harry johnson. [applause] >> thank you so much. thank you so much. thank you so much. [applause] thank you, thank you, thank you. your excellencies, members of the king family, other special guests that are with us tonight, hello, everyone. and thank you for joining us tonight on this most auspicious occasion. to our mistress of ceremonies andrea mitchell, ambassador dr. suzan johnson cook, thank you. honored guests, we thank you. all of you assembled tonight, i say, how is everyone doing this evening? [applause] during his short time here on earth dr. martin luther king jr. once said, "our lives begin to end the day we become solid about things that matter -- silent about things that matter." tonight as we celebrate that world vision and commitment to peace and justice that guided dr. king and inspires the leaders here with us this evening, we are mindful of the fact that we stand on the shoulders of those who refuse to be silent about things that mattered most. truth, justice, equality, and opportunity for all. to that end, as we begin making our plans for the dedica

we will forever be indebted to you harry johnson. >> thank you. >> harry. >> jon:s >>> my mother wasold when the voting rights happened. i was a toddler. she couldn't vote in a town she was born in until later in life. but she lived to see her son, me, run for president and she lived to see barack obama become president. that happened because people like dr. king and fanny lou hammer, did not sue come s succumb to the moment, did not succumb to hatred and anger, like many of us have flirted with or succumbed to in life. and other areas, whether it was fights for gays and lesbians or immigrants. many had it o overcome things and overcome controversy in # and adversity to make america better. when this memorial opens, it becomes a symbol of how people can overcome odds. and become bigger and better, even overcome their own flaws. how taking you out of their own mountain of dispare and still dream against the odds. people can bing their kids, and say, no matter what face in life, don't give up. a man who according to all in the world, had a seat in the back of the bus but he changed ame

harry johnson, who was president of the memorial, and his staff, of whether a wonderful job.'s give them a round of applause. [applause] >> i would like to share with you something that is on my mind. in front of every man, and let me say that again -- in front of every man is a great woman. i would like to acknowledge my wife who is sitting to my right, why loved dearly, and has put up with me for all of these years -- who i love dearly, and has put up with me for all of these years. i would like to close by paying tribute to my mother. when i saw the title, i remembered my mother, who is deceased. when i was a young man said in elmira, new york, grew up in the church of god in christ, and we would have our place, she would be backstage telling me word- for-word my part. i knew my part. we studied it at home, and i knew it, but when we got on stage, i would just freeze, and i would look behind a curtain to my mother, she would mall but part, i would say a line, i would look again, and she would say it again. it was the women in the audience thought always encouraged me, and

harry johnson would be among the first to tell you -- harry johnson would be the first to tell you -- that without these women, could they would not be possible. i want you to welcome someone who has many titles, but i will give her her appropriate recognition as the head of the foundation for the general motors co., as someone who has the title of vice president for the general motors co., as someone, when we think of gm, we think of the in -- vivian picard. please welcome the vivian picard, who will greet you as our lead sponsor. please come forward. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. his sometimes good to have good friends in high places. let me share my sincere apologies for the fact that mary barbour is not able to join us this afternoon. she is very disappointed, but of course the weather and travel constraints allowed her not to join us today, and i am very disappointed that you do not have the opportunity to meet her, because i think you would have really enjoyed it as senior vice president of global product development for general motors, mary is the highest ranking fema

harry johnson, who was president of the memorial, and his staff, of whether a wonderful job.et's give them a round of applause. [applause] >> i would like to share with you something that is on my mind. in front of every man, and let me say that again -- in front of every man is a great woman. i would like to acknowledge my wife who is sitting to my right, who i love dearly, and has put up with me for all of these years. i would like to close by paying tribute to my mother. when i saw the title, i remembered my mother, who is deceased. when i was a young man said in elmira, new york, grew up in the church of god in christ, and we would have our place, she would be backstage telling me word-for-word my part. i knew my part. we studied it at home, and i knew it, but when we got on stage, i would just freeze, and i would look behind a curtain to my mother, she would mall but part, i would say a line, i would look again, and she would say it again. it was the women in the audience thought always encouraged me, and always said you can do it, and you can see somebody, so i know fir

