Underway right now as friends and family members sharing powerful performances and stories as well. President s and pastors are fuelling the pews and all to pay their respect of the greater grace testimomple of detroit. Aretha franklin of in so many ways o f the sound track of the Civil Rights Movement. Smoky robinson says how he missed talking to his friend. A friend that he has known for 70 years. Here are some of the memories he shared. Today, lord, we thank you for the life and legacy of aretha Lewis Franklin, thank you forgiving us a precious gift, aretha. She was a treasure from a treasure and a treasure surrounded by treasures. She was classy enough to sing on the most prominent stages in the world but she was home girl to make potato salads and some frid fried chicken. I will be sending city council proposals to rename the park. Our beautiful, water front jewel will be Aretha Franklins park. When were formers from generations to come from around the world, theyll be reminded that they are performing at the home of the queen of soul. She was a black woman in a white mans world. She fought a good faith. Y you make me feel like a natural woman. Reverend sharpe red a letter from president obama, aretha lifted those in millions empowering the vulnerables and everyone who may have just needed a little love, aretha was truly one of a kind and as you pay tribute know that well be saying a little prayer for you and thinking of all of arethas loved ones in the days and weeks to come. That letter is coming from president barack obama. Todays Funeral Services accommodating the weeks long remembering ceremony for the legendary singer who died of pa pancrea pancreatic cancer, nbc ron mott has been live in detroit. The last time we checked, fans are waiting in line to get inside. Reporter i talked to one woman last night got here at 11 00. She said she would not miss this around the world. If you showed up in proper attire and you are in line of the first thousand people, they would let you come in and be apart of this historic home going for Aretha Franklin. Looks like everybody gotten in. I worry about some of these folks standing in line all day and all night and not being able to get into service. They have been fazing they will in. It is behind schedule and when i saw how tightly packed it was, the family did not arrive here close to an hour behind schedule. Theyll go probably behind the 3 00 hour when this was supposed to wrap up. It has been just a great week in detroit remembering Aretha Franklin and the magnitude of her in this city. I had someone tell me she was very private, she guarded her privacy in the last five or ten years of her life. She would call the swansons funeral home handling her service here, you may see the story on the news about a tragedy and someone losing their life and she called the funeral home and said i want to pay for that. Never told anybody else about it. She did not want that kind of publicity. She was a detroiter through and through. Thats why these folks stood in line like they did. They felt that she was one of them even though she moved deep circles with a lot of powerful people. These are the people that she felt close to, the people that she grew up in the neighborhood in detroit, much like smoky robinson. Every big city has celebrities and well known people, not quite like the relationship that Aretha Franklin enjoyed like her people here in the city of destroy. A home fdest detroit. Once those cars rolled out of here, it can be quite a scene here as they will head over to the cemetery where hell laid with her father. Who knew there were so many pink cadillacs in detroit, michig michigan. For those of you watching there is a look of a birds eye view of those cadillacs outside the Worship Service there. My goodness, thats a scene. Take your feedback inside there. Those are the Williams Brothers and vanessa armstrong, they have been singing for a few minutes now. Among the speakers still set to address the congregation and former attorney eric holder and senator gary peters and bill clinton is still set to speak there. We are going to hear from Jesse Jackson and Isaiah Thomas and a few, i would say dozen other folks are set to address that crowd there. We are going to stay with this funeral here. I want to bring our host of the prodcast and our msnbc contributor. Senior news correspondent at daily mail television, thank you both of you for being with me. You spent some time alicia at some of these legendary birthday parties that Aretha Franklin threw. This funeral not totally dissimilar to some of those parties. Very similar. I am watching the funeral, i kind of smile because i know shes smiling down from heaven. She would sit back and watch other people perform her hit songs. This is some of the biggest artists in the world. She loves to watch her legacy in action. For her, it was not just about great singers but the road she paved for them. Aretha did what she did. It was all a lot of love. For those of you who did not grow up in a black Baptist Church like myself, this is something that we are going to be singing a lot of throughout the course of the next few hours at this Worship Service. For those of you who did not make it to church on sunday, fair enough, we got you covered here. You probably dont have to go this sunday as well. It really is and you stop to think about the icons and the legitimate. It is a term that we throw around a lot. You start to think of the legitimate musical icons left. We dont have a lot. No, we dont. I am glad to see this as a buoyant, upbeat celebration of her life. They are dancing and singing and testifying. Yes. As you said, theyre taking us to