inin april 1960, ella baker invited james lawson to give the keynote speech at the foundiding meeting oncertin luther king described hihim as a leadiding strategist in nonviolence. gathered in the ebenezer baptist church to remember john lewis. rev. lawson: i have read any of these so-called civil rights books about the period between 1953 and 1973. most of the books are wrong about johnhn lewis. most of the box -- the books are long about -- are wrong about how w got engaged in the nashville campaign of 1959, 1960. this is the 60th year of the sit in campaign that swept into every state of the union, largely manned by students, because we recruited students, but put on the map that the nonviolent struggle begun in montgomery, alabama, was not an accident, but as martin king jr. called it, christian love has power that we have never tapped, and if we used it, we could transform not only our own lives, but the earth in which we live. i count it providential that i moved to nashville, tennessee, dropping out of national -- graduate pool. h had andrew white, janetta hayes, helen roberts,

james lawson was an apostle and teacher, is an apostle and teacher of nonviolence, combining gandhi and the christian gospel, and the last time i talked to dr. lawson about congressman lewis, i asked him, do you think john is a saint in the classical christian sense of being willing to die for his beliefs and not his appetites? and lawson said yes because john always tried to manifest the kingdom with which jesus spoke when he said thy kingdom come, and that's what america lost last night. >> reverend al, often when i speak to you and john meacham, it is in the context of a great american passing, and one of the things i enjoy so much about having you on, reverend al is because you know everybody and you know them personally. tell me things we don't know about john lewis or what he was like as a person that people who only know him in a political context don't know. >> he was probably the most humble public figure i have ever known, and i think john meacham is right. he was deeply committed to the judeo christian ethos. he saw the movement as a spiritual movement. he did not see it as p

toward freedom earlier, in 1959, in nashville, tennessee, tennessee, where the where they met james lawson learned lessons in gandhi's non- violent directn. lewis, vivian and others staged sit-ins in nashville. the goal was not securing the vote but eating undisturbed at a lunch counter. this was among the earliest civil rights battles, and there weren't nearly as many cameras as later there would be. what was there-- risks, abuse, hatred. lewis was arrested, something he did not fear. the sit-ins led to the freedom rides, the march on washington, the civil rights act, the voting rights act. lewis and vivian marched together, faced violence, did not strike back, and helped change america for good. together in life, together amid strife. and at the end, almost poetically, together once again. that's the "cbs weekend news" for this saturday. i'm major garrett, in washington. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org captione >>> we'll start with the latest numbers in the covid-19 crisis. california reporting more than 9,800 new cases over

the house, nancy pelosi and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawson lauren and i thank you for inviting us to be here today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. d doctor talked about the chickens. i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need, even their spiritual ones. for john baptized them, married them and he preached to them. when his parents claim one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of non-violent protest. he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also thought chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy to the sit-ins in nashville, to the freedom rides in washington, from freedom summer

house nancy pelosi and -- and another living saint among us, teacher and activist the reverend james lawsonfamily and friends, laura and i thank you for inviting us to be here today. john's story began on a tiny form in troy, alabama, a place so small that he said you could barely find it on the map. dr. winlock talked about the chickens. i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens, already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need. even their spiritual ones. when john baptized them, he married them and he preached to them. when his plarnts claimed one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his leagues in congress. john also thought that chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy to the sit-ins of nashville to the freedom rides to

and went to the american baptist seminary not far from where i'm sitting in nashville and met james lawson with diane nash and james bev beville and the courageous, as courageous as anything you can imagine, to face the violent and face hate and be sworn to the doctrine that you would never raise a fist in defense and he genuinely believed in a way that i don't, honestly, that we can achieve the kingdom of god on earth. if we were all the kinds of people we should be, then we can bring that beloved community into being. i'm a far more -- i have a far more tragic sensibility, but one of the things that becomes ever clearer to me as the life of the nation rolls forward or staggers forward as it may be, is that the quotation we all use, president obama use it is a lot, dr. king used it based on theater parker, the great abolitionist in the 19th century, that the arc of a moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. okay. but it will not bend if there aren't people like john lewis insisting that it swerve. if he doesn't point at the peak, we're going to be milling around in the valley,