the want to say to harry johnson and a very small staff -- i want to say to harry johnson and the very small staff of the memorial, your wonderful, your tenacious, you bring it every day. on behalf of the foundation and our company, thank you and god bless. >> now, please welcome, myrtle potter, board member of this evening's sponsor, medco health solutions. >> good evening. first of all, we are very honored to be here with you tonight. we are certainly thrilled to be gathering to commence five days of celebration of the life, dream and legacy of dr. martin luther king, jr.. i am a board member of medco health solutions, which is the world's leading pharmacy management company. thee thrilled to have medco foundation service this evening's sponsor. on behalf of the foundation, our chairman and ceo, our executive team and over 20,000 associates, we welcome you to this historic night and to this week's landmark commemoration of one of history's greatest leaders. reverend, dr. martin luther king. [applause] dr. king challenged us to become a better nation and a better world by honoring and

. -- harry johnson.y, when you visit the memorial, we hope you will see the definition of breathtaking. although we see dr. martin luther king as a person who spoke for people of color, i see him as someone who spoke for everyone. i was only 8 years old when i stood on the steps of the lincoln memorial and heard him speak. all of us, including this kid from brooklyn, have been molded by the teachings of dr. martin luther king. the dream is among us, hope for something better. the great among us seized the opportunity to take the actions necessary to make their dreams and the dreams of others come true. while many of us only dream of bettering our lot and a lot of those dear to us, the great of us dream of the betterment of the lot of money and hope to enjoy just a piece of that dream. dreams can be simple and limited or they can be lofty and limitless. as we gather to honor dr. martin luther king, we honor those who helped him turn a dream into a movement and a movement into a reality. the civil-rights p

harry johnson, i give you my salute, and his staff. i want everyone here to know, we only have 11 -- i believe, if i'm correct -- 11 staff- professionals, that have been carrying the banner. that is unheard of. this organization is top notch and they have worked very hard. i would like to have everyone give them a round of applause, the memorial foundation staff. [applause] and now, it is my honor and -- i was a little anxious, because no one gave me anything to introduce this next person. then i stopped and said, there is nothing that i can write, and nothing that has not been said, nothing that we do not already know. the next person that i have the honor and privilege of introducing is none other than martin luther king jr. the third. [applause] >> good afternoon. first and foremost, on behalf of my wife andrea and the entire king family, we first want to say thank you to the alpha phi alpha fraternity that began this idea over 20 years ago, of which i am now a proud member of as of november of last year. i thank my brothers and our

harry johnson, i give you my salute, and his staff.everyone here to now, we only have 11 -- i believe, if i'm correct -- 11 staff, professionals, that have been carrying the banner. that is unheard of. this organization is top notch and they have worked very hard. i would like to have everyone give them a round of applause, the memorial foundation staff. [applause] and now, it is my honor and -- i was a little anxious, because no one gave me anything to introduce this next person. then i stopped and said, there is nothing that i can write, and nothing that has not been said, nothing that we do not already know. the next person that i have the honor and privilege of introducing is none other than martin luther king jr. the third. [applause] >> good afternoon. first and foremost, on behalf of my wife andrea and the entire king family, we first want to say thank you to the alpha phi alpha fraternity that began this idea over 20 years ago, of which i am now a proud member of as of november of last year. i thank my brothers and our presiden

you have heard many people say a debt of gratitude to harry johnson, to the dr.ve been supporting this effort for over a decade. we join you all in expressing that debt of gratitude and we stand here today on the brink of seeing an idea come to fruition. i am actually representing a generation whose lives remain a lot easier by our forefathers and the warriors of the civil rights movement were actually here today we did not face -- here today. we did not face some of the struggles that you talk about. you give us the opportunity to walking your footsteps by opening the door to offer to -- the door to opportunity. the call mine generation, a generation xers. we keep that responsibility alive. we're proud to sponsor this effort to help realize the first memorial of an african american on the national mall. on august 28, we are dedicating our entire day of programming to dr. king's memorial and legacy. and for those of us who are fortunate to be here this weekend, thank you very much, we know we have family and friends who would love to be here but can opt. we will

