women tend to escalate the situation when they show up. >> the denver post urged protesters to stand up to them at a safe social distance of course and peacefully tell them to leave town. president trump has not shown any interest in withdrawing these forces. he says he will deploy more. we don't know that he will.

he has said that he will. but how much do you think folks in denver agree with the editorial board of the post? >> i think many people in denver agree with what the editorial board is saying. here is the reality. haven't we all learned a lot more about how we work with these type of activities in our cities? there is a fundamental process that cities go through and we need to step up our engagement or the patrols or engagement. we work with the state. for example we believe our local law enforcement are unable to handle whatever situation they're facing. and the state works with us to maybe deploy the national guard. if it needs to go further than that, it must be local and state governments that request from the federal government. for the president to unilaterally deploy military to our cities is fundamentally against the way federalism is designed to work and foundationally against really the tenets of our u.s. constitution. the other thing i'll share with

you, joshua, is that, you know, we have spent years trying to perfect how to de-escalate situations. it is not perfect. in fact we've seen in denver where our officers had to don riot gear and deal with situations as a result of some of these protests. but that is not our first step. unfortunately, we need to be very clear about the fact this is not how you deal with these situations at least not initially until you have exhausted other means. two, let's be very clear. the president is using these tactics as a way to distract the american people away from his failures to, one, confront covid-19 appropriately and, two, to deal with the issues of the race relations and police relations in our communities. >> could i just ask you to elaborate on one of the things you said in terms of officers having to don riot gear, to deal with some of the protests when they got a little more intense? >> yes >> i don't work in law enforcement. i don't understand the intricacies of law enforcement. but i have seen law enforcement

agencies de-escalate situations in polo shirts and khaki pants and soft shoes. >> yes. >> with no need to put on any kind of armament. when you say that the police had to put on their riot gear, did they really? >> i can only speak for denver. i can't speak for other cities. our officers showed up the way you describe in their daily uniforms or they're in there, you know, khakis and polo shirts depending on what division they are part of in the police department. only when they were faced with projectiles, whether bottles or rocks and other things that could have injured them very easily and in fact we did have some officers injured did they have to don their riot gear. of course their riot gear is set up to help them with stand those type of blows. our goal was never to engage. in fact the police chief and director of safety and i had a meeting earlier in the day when

the protests started in denver and our commitment was to allow the protests to go forward. we were beyond the perimeter to allow for safe passage and for the protests to occur. only when our officers came under projectiles and were assaulted did they have to put on their gear. >> i'll be interested to see in the future, mayor, how you and the governor deal with these federal officers if indeed they do come to denver but for now we appreciate you making time for us. that is michael hancock mayor of denver, colorado. let's take a look back at the services for john lewis. this is one of birmingham's native sons singing at the service. here we go. lift and push and push! there... it's up there. oh, boy. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them before they start with downy wrinkleguard.

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many experts say if kids can safely go back to campus this fall for school that is preferable to staying home. this week the cdc released its new guidelines to help schools make that happen.

the guidelines are pretty extensive and include checklists to help parents decide whether to send children back. those lists highlight aspects of a school's reopening plan to ask about. the document also outlines the social, physical, and emotional toll on students if not in the classroom but it also emphasizes that there is a physical risk to returning. joining us now to discuss all of this is the president of democrats for education reform and an assistant professor at the university of michigan. good to have you both with us. let's take a look at some of the questions the cdc suggests parents answer or get answers to before sending their children back to school. they cover everything from a child's ability to wear a mask, to be properly engaged via online learning, the child's learning style, the ability to have nutritious food if not at school. if you are a parent and you want

to look at this it is on the cdc home page. there is a link to the guidance a link to decision making tool. very easy to find. what are your biggest takeaways from the cdc's guidance? >> my primary takeaways are these are important guidelines that are broadly accurate. obviously depending upon the district and state where a parent and family is, it is going to really speak to how safe it is for children to go back to school. in certain parts of the country cases are. other parts of the country particularly northeast cases have stabilized. what is also very important as well is we really need the federal government to make sure there is one-to-one interconnectivity. we see huge inequities in this country in terms of the extent to which young people can access learning regardless of whether or not students go back to school in the fall it is likely going to be a situation where kids will be in school for one part of the year and back out. particularly as you get into the winter and the flu season. so one-to-one internet connectivitiy for every student is critical and every state has