church as it is sunday morning, we saw ed gordon and the crowd there. She deserves a Church Service because she comes very much from the church. She deserves an ecstatic celebration and linking the church with popular music with soul music and taking soul music to another level and thats happening here so far. I am excited to just watch this. This is a great sew far, it is a great send off to perhaps the greatest singer in american history. Stevie wonder is in the house. Well hear from stevie in a few moments. You saw reverend william barber, he was on stage dancing a little bit. In addition of being a modern day, there he is right there, almost on cue. Reverend barber having a hard time to get around but you play a little gospel music for h him the feet do get light. Ron mott, you are still there with me outside the church . Do i still have ron . Reporter i am still here. Thats okay. One of the things that seems to get the most thunder applause so far this morning was the announcement that they are going to rename that park in detroit in Aretha Franklins honor. Walk us through why that is such a big deal . Reporter well, it is such a big deal, it is a beautiful park, number one. It is a little surprising to me that there is not a whole lot of Aretha Franklin in this town given how much time she spent in this town. That was a huge deal. This is the first big way to honor her in town. It would have been nice to made that honor while she was still with us but chain park is downtown right on the river and overlooking canada on the other side of the border there and they have a wonderful Tribute Service for her last night. When the mayor announced it, it had surprised everybody. I have not heard anything about that. Thats a big deal to have Aretha Franklins name on it. Hard to think that it wont be. My goodness, it is a city that Aretha Franklin loved detroit. The city of detroit loved franklin just as much. It is nice to see the city show her some respect. We have been talking about her legacy and the effect she had on music, one of the things i thought most interesting was when reverend al sharp was talking about Arethas Franklin i impact on the movement. Okay, we dont have it. At one point reverend sharp was talking about Martin Luther king jr. And the early days of the movement and having a hard time raising money. I believe we do have it. We remember her legacy because she sang a song for all of us. She was a sound track of the Civil Rights Movement. If you track where we are, you can follow where aretha had us. He went onto talk about how franklin went to several cities to have a concert and raise money for the movement. To be the queen of soul in the 60s as the movement is rising and doing its thing, she was just the perfect voice for that movement. She was the perfect sort of stirring and element that sort of gave people purpose and gave them a chance to rise and i think about a song like respect like you just called out. It is about female respect. It is about female empowerment. Yeah. At the same time it is a beautiful song that men can get along with, too. Men dont have to feel like i am pushed aside when we are talking about respect. She makes these great records. It never leaves soul music and entertainment. Now, this is her political record and over here we have the other. Like some artists, this is all of one piece and it is a beautiful tribute. We are continuing to watch and listen lets listen in just a moment. Dont go anywhere. Lets just listen for a moment. A grandmother and a real aunt, franklin familys representatives, vonn, victoria, and jordan franklin, i would ask them all to come at this time. Hello, how are you . I remember when i was a kid, people used to always ask me what does it feel like to be Aretha Franklins granddaughter. I would always shrug my shoulders and go, i dont know, it is just my grandma. Th at that time, i didnt know what it meant. I knew she was important and special but i didnt understand how big it was. As a kid i have seen some of the greatest things, i met some of the greatest people and it was crazy because these amazing people were excited to meet me. When i would go to her shows and watch her sing, it would be the best feeling in the world. Nothing sounded better to me than the way my grandma sings. Her voice made you feel something. You felt every word and every note and every emotions and the songs she sings, her voice brought peace. Watching her on stage from a young age to the last performance i saw her at, i knew that performance was something i was born to do. As a kid, i could not understand what it was like to be Aretha Franklins daughter but i didnt know what that meant. Now, i know what it feels like. It feels amaze to see a woman so fierce, so courageous and gifted, so respected and to be able to call that my grandmother, to know that i had that running through my blood and now that shes apart of who i am. To know that shes apart of who i am, there is nothing like that. Every time i learn something new about my grandma, i see so much of her in me and it makes me smile. I am so proud to have someone like her in my life to pave the way for me. I love you grandma, i will make you proud. Amen. Good afternoon everybody. I have prepared something for my grandmother that i wanted to share with everybody. Dear grandma. I love you. I know in my heart that you are happy now and thats all that i care about. No amount of words can articulate what you mean to me, grandma. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for believing in me as much as you did and thank you for always putting the family first and showing us the right way to handle success. I am sad today because i am losing my friend but i know the imprint she left on this world can never be removed. You showed the world gods love and there is nothing memorable. I am so proud of you, i know you would be watching me from the windows of heaven and i promise to carry our familys legacy with proud and joy. Long live the queen. I want to start out by saying each and every person sitting in this auditorium. I think each and every person to be here. I want to thank everyone who bought her album and her concert ticket and everyone who took a picture of my aunt and who ever loved every last song she wrote. When i was born in 73. She was already the queen of soul. She won eight grammys and top ten hits on the top 100 but to me she was just my aunt. My fathers sister and i was given the name crystal robin aretha. My aunt robin never let aretha forget that her name came first. Aretha would laugh and say they save the best for last. To the world, she was known as the queen of soul but to me she was just my aunt. The one who gave birth to my first role my aunt to came to live with us at the age of six with my uncle vonn who i had no idea was a big movie star. The aunt who sang at my graduation and taught me my Shopping Habits and took my daughter and i to see disney on ice. My aunt taught me that emeralds. Reporte are more than diamonds. My aunt who came and cook and visit me in detroit during spring break. The one who listened to me when i told her she had to have mary j. On her special. My aunt chartered a bus so our family can go to president obamas inauguration and made sure that i am front and center swearing in. After every award ceremony, she was my gossip girl. The one who could bring grown women and men to tears from the sound of her voice and the only person on earth that can call me chrissy. I will be forever grateful for every road trip, every person i met through my aunt and i am grateful for most of all that she had a loving brother who loved my mom and they got married and made me and in term i made my daughter brooklyn whos graduating from harvard this year and it is all possible because of my aunt. One of the most important things to our family is education. My daughter goes to harvard and vickie goes to harvard too. I will continue in my familys name of doing the foundations so that our children will never forget who my aunt was and my grandfather and never forget my aunt carolyn and my father and never forget my uncle vonn and again, i want to say to everyone sitting here and everyone watching in the world, thank you. I was once told that love is a verb. You can tell a person that you love them but in the end it is what you show them that matters. My aunt loved as much and as hard as she could. As i thought what i was going to say when i stood up here today, i thought about how much my family and i loved our mother, our grandmother, our auntie, the matriach and the pillar of our franklin family. I ask myself, how do you say goodbye to someone that you just love so much. Someone who has been with you for all of your adult life, someone who took you under their wings and loved you like a son after the death of your parents, someone who was there for you through the good times and bad times and someone who could make you smile with the simple hello. The past few months, i spent a lot of time traveling back and forth from atlanta to detroit to help take care of my auntie in any way that i could. During those visits, she and i talked about the importance of family and we would even cook together. When i was with my aunt in july at our apartment in downtown detroit. She and i were talking and she paused for a moment in the middle of the conversation and asked, frankie, what do you think . I knew what she was talking about but how do you find the words to tell someone that you love so much that you can see her hell and her physical stature decline each time you saw her. At that moment, i knew and understood that she was aware that her final days were near. I started my remarks by asking, how do you say goodbye to someone that you love so much. We are not saying goodbye, aunt aun auntie, but farewell until we see you again in our final resting place. Thank you. Please receive musical tribute from miss franklins son. My friend, we live eight blocks from each other, we live on wyoming and we went to jr. High together and edward and myself and we played Little League baseball and karate lessons and cub scouts and all of that. They had a little more money than we did. Miss franklin would always sing on one of her appearances in concert. He wants to give a tribute to his mother. I ask you to give gods praise for mr. Edward franklin as he gives his mother a musical tribute. Mercy, mercy me, all things that used to be, oh all blue skies since you left me oh mercy, mercy me oh things are not what they used to be, oh, all i see is full mercy, oh, mercy mercy me and things are not what it used to be, rain should not be clouding the skies whooo, whooo oh mercy, mercy me, oh things are not what they used to be, oh mercy, oh, oh mercy, mercy me things are not what they used to be, we wasted on our ocean and a full fish of mercury, oh, oh, oh we love you mom. You are still here with us. Come on miss eddie franklin, our friends second son of miss Aretha Franklin. At this time, Sabrina Owens is coming with the obituary thatll be followed by Alice Tillman and after well bring alice bishop sapp. Oh, we have been watching and listening to the Home Going Services for Aretha Franklin there in detroit. We are not going anywhere. For those of you who are following along at home. We heard from miss franklins granddaughter and victory and jordan, the