let me close with a quick personal story. 50 years ago, muhammad ali beat -- defeated george trevalo in toronto, canada. the very next day, he showed up in my neighborhood on the south side of chicago. car in theout of the driveway, i happen to be next-door shooting hoops in a friend's backyard. i, of course, quickly ran to the fence and for the first time in my life, i shook the champ's hand. i was 17. i was awe struck and i thought he was the greatest. now, half a century and a lifetime of experiences later, i am still awestruck and i'm convinced more than ever that muhammad ali is the greatest. [applause] to be standing here by virtue of his and lonnie's request, it's mind numbing. the honor that ali has done me today as he goes to his grave is one that i will take to mine. god bless you, champ. [applause] announcer: sunday, we will feature a live discussion on the presidency of barack obama. includes april ryan, white house correspondent for american urban radio network and author of "the presidency in black and white." princeton university professor eddie blau. and pulitzer priz

let me close with a quick personal story. 50 years ago muhammad ali beat george trevalo in toronto, canada. the next day he showed up in my neighbourhood on the south side of chicago. as ali got out of a driveway, i happened to be next door shooting hoops in a friend's backyard. i, of course, quickly ran to the fence, and for the first time in my life, i shook the champ's hand. i was 17. i was awe struck, and i thought he was the greatest. now, half a century and a life-time of experiences later, i am still awe-struck and i'm convinced more than ever that muhammad ali's the greatest. [ clapping ] >> standing here by virtue of his and looney's request, it's mind numbing. the honour that ali has done me today, as he goes to his grave. is one that i will take to mine. god bless you, champ. [ clapping ] >> announcer: the new congress starts tuesday, watch the opening day event and activities on c-span. we are live from the u.s. capitol starting at 7am eastern. you'll meet new representatives and hear from returning members. the house gabbles in at noon. opening day business includes the electi