the leader of the march, john lewis, took a billy club to the head. he very easily could have died on that bridge that day. 17 of the marchers were sent to the hospital. that happened on sunday, bloody sunday, march 7th. now i said that they did not get out of selma that day when they were beaten on that bridge. but the nation was horrified. and the movement was galvanized. and two days after bloody sunday, two days later on tuesday, march 9th, they went back. only this time it was not 600 people marching that route nonviolently, this time it was not 600, it was 2500 people marching that same route. and they marched to that bridge again. and then a week later that. >> took on that march again, only this time they were protected by thousands of u.s. army soldiers and national guardsmen acting under federal command. and by the time that speech -- that march, excuse me -- ended up at the montgomery state capitol, it was not 600 people, it was not 2500 people, it was 25,000 people. and that was when martin luther king gave his "how long, not long" speech

yet the spring or recipient named john lewis. i thought it was a wonderful thing.said, i want to partner you with john lewis. i said, what you talk about, skip? john lewis stood on the front lines of the civil rights movement, staring down alabama state troopers for the cause of righteousness. he led the bridge read with his own blood, carried unconscious by to the church. he's a champion of the civil- rights movement. and then it switched to my segment cory booker at age 7 fell off his tricycle and scanned his knee. bleating his sidewalk read, it carried to his mama screaming like a little girl. i cannot escape the weight of history. and you'll give me this privilege. i should be standing here letting you all know the death of gratitude i cannot express. there would be no me without the naacp. [applause] so today you all take on the role of my mama and daddy, by giving me this honor of giving an award that was not turned simply by action. this man is a testimony to the ideals for which this war was conceived. but being that i have now had a friendship with the man

two presidents, for 10 out of the 13 times that john lewis has re-acted that walk. walking in their footsteps is one way to honor that cause. but it is far from the best way. the best way to do it is to carry on their work, to defend and promote the protections included in the voting rights act that they fought so hard to bring about. on wednesday, mr. speaker, the supreme court will hear arguments in shelby county vs. holbrook. which challenges the constitutionality of one of the voting rights act's central provisions, that is preclearance. making sure that the justice department says yes this is fair. yes, this will not exclude. yes, this is a policy that will be consistent with our democracy. preclearance established by section 5 of the act mandates that jurisdictions with long history of voter suppression and civil rights violations must submit to the justice department for approval any plans to change their election practices or district boundaries before doing so. section 5 has been instrumental in ending discrimination and protecting eligible voters at the po

we will not go back. >> congressman john lewis thank you for your time tonight. if it sounds like i'm passionate and emotional about it and it's personal to me, it is. my mother, who raised me, by herself as a single parent couldn't vote in her native alabama until she was 39 years old. she was able to vote because of the voting rights act. my daughters who are in their 20s may have to use different id than i did because of others that have come with new forms of voter suppression. to have one generation denied the right to vote and a generation behind me now threatened with new forms of voter suppression is personal to me. i'm not looking for an entitlement. i'm a citizen. i should be protected and treated like any other citizen. i don't need an entitlement to do what americans should be able to do every day. we'll be right back. erwear clea. this is another! ta-daa! try charmin ultra strong. it cleans so well and you can use up to four times less than the leading value brand. and it's four times stronger. charmin ultra strong. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ mal

but i was also interested in the speech of john lewis who was the chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. just days before the march, i had met one of the snick activists at a conference. his name was stokely car michael. and from that time on, i understood that when we refer to martin luther king as the leader of the movement, we're also referring to him as a symbol for something much larger than any one person. i think that that's so important for us to understand as we teach young people about the meaning of martin luther king on martin luther king day, that they understand that they -- their generation is what made the movement possible. that the people who staged the sit-ins, the young children in birmingham, they made the movement possible. and i think that this is a extremely important as we commemorate martin luther king. now, also in the 50 years since the march on washington, some amazing things have happened, in my life and many of the lives of the people in this room. if someone had come to me at the march and said, guess what, in about a dozen years you'll be teach