we open the martin luther king memorial and i want to thank harry johnson as his leadership as presidenthe's done a phenomenal job of getting this project done. i was there for the ground breaking. i'll be there next week and this is quite an honor. >> thank you, everyone, for j n joining me. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." enjoy your weekend. we'll see you back here monday at 9:00 a.m. coming up next 910:00 a.m., it's chris jansing & company. [ woman ] welcome back, jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. >>> good morning. i'm chris jansing. fears that the economy is dangerously teetering on the edge of recession are freaking out the markets again. take a look. stocks down once more this morning after the dow plunged nearly 400 points or rat

construction was spearheaded by a foundation headed by harry johnson. >> dr. king was so profound at such a young age, to say the words that he said that will live forever. and that's why we call this a living memorial, that you can walk the wall and you actually get a sense of is he still talking in 1960 or is he talking in 2011. i think we all walk away saying this is so relevant today because we can all live, see, and place dr. king in proper perspective that these words have meaning now. >> holman: the memorial will be dedicated at a ceremony on sunday, the 48th anniversary of the march on washington. president obama will be among the speakers. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: prosecutors in new york today indicated that they will drop charges against dominique strauss-kahn following more doubts about his accuser's credibility. hari sreenivasan has our update. the former head of the international monetary fund was arrested in may, after a hotel maid accused him of sexually assaulting her when she arrived to clean his

>> sreenivasan: harry johnson is president and c.e.o. of the memorial foundation, and spearheaded the $120 million project, funded mostly with private money. >> i think we all walk away saying this is so relevant today, because we can all live, see, and place dr. king in proper perspective-- that these words have meaning now. >> sreenivasan: the idea for a monument to king was originally proposed in 1984 by his college fraternity, alpha phi alpha. a dozen years of lobbying later, congress passed a joint resolution in 1996 authorizing the group to move forward. president clinton signed that legislation, and a decade later, spoke at the ceremonial groundbreaking in 2006. >> the monument, however beautiful it turns out to be, will be but a physical manifestation of the monument already constructed in the lives and hearts of millions of americans, who are more just, more decent, more successful, more perfect because he lived. >> sreenivasan: even its address-- 1964 independence avenue-- is symbolic. 1964 is the year president johnson signed

i talked to harry johnson just yesterday, and the plan was to move forward.g to make the final decision about tomorrow afternoon. but it was clear that with the hurricane irene going from a category 1 to a 2, to a 3, that they had to make this call. literally, candy, folks are already planning to fly in, people are getting on buses. so they had to keep them safe. that's why this call was made. yeah very, very tough, after all the hard work that went into this weekend. >> well, you know, hopefully there will be some pretty weekends in september and ost and one of them will shine on the dedication of this memorial. i know you were to be the emcee for this occasion. i think there must be some personal disappointment for you. >> absolutely. look, there were 15 of us that started this. it really got this thing going, raising the $4 million as the seed money. we had more than 2,000 brothers from around the country. what is happening tomorrow, though, the alpha already planned a private dedication tomorrow, and that is still going forward. so we will have some kind

martin luther king, harry johnson and all of them. two of them marched with dr.are the reverend jesse jackson and andy young. [applause] >> once again, why don't we stand? >> to the wonderful king family, thank you for sharing your father, your uncle, your brother with us. we love you so much, to all the king family. take the hand again. shall we pray? >> accept our petition, dear god. forgive us for our sins, for they are many, for the foolishness of our wears. stretch our hearts, know our ways, make us better and never bitter. tonight is an awesome celebration, one who embodied hopes and dreams of unborn generations, transformed america and the world for the better. we thank you for dr. king's will to be a confronting force, a battering ram for justice. willing to face the bombings of his home and maintain his dignity. to accept stabbings without retaliation, even that we might live. a family that sacrificed a father and a friend. those who live in the aftermath and glow of his life, we thank you. we thank them for their insights and will to serve extend the hi