to have an instructional vision to make sure kids are home or in brick and mortar to make sure young people are learning. >> that is one of the big risk factors in terms of how students do in online education particularly lower income students for whom broadband subscriptions may already be economically further out of reach. talk through how going back to school or not going back to school as it were will affect students, particularly those who are lower income and who may depend on their school for a number of services. >> thank you, joshua. i think what this does is highlights the inequities that existed long before covid and long before these two pandemics of racism and covid-19 have been on the forefront of people's minds. so the real question is whether we are going to address those directly or we're going to then put a band-aid on top of the systems that have been disproportionately affecting low income minority populations,

individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses, prior to these things happening. i think whichever solution we choose it is still going to result in a disparity, and we need to make sure we are planning on addressing those disparities and not just coming up with a solution that is temporary only. >> doctor, what would you rip the band-aid off first if you could? >> so the truth about that is if we then address this the first band-aid could be the fact that low income families are disproportionately affected right now because there are pandemic pods that are being discussed in the affluent communities that are planning on then educating their children in little socially isolated clusters of groups that have resources to be able to do that. that is going to disproportionately affect the low income families that aren't going to be able to get the education for their children. so i think if we are going to use individuals with disabilities, low income, and minority communities as the justification for why school has to happen, there needs to be a commitment to making sure

whether it is a hybrid model, in-person model, or completely virtual model we are actually creating an access to health, access to education that is equal amongst all populations. >> do you think there is time and are there financial resources for schools to put all these new guidelines or at least a good number of them in place in time for school to start this fall? >> the federal government has to play a central role. the federal government put about $13 billion in the prior stimulus package to support schools dealing with the educational consequences of the pandemic. there needs to be a greater investment by the federal government. the states cannot handle this on their own but this country absolutely has the resource. the question is does the country have the will to make the investment to make sure young people particularly low income students of color have the access to education they deserve. then it is going to be essential every state have clear expectations of what we want our children to learn particularly with the low income students of color we've been talking about. many have been too quick to talk about it is too hard to

ensure -- in my judgment that is overlaid with racial stigmas about who can learn and should learn. we have to hold our districts to a high standard consistent with ensuring safety of our adults and educators as well, whether in person, virtual hybrid, there has to be clear expectation about what we want our young people to learn and a significant investment from the federal government and our states to make sure our schools have the resources to deliver on that promise. >> that is one of the things i should note going back to the checklist. it is designed to be a list of things for you as a parent to ask about. if you can't answer with confidence. you just touched on a number of things that are on the list and it is a long list of things that you might go to your school administrators and say, hey i have this question, that question, the other question just to help you articulate the things that might be a concern. before i have to let you all go, i also wanted to ask you about the americans with disabilities act. tomorrow marks 30 years since it was signed into law.

you had a spinal cord injury that affected the course of your life. before we go, from your perspective where do we stand today in making america equitable for all people regardless of physical ability? >> thank you for highlighting that important point. tomorrow will be as you said the 30th anniversary of the ada and what that did is that essentially created the floor for creating equal access to individuals with disabilities and public life whether employment or education and i think this is a perfect time to be able to return to that because as we are coming up with a plan for how we are going to move forward everyone deserves to have equal access to basic human rights. and education and employment, nutritious food, housing. that floor has been set by the ada but we still have a long way to go to make sure that those equal rights are there for all and, you know, i take this opportunity to talk about the partnership we have with guardian. the equal and able partnership