grandson and a niece and nephew. After that we heard from her son, her son Edward Franklin singing that classic marvin gay tune, mercy, mercy me, this is her niece Sabrina Owens. Shes known all over the world simply by her first name, aretha. Her vocal mastery and artistic excellence have been recognized numerous times over the course of her distinguished career. Aretha is the recipient of the usas highest civilian honor. The president ial medal of freedom as well as an 18th times grammy award winner and the Lifetime Achievement and a grammy Living Legend honor. She was the youngest individual to receive the covenant and kennedy honor. The second female in inductee into the u. K. Music hall of fame and an inductee into the gospel music hall of fame. Aretha was the first woman in four and fourth woman in history to achieved her 100 charted of her version of rolling in the deep. She has proclaimed internationally of the voice of Civil Rights Movement and the voice of black america and symbol of black equality. Her spiritually uplifting voice was heard around the world singing at the funeral of civil rights icon, dr. Martin luther king, jr. And the queen gospel, jackson. Her voice is a Natural Resource of the state, in 1985 by the department of Natural Resources of the state of michigan. She will later reached a milestone by singing of the first inauguration of president barack obama. Arethas powerful, gospel vocal sound as influenced countless singers across multiple generations and earning her number one position on Rolling Stone magazines list of the greatest singers of all time. Aretha Lewis Franklin was born on march 25, 1942, in memphis tennessee. She was raised in destrotroidet. Her father served at the Baptist Church in detroit of michigan. Nationally recognized American Baptist minister and civil rights activists who marched with Martin Luther king noticeably in the 1963 detroit walk of freedom. Reverend franklin was known as the man with the Million Dollar voice. One of the First Baptist minister to record and distribute his sermons. Arethas mother, barbara, was as gifted pianist and according to her close friend, one of the finest gospel singers in the country, talentran and aretha sisters, irma, my mommy and caroline later became professional musicians as well and spent years performing background vocals on her recording along with her cousin. Her brother cecil became her manager and maintained that position until his death in 1989. Her brother vonn, a retired air force, a vietnam veteran became the state manager in the 1990s until his death. Her gift were apparent at an early age. She became a gifted pianist of a powerful voice and wildly regarded as a child prodigy. She got her start as singing in front of her fathers congregation. By the age of 14, she recorded some of her earlierest track at her fathers church. She performed with her fathers traveling revival and while on tour befriended such gospel greats with sam cook and clara word. In 1960, aretha traveled in new york, after being courted by some labels there and including motown. She signed with Columbia Record which released the album aretha in 1961. 1967, the album i will never love the man the way i love you was released. Of this period, the all music guy wrote in the late 60s. Franklin has became one of the biggest stars in all of top. 1968, dr. Martin luther king presented her with the award where so Many Americans enjoyed her music. As she worked with notable producer such as Curtis Mayfield and quincy jones. Her string of top charting hits during the decade including call me, dont play that song for me, spanish harlem, angels, just to name a few. She returned to the chart of whos zooming who. 1997, aretha was the first female artist duin dungtected i hall of fame. In 1993, aretha was invited to sing at the inauguration of bill clinton and the following year, she received the grammy and a Lifetime Achievement award. In 2003 she released her final studio album so damn happy. In 2008, she received her 18 g grammy award for never going to break my faith. 2009, she performed at the historic and president s inauguration of barack obama. Arethas artistry has earned her a number of academic distinctions, among them are honorary degrees from both Harvard University and new york university. Aretha transitions his life on thursday, august 16th, 2018 in detroit michigan surrounded by her friends and family. Those who are commending her loving spirit in the assurance of her return arrest of her loved ones who proceeded her, her parents. Clarence lavon franklin and her sisters, and her brothers, cecil and vonn franklin. She leaves to cherish of her precious children. Theodore and kel franklin, grandchildr grandchildren, stefan fred, jordan franklin, victory franklin, and great grandchildren. Two sisters in law and erlin franklin and cynthia franklin. Bren brenda corvet. Crystal franklin, bridget franklin, five feonephews. An Anthony Franklin and Pamela Franklin and tina smith. One uncle, and a host of great nieces and nephews and cousins including laronne garret, brooklyn hardaman, dominique hardy, trina veld and joshua franklin, aund ndrea gates, christina davis, jeff lowe, billy wilson, and latanso waters. The obituary there being read. We want to continue to keep a close eye of whats happening in detroit. This is a funeral thats expected to last at least another two hours. We did get some clarity on those pink cadillacs that are out front of the church. A lot have been made close to 200 cadillacs descended in detroit in honor of Aretha Franklin. Our friend alicia corral, the investigate activi investigative reporter, she did some digging. This is the freeway