[cheers and applause] >> please welcome back for final remarks alexis herman and harry johnson. >> we king one more time, please. --bernice king. a very special reception for you after that. i have to acknowledge my staff, because we have not done that. our cfo, dr. ed jackson, robert stewart, all of them, we love you, we appreciate you very, very much. let us thank the wonderful, the vivacious, courageous alexis herman for all that she has done. thank you. >> thank you, harry. i want to give a special thank you to my husband, and one more time, let's thank our captain of this ship, harry johnson. thank you so much. we are going to close out as we began, in prayer. i would like to in -- birdies already took us to church -- bernice already took us to church, but we are going to have our benediction by our chaplain, cynthia hale. thank you so much. >> will you stand, all over the building, and pray with me. great and of some god, what a glorious time this has been of remembering, honoring, and celebrating the women of the civil rights movement who dared to dream of liberty and justice f

. >> reporter: harry johnson, president and ceo of the memorial foundation, says it's not about whatut his place in history. >> this is not a struggle for ourselves alone. it is a struggle to save the soul of america. >> here is a man who stood for some lofty goals and actually changeded america. that's why we built this memorial. >> reporter: johnson and others who led the drive to get the memorial built belonged to alpha phi alpha, the fraternity king joined while a graduate students at boston university. >> the fraternity bailed him out of jail once or twice. >> reporter: getting the memorial built was a struggle in keeping with martin luther king's own story. the project had to be approved by congress. supporters wanted it built close to the mall where king led a quarter of a million people in the historic 1963 civil rights march. >> i have a dream today. >> reporter: but space on the mall is in high demand. it took a battle with the commission that decides where monuments can be built in washington to secure this four- acre site near the tidal basin. >> we persevered and actuall

jenna: harry johnson, president and ceo of the martin luther king, jr.ional memorial project foundation. mr. johnson, congratulations. how does it feel to finally be here at this point? >> oh, what a great feeling it is for us to say that we're here. the dedication is here. we're going to dedicate this memorial on sunday. jenna: since 1996 congress granted permission for this memorial to happen, to be built. how, it was going to be done with another question, we're taking a look at what the memorial looks like at this time. it really has been a labor of love, hasn't it? you had to raise a heck of a lot of money during a tough economic time. what was the biggest challenge getting this project done?. >> money of course. when we got ready to kick off the public campaign, 9/11 happened the same week. so it delayed that a week. then tsunami and katrina. every 18 months there was something. we persevered. how grateful we raised 115 of the $120 million needed. jenna: $5 million more. where does the money go to? where was the major expense? >> major expense of c

>> i talked to harry johnson, the ceo of the mlk memorial foundation.rning show and he said they are in contact with the national parks service. they will make the actual final call. they control the national mall. based upon the current models, they plan, rain or shine, to have the dedication. obviously, if you have significant winds and thunderstorms and lods of rain that changes it. the plan is to go forward with the dedication, beginning at 8:00 a.m. on sunday. everyone has to be in their seats by 10:00 a.m. because of secret service. >> i know roland, that this is certainly close to your heart. you've been working for years to get this memorial built and certainly helping to get it paid for. what is the status of the fundraising for this? >> well, i'm a member of -- king was a member of it. it started at a kitchen table, several members said we need a monument on the national mall. there was efforts to put it near the stadium. they said absolutely not. the impetus and the driving force has been alpha phi alpha. we've raised -- we have $6 million le

but as harry johnson says, when dr. king comes to town, things really shake, rattle, and roll. [applause] good evening and welcome to the first event in celebration of the dedication of a martin luther king, jr., memorial. i cannot tell you how humbled and honored i am to be with you this evening. as our city, our nation, and people from around the world come together to remember a profit, a preacher, a man of peace, and to dedicate a stirring memorial which will remind us forever more of his lasting legacy. for many people of my generation, dr. martin luther king, jr., was the defining leader of an era. his dream was our awakening to the crucial, political, and moral questions of our time. he taught us, as he said in his nobel prize acceptance speech -- civilization and violence are antithetical concepts, and non- violence is a powerful moral force for social transformation. in my home town, one of our most beloved high school teachers was ann schwerner. our school grade as a community, black and white together, when her son mickey and his friends, james chaney and andrew good

