It was a group of Alabama State troopers who beat him bloody as bob was just telling us in 1965. He couldnt even remember what had happened. He thought he had died because of the injuries he sustained that day. And, yet, today, it is Alabama State troopers who will be helping to memorialize him. Its incredible. Reporter yes, and an honor guard taking him from the base of the bridge on the other side being passed to that honor guard, and then moving forward on to montgomery, where he will lie in state at the state capitol. I mean, the progress is incredible to think about. You know, as i was listening to you and nancy, i keep going back to that point of humility. It made him so approachable. And as i walk through the streets or i talk to people, each one of them has a slice of history that they can talk about, specifically, with john lewis. I think about Cheyenne Webb criseburg, who was on this bridge as an eightyearold with john lewis and so many other, those 600 protesters. She had conviction like he. And she talked about him and what he gave her, this incredible courage, always reaching out, always encouraging her, just like nancy mentioned, with congressman sewell. I think about what Bob Schieffer had mentioned, not knowing who brought him from the church to the hospital. In speaking to a few people, i was told that, in fact, some of his fellow protesters told the Police Officers that he was a veteran, and so that they needed to get him to a hospital so that they could respect this man who had, in fact, fought. And we know he did not. But, you know, he was meticulous with how he cherished his own legacy, even to the trench coat that movie his helpers and handlers say they found inside his home, kept meticulously, that trench coat that he wore here on this bridge 55 years ago. So the man understood his place, but he still had a humble way about making sure that everyone knew that he was here for for them. Brennan and i think its interesting to look back at so many of the remarks he made and his emphasis throughout on nonviolence as the best pathway to make change. And then the extension of that as a lawmaker, but always, michelle, coming back to that message of causing good trouble. Reporter good trouble. Good trouble is the name of the documentary that don port sought out or has now produced and just released shortly before he passed away. To the very end, the congressman was hoping to promote it, and had to bow out of a conversation that was supposed to be taking place. I mean, this man was on this bridge four months ago. He was sick then. And, yet, he met with protesters because this is a pilgrimage that meant so much to him and so much to the people of selma. So he was here. And im told he was in pain. Im told that he was having a hard time. But he made is here. Its that conviction that pulled him through, and always the intention to move further, progress, so important to him. Brennan and jamelle bouie, our cbs news political analyst, joins us again. Jamelle, i know youve been writing and reflecting on john n lewis and his legacy. And hes been called, in some ways, a founding father, certainly a founding father in terms of a moreinclusive democratic america. And i wonder how youre thinking about that. Reporter i think thats the right way to think about him. We have to remember that for most of the 20th century, up until the 1960s, american democracy was still tightly limited. The only people who could vote right up until the 1920s were white men. After that, after the passage of the 19th amendment is became white men and white women. Although African Americans who happened to live in the north were able to cast ballots, they were never sort of the majority of African Americans, a large portion of African Americans. The majority of African Americans still lived in the south for, you know, up until the 1960s and 1970s. And they couldnt vote that they wouldnt it wasnt just that they couldnt vote. They had no real access to our democratic institutions. And so the Voting Rights act, the civil rights act, these things that john lewis is very much a part of bringing to fruition, really does end up extending american democracy in this fundamental way. You could even go as far as to say we werent fully democratic until 1965. And when looked at it in those terms, i think it is entirely appropriate to refer to john lewis and other members of the Civil Rights Movement as Founding Fathers in the same way we would consider jefferson or washington or frederick douglass, lincoln, in a previous generation. Brennan we are standing by. We know the buses carrying family members of john lewis will go to the capitol, go to montgomery, while john lewis himself, as weve been telling you, we will bring you that coverage of when he does once again make that final crossing of Edmund Pettus bridge. But as we reflect on his legacy, i do think its important to have a reminder of what was happening at that time. And, Bob Schieffer, you know these days we talk so often about the painful moment our country is in, and you hear again and again this is unprecedented. But the one point to which people compare us now is what was happening in that period of the late 60s, the amount of change, the amount of tumult. Where do you think we are now . Reporter well, ill be honest, margaret. I wish i knew. We we are in a very, very difficult time. And if there is anything good to say because of the passing of john lewis, it is that it has given us a chance to think about who he was and what he stood for. You know our politics is so awful now, margaret, that our best and brightest dont want to run for office. How long has it been since