which demonstrates that disability is not inability. i think that is the culture change that is needed because our disabled population is too often seen as unable to then fully participate or contribute to society and i think that, you know, since you talked about my injury i tell people if i wasn't given opportunities from the education i had from the resources i was given and from the relationship with guardian then i wouldn't be sitting in front of you having this conversation not because i wasn't capable or confident or qualified but because i didn't have the resources that i was otherwise given when i didn't have a disability to maintain that same access. >> i will tell you, doctor, i know we have to go but i'm sure i will get a text message from my mother as soon as we're off the air regarding one ability you seem to have that i don't which is the ability to rock a bow tie. i have been told it is something i should have in my arsenal. that is why i dress like this on television. but i assure you that text message is coming. gentlemen, appreciate you making

time for us and look forward to talking to you again soon. thanks very much. tomorrow marks 100 days until the election. what will the conventions look like? who will joe biden choose as his running mate? what will it be like for you and me voting in november? we will consider those questions just ahead. stay close. . that's why i like liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. almost done. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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the election. a new fox news poll shows former vice president joe biden leading president trump by nearly double digits in three key battleground states -- minnesota, michigan, and pennsylvania. some election experts are looking to november with concern. a piece in politico lays out a kind of perfect storm that could be on the horizon. this election cycle could face a number of challenges -- controversial new voting technology, foreign interference, and of course the coronavirus pandemic. joining us now is latasha brown the co-founder of the black voters matter fund. good evening. >> good evening. how are you today? >> i'm well. thank you very much. i was going to start by asking how you are doing because so far we've had the iowa caucus fiasco, malfunctioning voting machines in l.a., wisconsin holding an in-person primary amid the pandemic, long lines in atlanta that left some folks waiting till 1:00 in the morning to cast a vote. i feel like somebody needs to just unplug 2020 and plug it back in again.

where is your head at right now with everything that's been going on in the runnup to november? >> absolutely. we can't forget kentucky where you had one polling site for 612,000 people in jefferson county. if it was just 2020 that would be one thing but the truth is this has been an ongoing issue around voter suppression. we're seeing it intensifying and it is so critical because we only have a hundred days left till the election. my head is right now i am really trying to process what is happening in our election, our democracy in america. i am also on the eve of the funeral and memorial of congressman john lewis and the death and ct vivian and civil rights, voting rights activists that actually fought to have the right to vote and here we are 55 years after and still fighting just to have free and fair access to the ballot. i think there is a number of

things that any time in our history and i know people hear this over and over this is going to be the most critical election in this country's history. it is not just about selecting the president. i think it is also about sending a message of where we're going in the future and we have to save democracy. democracy, the farage ilt of democracy we're all experienced and all seeing it right now. >> how are you keeping people engaged particularly those who may be feeling like there is too much talk right now. call me on november 2nd and i'll tell you if i'm going to the polls. what do you do to keep people engaged? >> because we are in the midst of covid-19 people are concerned about their economics, they're concerned about their finances and what is going to happen there. millions of people with unemployment right now when we're looking in the south and the roo iz in rates of people testing positive, how it has rav issued the african-american community, people are concerned right now and when folks are concerned they pay attention in a different kind of way.

as we're talking to people when we're talking, they're saying they want change. that ultimately they need leadership. we need leadership in this country that is going to look out for the people and put people over profit. that we need the truth. we need to know what is happening and so what we've been talking as we've been talking to people and had to be really creative in terms of outreach people have been consistent around they understand the gravity that their lives have been deeply impacted by the coronavirus and all the other things that are happening. i think what we'll see this year is a possibility of having a high turnout because people are concerned. >> how much do you think turnout might be affected by president trump's campaigning against his broad sides against mail-in voting intimating it is basically voter fraud waiting to happen? >> you know the hypocrisy of that is he actually votes mail-in voting. i'm always baffled. why are people listening to him? he has shown himself not to be

truthful and not able to give us information we need. what we have to do is keep our eyes on the prize and really be consistent around thinking about what is the issues that we're dealing with. what is the opportunity. what is it that we need? this country is slowly falling into facism. i know people are saying no don't say that but it is the truth. and we have to really wake up america and know that this is the moment that no more that we have got to end voter suppression. the brenner center just came out a couple weeks ago with a report that talked about that between 2016 and 2018 there were 17 million americans who were dropped from the voting rolls and so we're looking at that seeing voter suppression and there is a spectrum of how that happens. we're seeing voter suppression at its finest dealing with it at the level and the scale that people like john lewis were dealing with 55 years ago.