of love. One of her 12th grammy, a woman named cassette ellis worked for mary kay cosmetics put the cat call that if you sell a certain amou amount, you will get a pink cadillac. They drove it from california and florida to detroit to pay love to the queen of soul. There you have it, investigation day thank you for solving that myste mystery. And daily mail. It came from daily mail directly. Well, thats double source. Thank you, alicia. Well keep a close eye on whats happening here inside the church but we do need to take a quick break. There is still a lot more to come. Bill clinton is still set to speak and eric holder and a number of tributes including Jennifer Hudson and stevie wonder. As this service continues in detro detroit. This is the scene inside the Capitol Rotunda in washington, d. C. , the casket there is holding the body of senator john mccain laying in state just the first person of the person to lie in the United States. Arrived early this morning, greeted by military members and family and friends to an american hero. Well go to washington, next. Well also go back to detroit, that celebration of Aretha FranklinsHome Going Service there, the farewell, fit for a queen. Not complete without some music. I love you, basement guest bathroom. Your privacy makes you my number 1 place to go number 2. I love you, but sometimes you stink. Febreze air effects doesnt just mask, it cleans away odors. Because the things you love the most can stink. 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Entyvio®. Relief and remission within reach. We are here in arizona, john mccain is laying at the Capitol Rotunda for a viewing. We have been watching hundreds if not thousands of people streaming by his casket over the past hour or so. Members of congress and other dignitaries gathered to pay their respects to the late senator. Senator mccain is laying on the platform built in 1865 to support the casket of abraham lincoln. Half a world away wearing our nations uniform, john mccain, stood up for every value this this Capitol Building represents. Then he brought the same patriotism inside its walls to advocate for our service members, our veterans and our moral leadership in the world. Patriot who served his country. A man yes of the senate but also a man of the house. A navy man, a family man, a man who made an enormous difference in the lives of countless people. A man of conviction. In the long history of our nation, only 30 americans have laid in state here at the capitol r Capitol Rotunda, today, as our country hold him, senator john mccain joins those ranks. Nbcs kelly odonell, one of our few reporters let inside to report from the rotunda. Since the doors were opened to the public, there has been a steady stream of americans who have come here to personally pay their respects and take in this moment. As you can see some of are flying past the casket and others are stopping and spending some time to offer a prayer to think of the moment of the history of the man and why the country had taken such time this week to honor the memory. Senator john mccains casket is being guarded by u. S. Capitol police who are a fixture of the capitol hill community. As apart of this ceremony, we were given a few minutes to be inside the rotunda, the camera thatll capture all the events are going to continue to be here, we were only given a couple of minutes to be inside and take you into a place where you can see it in a personal way, it is solemn way. It is solemn, to be sure, and it is respectful as people want to say their last goodbyes and acknowledge the life and service of john mccain. Lets bring in president ial historian mark up de grove. He is the president and ceo of the lbj foundation. Republican strategist tim miller, the iowa director for john mccains 2008 president ial campaign. Mark, one of the things most striking to me all week and this morning especially, i saw Rod Rosenstein there and i saw jeff sessions. I saw nancy pelosi standing right there with speaker ryan. There has been such a visible display of bipartisanship in a city that is no longer known for that sort of thing. Whats been most striking to you, mark, over the past few days and over this morning as we have all been watching folks pay their respects to senator mccain . Well, i think its been interesting, craig, to see this happen on the same day as were seeing the memorial for Aretha Franklin. There seems when Aretha Franklins niece gave her eulogy, she described her aunt as fierce and courageous. That describes both Aretha Franklin and john mccain. The other thing is respect. Aretha franklin sang it and john mccain embodied it. We are seeing the outpouring of suspect from john mccains friends, many of whom were opponents earlier in his career. But john mccain also respected his adversaries. He respected his nations institutions, our allies. He respected all americans. And i think we will be honoring his memory to show each other a little more respect after his death. What, tim, what impact do you think senator mccains legacy and life is going to have as we move forward in this country . Massive. There really arent a lot of politicians like on the stage right now. In his final letter he said, we are a nation of ideals, not one of blood and soil. And he didnt just Pay Lip Service to that. You know, a speech writer and person a respect a lot, mark salter, wrote about the dissonance from throughout the world and russia and myanmar to all corners of the globe, really. Hayes daughter was in the peace cor corps. He said america has my back. I know that because there are people like john mccain. At this time of America First and where there is a lot of retrenchment