. >> reporter: congressman john lewis says parks, who died in 2005, had not sought attention, but cameaccept that she was a symbol that inspired. >> without rosa parks, there wouldn't have been martin luther king jr. and maybe without rosa parks and martin luther king jr., there would be no barack obama. >> reporter: for sculptor eugene daub, knowing rosa parks came through hundreds of photos. >> she seemed to me a very -- not shy, but modest. a very modest woman. and i wanted that -- that to come through. her modesty. >> reporter: daub worked from clay to fashion a likeness that was ultimately cast in bronze. >> we wanted to come up with something that was unique and was somehow even more symbolic than the seat itself, which was the fact of her determination. >> reporter: now rosa parks' courage holds a permanent place of honor. kelly o'donnell, nbc news, the capitol. >>> that's our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now at 6:00 flags fly at half-staff at p

but he gave john lewis a great big hug when he said they were going to come up with an endorsement. >h that's hilarious. i'm guessing that will be featured at chicago's sexy liberal show. nineteen minutes after the hour right back on the "stephanie miller show." >> announcer: the station where the hand basket to hell leaves from. it's the "stephanie miller show." ♪ >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and current will let me say anything. >> only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: stephanie miller. ♪ all fired up ♪ ♪ all fired up ♪ ♪ all fired up ♪ ♪ all fired up fired up fired up ♪ >> stephanie: it is the "stephanie miller show." twenty-four minutes after the hour. chris in oakland writes e-gads it has begun, the rat carcasses by large birds and all it is going to take is have one of those dead rat infected birds to bite someone and that will be the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. >> we have to arm the rats come on. >> stepha

was john lewis. freedom, let it ring. she would hear that hymn in church as she grew up. it became the anthem of her life and the mission of her life. as rosa parks would say years later, i would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be free too. rosa parks is being remembered with this statue in the capital, but this is not the first time her greatness has been wrecked nice. she has many connections to congress and she is no stranger to these halls. she has recognized with a congressional gold medal inscribed with the title, mother of the modern-day civil rights movement with the words inscribed, quiet strength, pride, dignity and courage. that was a great day and we honored her. she had personal connections to the house as the speaker mentioned. for 18 years she was an assistant to john conyers. john conyers. [applause] and they worked together. they worked together to advance the cause of civil rights and equality. we always ask mr. conyers to tell us s

today, folks were wishing congressman john lewis a happy birthday. he's 73 years young. rthday to a true hero and a gentleman. we need more like you. ali says you make me proud to be from georgia. >>> reginald says i appreciate all you've done and continue to do for civil rights. later in the show, find out what president obama said about rosa parks in my interview with him today. but, first, we want to hear what you think. please head over to facebook and search politics nation and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. ? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. olay ultra moisture body wash can with more moisturizers than seven bottles of the leading body wash. with ultra moisture your body wash is anything but basic. soft, smooth skin with olay. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel.

john lewis is holding forth over that. it is an honor to serve in the congress of the united states with john lewis. and it is a joy to be here to honor rosa parks. when rosa parks was a little baby, her mother sang her the hymn "o freedom, let it ring." she would hear that hymn in church, too, as she grew up. it became the anthem of her life and the mission of her life. as rosa parks would say years later, i'd like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be free too. rosa parks is being remembered with this statue in the capitol, but this is not the first te her greatness has been recognized. here. she has many connections to congress. she is no stranger to these halls. she was recognized with a congressional gold medal and described with the title, mother of the modern day civil rights movement and with the words inscribed, quiet strength, pride, dignity and courage. that was a great day when we honored her. she had personal connections in the house, as the speaker mentioned, for 18

congressman john lewis who in 1965 was at the head of a bloody sunday march in selma, alabama that helped bring about the voting rights act and gave a passioned speech in defense of the law. >> still forces in this country that will want to go back. we are not going back. we need section five and that's why we are here today standing up for the voting rights of all americans. we must never give up. never give in. never give out. >> pete williams has been there all day. pete, for congressman lewis and others, the conservative justices are missing the point that this is not about registration and turn out and polling places being move and other issues. >> for the justices, the question is when the congress reenacted the law of 2006, did it adjust the formula for covering states enough so that it reflects current reality. it's clear that they are concerned that the law is too backwards and doesn't take into account changes today. the liberal justices did their best to defend it and kagan said over half of the discrimination lawsuits come from just those covered states even though they have o