they brought them to the american south men like james lawson, women like ella baker, who was instrumentalthe founding of snic there was this great cloud of witnesses, and john lewis walked point. >> well, he also in that arc of his role had to make a very tough choice in 2008 the debate of barack obama during the primary season between barack obama and hillary clinton, and i wanted to share when i interviewed him that day on why he decided to endorse obama. his answer was quite surprisings a bridge in selma. it was much easier than the decision that i have to make, but i had to make it. >> you're saying this decision was harder than the selma march? >> it was much -- tougher. >> congressman, you got your head beaten in your face was covered with blood. >> well, this is toucher i'm dealing with friends, people that i love, people that i admire part of my extended family. >> andrew young, he was really caught in that campaign, but for him to see the election of the first black president was such a milestone, and he had an extraordinary closeness with barack obama. >> and i didn't. >> but it

know what workshops were, but he kept telling me that i needed to come to these workshops, that james lawsonducting, and i had so many jobs on campus. i was a janitor of the second floor. i used to wash dishes in the cafeteria, and i was assistant librarian, so i was too busy, but he convinced me, and i just decided to go and listen to what he had to say and go to the workshop, just to keep his mouth shut, but when i got to the workshops, with jim lawson, i got hooked. and i've never changed. in fact, that's what i do now, training people all over the world continuing nonviolence, martin luther king's nonviolence, and so i've trained people, but that was my beginning with john lewis. jon: we have seen video of him crossing the edmund pettus bridge with both president clinton and president obama. what do you think about the idea of renaming that bridge for john lewis? >> well, i think that the naming of the bridge is something that i would hope that there was a lot of support for that, and it would be ideal because it would be a kind of a history because to be honest with you, a lot of people

but what brought tears to my eyes was the speaker was reverend james lawson, who 91 years old, mentored john lewis, diane nash, and bernard lafayette, and that entire amazing crew of activists in '50s in nashville in the philosophy and the techniques and tactics of nonviolent direct action. a toweringly important figure in our recent history that probably a lot of people don't know of, but, wow, what a history lesson he gave us today. and at 91, he sounded as if you asked him, he would go right down and man the barricades again. it was quite a day, and it was the america that we -- that we imagine and that we hope to reclaim. >> extraordinarily well put. jon meacham, share with our audience at this hour some of our conversation earlier today in the 3:00 eastern hour of coverage about all the bisecting through lines that went through that sanctuary today. >> it's arguably the most fabled pulpit certainly in protestant -- the protestant world, i would argue. dr. king, daddy king being there. john lewis lived and worked about four miles away at 6 raymond street, and that was the headquarte

included the reverend james lawson. >> the most creative power, in the universe, is -- is what we, humaning one another, in creating our families with love and truth, and tenderness for our children and young people. and gandhi happened to say, as jesus in the 1st century said, that love is powerful. beyond our imagination. >> nonviolence is about holding the moral high ground. we generally, do not like to see people suffer, especially unjustly. contrast that with the protests in portland. demonstrators and police, including federal officers, sent by president trump, have clashed with growing intensity. most of these protests are nonviolent, but they are also confrontational. john lewis and his contemporaries were calm in their protests. knowing that they would be attacked and determined to take it, however it came. portland represents a departure from john lewis's philosophy, in some ways. but history shows us that does not make it wrong, nor does it make it less likely to succeed. it's been 50 years since the first gay liberation day march honoring the uprising at the stonewall inn. th

the house nancy pelosi, and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawsonou for being here today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small that he said you could barely find it on the map. but that line that talked about the chickens, i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need. even their spiritual ones. john baptized them, he married them and he preached to them. when his parents claim one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protests. [laughs] he also noted in later years that his first complication of chickens listen to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also felt that chickens were just a little more productive but at least they produced eggs, and he said. from the sit ins of nashville to the freedom rides in the march on washington, from freedom summe

judy: pioneering activist james lawson said lewis was leavinglea cy of working against oppression of olence, plantation capitalism -- s those poisonll dominate far too many of us, in many different ways. john's life was a singular journey from birth through the campaigns in the south and through congress, to get us to see that these forces of wickedness must be resisted. judy: it was left to the last of ake former presidents to s today, barack obama, to deliver the eulogy. he chose to link john lewis's causes to the politics of now. pres. obama: there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive i.d. laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgicalon precieven undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election. he knew that every single one of us has a god-given power, and that the fate of this democracy depends on how we use it. judy:ma the o eulogy was in keeping with lewis's forward-looking final words to americans, written shortly before he died, but