johnson, one of his right-hand man. we know when dr. king was assassinated on that balcony in mississippi, died with 75% of the american people turned against him according to the last harris poll, almost 57% of his own people, black folk, had turned against him because of his vietnam position. dr. king famously said, "or is the enemy of the port -- war is the enemy of the poor." we're still engaged in war. is it were still the enemy of the poor? >> it is the poor society that fought the war in iraq, fighting the war in afghanistan. it is the experts that the clear the war. that is like a civil war. the great robber barons of the 19th century, carnegie, rockefeller, they bought their way out of war. they hired, paid about the any way, for pure people -- for poor people, working people to fight in their place. i was not in the white house when martin luther king made that speech. it was in april of 1968 when he made that speech at riverside church in which he came out strongly. i am told by the people who remained at the white house that lyndon johnson was vitriolic and bitter about that, because he thought it would undermine his cause, undermined the war. after that speech

johnson would do it for different reasons. remember, harrytruman does it after world war ii themselves. and yes, they were in a sense if you want to look in the now confines of the constitution. but you know, we're a country created by traders. they were in a line of traders. and too bad they weren't. they were just following in the revolutionary father's footsteps. and that is why to have executed the everybody else by leaking officers family abandoned even the idea of bringing davis to try out after having an imprisoned for two years or so. but the men who fought against some, if you look at them, that is what they couldn't understand. they couldn't understand how can you southerners risk this country quiets this is like no place on earth. they bought into american exceptionalism. they really did. i mean come on a guy from wisconsin can they been fighting for the best country, they got it at that time. so in a sense, technically i guess constitutionally since i'm not a lawyer, they were, what lincoln would've done certainly already calling

johnson would do it for different reasons. remember, harrytruman does it after world war ii themselves. and yes, they were in a sense if you want to look in the now confines of the constitution. but you know, we're a country created by traders. they were in a line of traders. and too bad they weren't. they were just following in the revolutionary father's footsteps. and that is why to have executed the everybody else by leaking officers family abandoned even the idea of bringing davis to try out after having an imprisoned for two years or so. but the men who fought against some, if you look at them, that is what they couldn't understand. they couldn't understand how can you southerners risk this country quiets this is like no place on earth. they bought into american exceptionalism. they really did. i mean come on a guy from wisconsin can they been fighting for the best country, they got it at that time. so in a sense, technically i guess constitutionally since i'm not a lawyer, they were, what lincoln would've done certainly already calling

johnson would do it for different reasons. remember, harrytruman does it after world war ii themselves. and yes, they were in a sense if you want to look in the now confines of the constitution. but you know, we're a country created by traders. they were in a line of traders. and too bad they weren't. they were just following in the revolutionary father's footsteps. and that is why to have executed the everybody else by leaking officers family abandoned even the idea of bringing davis to try out after having an imprisoned for two years or so. but the men who fought against some, if you look at them, that is what they couldn't understand. they couldn't understand how can you southerners risk this country quiets this is like no place on earth. they bought into american exceptionalism. they really did. i mean come on a guy from wisconsin can they been fighting for the best country, they got it at that time. so in a sense, technically i guess constitutionally since i'm not a lawyer, they were, what lincoln would've done certainly already calling

johnson on november 3rd. >> this weekend we'll look at the history of political campaign ads with lsu professor, robertman. also former homicide detective, james labelle, on the day that lee harry oswalt killed abraham lincoln. get the complete weekend schedule at c-span.org/history. >> you are watching c-span2 with politics and pub luck -- public affairs. you can see past programs and get our schedules at our web site. and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. >> next, a discussion with mike glover of "the associateed press" on how the 2012 presidential candidates have reacted to the recent compromise. from today's "washington journal," this is about 40 minutes. >> we're back. our topic here for the next 45 minutes. 2012 politics. how the debt deal will play out. joining us, mike glover who the senior political reporter with "the associated press" and james pindell with manchester. mike, let me start with you, the candidates in 2012, most of them came against it, how is it playing in iowa? >> most of them, you are right, have come out against them. and it plays depending on where you look. you have to remember, these people are not running at an electorate. t