. >> john lewis and every person in america who believes in equal voting rights must continue the fight. you have to wonder, what is the play here. what is the big picture. what is the big goal. i tell you what, folks. the ultimate goal for republicans is to get the federal government out of the way when it comes to voting rights in this country. you see, they want to control locally. they want local control over elections so they can come up with a new set of registration laws and control the vote. they might even come up with some kind of a panel that would determine whether you filled out the application correctly or not, and we'll get back to you, and you may have to wait a while before you're actually registered to vote. never know what they could come up with on the local level. the rights of some citizens in this country are under attack. and when that happens, we are all under attack. the republican plan, take it back to the local level, get the feds out of the way, we'll run our own backyard. and do you trust what you saw in the last election cycle in florida and ohio? the supr

representative john lewis, who has been long involved in the civil rights movement.ints out the 16 jurisdictions affected by section v rep zen 25% of the nation's population, they still represent more than 80% of the lawsuits proving voter discrimination. did that come up at all today? >> reporter: yes, those statistics were cited. that's the reason it's a close enough fit. let me bring up one other point. there was something one of the other justices said today that will echo for days to come. it's from justice scalia who is an opponent of the act. he said look at the votes in the senate when this has been renewed. first time, it was contentious. every time since then, most recently, 2006, fewer people voted against it. it was 98-0 last time. why is that, he said. i think it's attributed to the racial entitlement that it's very difficult to get out -- to get away from that in the normal political process. in other words, he's saying you can't trust congress once it gives the voting rights act remedy to ever say that the time has come to take it away. but, i think it

we can talk till our ears bleed about the 49ers and the ravens, jim versus john, ray lewis versus that rookie quarterback, but which city wins the battle of the bay? the city by the bay may have the san francisco treat. >> rice-a-roni, the san francisco treat. >> reporter: but charm city has got some rice of its own. >> hey diddle diddle, up the middle. >> reporter: those aren't really fair comparisons. so let's look at tv shows, full house. while baltimore, well, they're home to the wire and homicide life on the street. >> he ain't man enough to come down to the street with omar. >> reporter: advantage baltimore in this one simply because i'm afraid to answer to these guys. moving on to the silver screen baltimore has john travolta in drag. san fran has dirty harry. >> you've got to ask yourself one question. do i feel lucky. well, do you punk? >> reporter: enough said. tony bennett left his heart in san francisco, but the key here, the francis scott key is baltimore is home to the star spackled banner spangled banner. you can visit ft. mchenry where the star spanning amed banner was

john lewis is holding this ground.dreamt be here. when rosa parks was a baby, her mother saying her the hem, "oh, freedom, let it ring." it became the freedom of her life and the mission of her life. she said she would like to be remembered as a person who would like to be free and wanted other people to be free as well. this is not the first time her greatness has been recognized here. she has many connections to congress and she is no stranger to these halls. she was recognized with the congressional gold medal and the title of modern-day mother of civil rights movement. she had such a quiet strength and pride and dignity encouraged. that was a great day. she had personal connections to the house come as the speaker mentioned, for 18 years. she was an assistant to john conyers. [applause] >> they work together to advance civil rights and equality. we always ask about stories. john conyers met her when he was just out of school and he was traveling south to join the civil rights movement after law school. he met her t

congressman john lewis participated in those marches. he was badly injured, concussed. says about the need for further oversight. whale some change has occurred, the places where the legacy of long-standing entrenched and state sponsored voting discrimination still have the most persistent, flagrant, contemporary records of discrimination in this country. in fact, he says, although section five applies to just 16 jurisdictions, those 16 areas are still responsible for, get this, john, 80% of the lawsuits which prove voting discrimination. he's absolutely right. >> right. and so shelby county wonders why the justice department wouldn't exactly take their just trust us explanation for what they were trying to do. when the court hears arguments on wednesday, we'll get a clearer idea of where the court might be going. but i have to tell you, it's going to take some amazing constitutional cha-cha for them to get around the fact that in 2006 congress, the elected representatives of the people, overwhelmingly supported the reauthorization of this law. >> a study by a were fess

john lewis is the congressman here and we certainly honor the fight and stand he took for atlanta andround the south. that fight just isn't over. when you look at the new voting i.d. laws they're pressing in georgia and texas and trying to keep people of color, younger people, even older people away from the polls. and those people who typically, most typically vote democratic. i think taking section 5 away, taking it away, takes away the most valuable portion because without it we can get these things through we certainly come a long way from literacy tests. i don't know if we've come as far as poll taxes taus baus that gets to the issue of paying for an identification card to get the vote. as goldy brings up, certainly interesting to watch. the justices here, she brought up chief justice roberts. i want to show everybody in 2009, he said things have changed in the south and may no longer be justified by current conditions. the other justice to watch is kennedy. as we said, you have argued two dozen cases before the court. what do you think about how the justices and this look at the