people like james lawson and others who had been over to india, even, to study gandhi and the like. they had brought back these principles of nonviolence. they took root in john lewis' heart as he became one of the founders of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. he held the freedom rides that we have described earlier. the second thing is, they will stop at the lincoln memorial. as we've heard, he was the speaker immediately before dr. king. the man who opened the march on washington was a philip randol randolph. >> harris: we are watching now, they are in the of columbia, and they are about 10 minutes or fewer away from the mlk memorial where they will stop first. let's take this to a quick commercial break. more on the other side. stay close. at visionworks, we know there's lots of things you've been avoiding. like people... and pants. but don't avoid taking care of your eyes, because we're here to safely serve you with new procedures that exceed cdc guidelines and value your time. visionworks. see the difference. >> techand your car., we're committed to taking care of

but there was individuals like the reverend james lawson, became one of our wonderful teachers of the philosophy and discipline of non-violence. bernard laugfed, james belver, diane nash, these were all young people in the movement. there were men and women that got arrested and went to jail. william sloane coffin got arrested and went to jail. there was lawyers, ministers, rabbis, priests. like, people came from all over the country. they couldn't take seeing people being arrested and taken to jail simply because they wanted to be served at a lunch counter or ride together on a bus. brian: you didn't tell us who your favorite philosopher was. rep. lewis: my favorite philosopher, when i was studying, was hegel. hegel talked about the thesis ,. the synthesis. he talked about the struggle between good and evil, that in society, if you're going to bring about change, there must be a struggle. and there must be a division between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, the forces of good and the forces of evil. and somehow, out of that evil and good, something wholesome must emerg

but there was individuals like the reverend james lawson, became one of our wonderful teachers of thelosophy and discipline of non-violence. bernard laugfed, james belver, diane nash, these were all young people in the movement. there were men and women that got arrested and went to jail. william sloane coffin got arrested and went to jail. there was lawyers, ministers, rabbis, priests. like, people came from all over the country. they couldn't take seeing people being arrested and taken to jail simply because they wanted to be served at a lunch counter or ride together on a bus. brian: you didn't tell us who your favorite philosopher was. rep. lewis: my favorite philosopher, when i was studying, was hegel. hegel talked about the thesis anthesis. he talked about the struggle between good and evil, that in society, if you're going to bring about change, there must be a struggle. and there must be a division between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, the forces of good and the forces of evil. and somehow, out of that evil and good, something wholesome must emerge. and in th

. [ applause ] and -- and another living saint among us, teacher and activists , the reverend, james lawsonlewis, family and friends , lauren, i thank you for inviting us to be here, today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama. a place so small, he said you could barely find it on the map. the doctor talked about the chickens. i did a little research. every morning, he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who took care of others, he fed them and tended to their every need. even their spiritual ones. for john, he baptized, married, and preached them. when his parents claimed one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also thought the chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy to the citizens of nashville, to the freedom rides to the march

and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawson. [ applause ]. >>llowing us to be here today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. >> you talked about the chickens. i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. they tended to their every need. even their spiritual ones. they married them and preached to them. when his parents claimed one of the family suffered, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also thought the chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produce eggs, he said. from troy to the citizens of nashville from the freedom rides to the march on washington, from freedom to selma, john lewis always looked outward, not inward. he always thought of others. he always believed i

pelosi. [ applause ] and -- another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawsonere today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. pastor warnock talked about the chickens. i did a little research. every morning, he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who cared for others john fed them and tended to their every need. even their shirt eventupiritual. john baptized them, married them and preached to them. when his parents claimed one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. he also noted iner years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also thought the chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy to the sit-ins of nashville, from the freedom rides to the march on washington, from freedom summer to selma, john lewis always

pelosi, and -- [ applause ] -- and another living saint among us, teacher and activist the reverend james lawsonfor inviting us to be here today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. why not talk to chickens? i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need, even their spiritual ones for john baptized them. he married them and he preached to them. when his parents claimed one for family supper, genre fused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also thought that chickens were just a little more productive, at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy to nashville to the march on washington, to selma, john lewis always looked outward, not inward. he always thou