>> natasha brown of the black vote matters fund appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> coming up we'll check in on the tributes to congressman lewis in his home state of alabama. today was the first in a series of services honoring the man dr. king affectionately called the boy from troy. introducing new voltaren arthritis pain gel, the first and only full prescription strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel available over-the-counter. new voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. voltaren. the joy of movement. new voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. we see you. doing your part by looking out...for all of us. and though you may have lost sight of your own well-being, aetna never did. by setting up virtual monitoring for chronic patients, 24-hour telemedicine visits, and mental health resources for everyone. we're always here to help you focus on your health.

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♪ ♪ america is saying a long, heartfelt good-bye to congressman and civil rights legend, john lewis. a week of ceremonies began today in his hometown of troy, alabama. hosting day one of six days honoring his legacy, perhaps his seven-year-old nephew best

summed up what we've been feeling. >> my uncle was my hero and it's up to us to keep his legacy alive. >> amen to that, let's discuss that legacy with the president and ceo of global policy solutions, wife of late elijah cummings. thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for voluntarying me on. >> -- having me on. >> what's your fondest memory of john lewis. >> i think it was his booming voice on the floor of the congress, he would speak from the well of the house with such strength, such power that all of us staffers sitting in the offices at capitol hill couldn't help but look up at the screen to watch him in fascination because his voice commanded and demanded you pay attention. this man was a gentle and kind man, but when you heard him speak, particularly when he was orating you just knew he could

move mountains and he did, he was an absolute american hero, a patriot and statesman who led a movement and carried us from the 20th century to the 21st century in terms of civil rights. >> how do we continue to honor the legacy of both your late husband and congressman john lewis. >> yeah it's really bitter sweet we lost john lewis and elijah within ten months of each other, it really is incredible. elijah was the first in the u.s. capitol and john lewis in the rotunda in few shore days just bitter sweet. their legacies live on and we all have a responsibility and duty to carry it forward, first thing that must happen is the restoration of the voting act. i've called on marco rubio and

dan sullivan two u.s. senators who mistakenly placed elijah's picture in place of john lewis in their twitter tributes of the two great men. however, i want them to stand up to the republican caucus and say it's time to reverse what the supreme court did in 2013 and restore the voting rights act. we know voter suppression still continues across this nation and that under mines our democracy. elijah and john lewis stood for our democracy. they were great patriots in defense of our voting rights, so we need to carry that forward. another thing we need to do is in ip donald trump in november. >> we are looking at the late john lewis in the church in alabama where services took place.

luther king iii will speak. his body will remain there until tomorrow the edmund pettus bridge meant to go from selma to montgomery, a 50 mile trip. with regard to the comparison between your late husband and john lewis being mistaken for one another, can you give an insight into their relationship. the new document about late men what was their relationship like away from capitol hill and congress all that. >> they were good friends and they joked with each other all the time about being mistaken for each other. early in elijah's career he was always mistaken for john lewis and let people thinking they just met john lewis. if he didn't feel up to

correcting them. however later elijah's life john lewis would report to elijah many mistook him for elithgow -- elijah in the late years so it was a running joke. that said, elijah and i respected john lewis greatly. we knew he was an icon, an american hero and i legend and so elijah was absolutely honored to be mistaken for him. so with that, you know, they did have a very good relationship but john got along with everyone, he was a gentle and kind man. i had the chance to observe him working on the house weighs and means committee back in the day and he was just an incredibly gentle spirit and wonderful, wonderful human being. >> maya, i hope you have found peace and closure in the remembrance of your late husband

and congressman john lewis, i appreciate you spending time with us. >> thank you for having me. >> you sit tight. we have much more to come in the next hour. coronavirus across the nation, hurricane hanna. lots to discuss. next on nbcsn. next on nbcsn. ♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ms nbc. nbc ♪all strength, no sweat

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hey there, i'm joshua johnson, good to be with you tonight from nbc news world headquarters in new york. we're following protes