from the world in this country, mccain was a light for americas ideals throughout the world, standing for freedom and liberty. Those are going to be massive shoes to fill in the years ahead, in the hopes that we live up to what he promised. Tim, i have so enjoyed hearing some of the john mccain stories over the past year. His chief of staff at the service in arizona yesterday had a few great stories. Do you have any jaohn mccain stories you can share on television . You know, i was a young man, so i didnt rise to the level. The famous john mccain stories, the meaner nastier name he called you if he liked you. I didnt earn a nickname from him. I had a special moment with him. He didnt like to talk about his time in the hanoi hilton in the cells. The Campaign Strategists chagrinned. We were in sioux city, iowa. He was visiting bud day, who was his cellmate when he arrived in hanoi. Mccain was visibly uncomfortable. We were talking to a reporter about his story. And you could tell mccain was a little uncomfortable to brag on this in a campaign setting. Then bud day told the most remarkable story about the condition that senator mccain was in when he got into the cell. Emaciated, starving, ready to die, and about the courage and support and love that senator mccain gave to him to keep them going. Thats something that ill always remember. Tim, thank you. Thanks to you as well, mark. Lets go back to detroit right now. The Funeral Services for Aretha Franklin continue. Former attorney general eric holder is now speaking. Lets listen in. Whether i was a teenager in a Basement Party in new york city, looking for that special someone to dance with to aint no way or departing attorney general of the United States surprised and delighted that she came and sang america at my farewell ceremony, Aretha Franklin has always been a part of my life. And i think all of us can truly say that. It is hard to imagine that that magnificent voice has been stilled, that compelling presence is gone too soon. Now, she was born a princess. Her family made her so. But it was through her talent, determination, and care for others that she became a queen. [ applause ] her family shared her with detroit. Detroit shared her with america. This nation shared her with the world. But she was always ours. She was always ours. Our princess, and ultimately our queen. The issues that mattered to her were the same concerns of a people proud of her and who she never forgot. She was that rare queen who never lost the common touch. She could drop her fur coat on the stage of the Kennedy Center in front of those with great power and great wealth and continue to care about the plight of poor unfairly treated people and forgotten parts of this country. In her voice was shared the joys, the sadness, the pain, and the faith of a people. Through the power of her artistry, her voice became universal for all people. You felt that in her music. It was lyrical. It was sweet. It was earthy. It was sensual. It was righteous and it was powerful. She moved us in ways that no artist ever had before or since. Aretha franklin commanded respect. She deservedly received it, and she also made it possible for others. Now, hers was a consequential life beyond the impact that she had as a great singer, and that should never, ever be forgotten. In ways not known to many, she was a part of the movement that set this nation free, and she made one song in particular, her own, and it became one of the anthems for another movement that made women more equal. In short, her status as a queen, unlike others who inherit a title, her title was earned. [ applause ] it has been said that hers was a onceinalifetime voice. That is simply not true. Her gift was almost otherworldly. There has never been, there will never be another voice melded to the consummate artistry that was miss Aretha Franklin. We should all count ourselves fortunate that we lived at a time when gone shared one of his true and unique gifts with us. Those who came before us and those who come after us will thot have the same privilege that we all have had. H she made our lives richer and better. She made this country more sensitive and more just. Aretha franklin made the world more beautiful and more understandable. She comforted us, she moved us, and she inspired us. God sang through her. Now, i know that she is in a better place and is surrounded now by so many that she missed for far too long. Our days will be a little less bright and our lives just a bit empty. That is the impact that this wonderful woman had on all of us. We must now find joy in her continuing ability through her recordings, her videos to connect with one another, especially with those that we love with her music and the unique way in which she described so much of what we all experience. Im going to end by paraphrasing words from what is probably my favorite Aretha Franklin song. Though she wont call anymore and well sit and wait in vain, our love is true and its all for you. Aretha franklin, rest in peace, my queen. [ applause ] isnt this is a wonderful day to have the honor for all of us to be able to be here to celebrate and remember an incredible woman and an incredible life. Sad, but joyful today. The spirit of the lord is it in place, and Aretha Franklins spirit is here as well. This week our nation is laying to rest two iconic figures. Its my honor to have the opportunity to participate here as Aretha FranklinsUnited States senator, by the way. In a while ill fly back to be a part of senator john mccains funeral tomorrow. [ applause ] we are laying to rest two iconic figures, though different. They represent who we are as america. Our true american