especially even seeing reverend james lawson. this is someone that was hand in hand with dr.ing and standing ovation he got. >> yes, yes. from beginning to end, it was really, really lovely. we're going to begin this weekend talking about the coronavirus. the country faces huge challenges on multiple fronts. there's gridlock in congress over federal unemployment benefits set to expire today for about 30 million americans. for the fourth day in a row, the death toll in the coronavirus crisis was more than 1,000 people. jericka? >> and all this coming as hurricane -- a hurricane bears down on the eastern u.s. it's likely to hammer states already badly affected by the pandemic. we start this morning with that looming storm threat with chief weathercaster lonnie quinn and wcbs tv. where is this hurricane headed? >> good morning. this is moving towards the bahamas and possibly toward the coastline of florida. let's take a peek at the current stats. while you were sleeping last night, this storm has bumped up now to hurricane isaias. 80-mile-per-hour winds. moving to the northwest

nancy pelosi -- [applause] and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawsonplace so small she said you could barely find it on the map. i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister that took care of others, he fed them and tended to their every need, even their spiritual ones. for john baptized them, married them and preached to them. [laughter] when his parents claimed one for family supper, john refused to heed one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. [laughter] he also noted in the later years of his first congregation of chicken listen to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. [laughter] john also said th that chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy, the savings to the freedom rides to the march on washington, from freedom summer, john lewis always looked outward, not inward. he always thought about others. he always believed in preaching the

he was at the baptist seminary also and we met at workshops that reverend james lawson was conducting. lawson had been to india and had studied gandhi's movement firsthand and he was in nashville, a student himself at the time and he was instructing people in the community or -- and students, anyone who wanted to learn, really, in the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence. i am a fortunate, blessed person to have had both of these gentlemen in my life. not only as coworkers in the civil rights movement, but as friends also. they have -- i think we can -- while we are sad and experiencing loss, i am just so grateful that they came this way because the world is a different place since each of them lived. and it's much better. >> yeah. what do you -- what do you make of the -- you know, there are people who are coming out on the other side of the aisle that are praising john lewis, but the fact that, you know, he bled for the voting rights act, the voting rights act was of course gutted by the republican majority and the supreme court and there are people who are blocking it, restoring

all the man on the right, reverend james lawson, is one of the leaders, he's one of the older leaders of the sit-ins spreading out across nashville. by june, 1960 -- now, remember, we're talking february to june. by june, 1960, sit-ins and other demonstrations had occurred in 112 cities across the south. that is, from virginia to the texas border. from virginia to the texas border. the first demonstrations came in houston in the summer, later in june, 1960. and i'll tell you how they came about. sort of humorous. lyndon johnson, the vice president -- well, yeah -- he's just recently inaugurated as the vice president, lyndon johnson, when asked about the civil rights demonstration sweeping across the south, says that, yeah, i don't understand what's going on, but what i do know is that our students -- or our kids in texas are not stupid enough to get wrapped up in these kinds of civil rights demonstrations. the next day, the first demonstration was in houston. okay? [laughter] in other words, over and over and over again, students are going to take to the streets. they're going to chal

the house nancy pelosi, and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawsonood morning. distinguished guests, john miles, lewis family and friends, laura and i thank you for inviting us to be here today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama. a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. the doctor talked about the chickens. i did a little research. every morning, he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need. even their spiritual ones. for john baptized them, married them, and he preached to them. when his parents claim one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. he also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also thought that the chickens were just a little more productive. at least they produced eggs, he said. from troy t

publishing house in nashville, and that's where he began to work with jim lawson and reverend kelly miller smith to round up diane nash and jamesabble and marion barry, who later became the mayor of washington, d.c. there was a tremendous cadre of talent and ged ca dedication in that national movement and it really opened up the doors for the other college campuses and they were the ones that picked up the freedom rides when they were stopped in alabama with bombs and threats from the klan. c.t. vivian, though, was with me down in -- he was in selma with john and i was there also but where we got beat up was in st. augustine, florida, where the sheriff deputized a group of klan and gave them permission to beat us up. but people never fought back, they never got angry and dr. king told me to try to -- that there was no need to keep marching, that we should slow down a little bit because we didn't want to get people more seriously hurt. but we wouldn't stop. we kept on going until the civil rights bill was passed in 1964. >> ambassador, mayor, reverend andrew young, thank you so much and thank you for all that you have sacrificed