you heard anyone say, i hope my child grows up to be president . My grandmother, like the grandmothers of my time, all thought their grandsons were going to grow up to be president because thats the way it was. Now people dont want anything to do with politics. And we find, you know, the congress, there are still good people in the congress. But in the congress, so many people seem not to want to do anything controversial because they think theyre going to get a primary opponent. And so, so they do nothing. Think about what john lewis did. John lewis wasnt worried about who was on his side. He was worried about what his side stood for. He was not afraid. His philosophy was very, very simple if there is something wrong and we see it, we are morally obligated to try to do something about it. You know, i love being a journalist. And one of the reasons i love about it, it gave me the opportunity to meet some of these remarkable people. The two great, genuine heroes that i came to know during my time at cbs news were very different in some ways but very much alike in others. John mccain and john lewis. They were men of great courage who were in politics because they thought it was a place they could make america better. And both of them did. Brennan bob, i think you you brought us to where we are. Very eloquently there. In terms of trying to use his office to change this country for the better. I want to talk to nancy cordes about that. Nancy, youre on capitol hill. I know and in just in reading up on lewis, since his passing, it stood out to me because of the moment were in, how he had been a champion of underscoring health disparities, particularly among brown and black americans. It was one of the things he championed, needed to be paid for attention to. At a moment when we are seeing that drawn into stark relief with how this pandemic is ravaging our country. He also worked on the African American museum here in washington. But what as a lawmaker do you see as his legacy that he was able to enshrine . Reporter well, i think he fought for rights for all kinds of people. As you mentioned, he fought very hard for health care, for the right of every american to have health insurance. He fought for gay rights. He fought for immigration reform. And just picking up on what bob was just talking about, he had this courage and conviction that enabled him to sort of lend moral clarity to any debate that he was in. As hank johnson, his congressional colleague from georgia put it, when john spoke, it was like the voice of god coming down from heaven. So he lent a gravity and a sense of, you know, a clearness of purpose to every policy discussion that he was having. And i think its important to remember as we see that caisson beginning to go over the bridge, that by the time he stood on that bridge for the first time in 1965, he had already been beaten multiple times as a freedom rider. He was no stranger to being arrested and being beaten. And, in fact, civil rights leaders chose that bridge to make this march because they knew that the local sheriff had a history of encouraging violence against African Americans and civil rights fighters. And so they knew that this would be a very stark contrast between their nonviolent approach and the approach that they were likely to meet from this sheriff and ther from his troopers. So while, yes, on one hand, its true he didnt know what he would encounter when he got across the bridge, he knew it wasnt going to be good, and he still did it. And i think that courage that he showed on that day was a real inspiration for his colleagues here on capitol hill, in particular, his African American colleagues, many of whom had told me that they believe that they would not be here today serving in congress if it wasnt for the heroic action that john lewis and his allies took on the bridge back in 1965 that led to the Voting Rights act. Brennan and youre right. It was 40 arrests, 40 arrests that he had gone through. And bloody sunday just came to encapsulate things because of the idea it did build up public support, as bob was describing, public horror, at the televised images of what happened. And, nancy, i know now there have been even calls to reform the Voting Rights act as some sort of memorial to john lewis. What will be the memorial to john lewis . Reporter well, democrats and his key allies say the best way to honor john lewis is not just by renaming the bill that passed the house several months ago in his name, but also by passing it in the u. S. Senate. One of the things that really concerned lewis and that he really fought for until the end was his feeling that the Voting Rights act had been gutted by the Supreme Court a few years ago, and that a lot of the protections that he had fought for had been rolled back by states. And so democrats kind of went back to the drawing board. They wrote a bill that they felt would provide those protections in a new form. It passed the house, but it hasnt gone anywhere in the u. S. Senate. And so, all the lawmakers that ive spoken to who were instrumental in putting that bill together, have said that the best way to honor his legacy is not to rename the bill. Its not to rename the bridge. Its to pass the bill and to restore some of these protections that have made it possible for African Americans and others to vote for decades. Brennan unfinished business. And as we heard Speaker Pelosi, she called him, as you were saying, the conscience of the congress. And we are waiting to see this final crossing. But i want to go to selma again and Michelle Miller. Michelle, i know it is hard to see from where you are because of the design of the bridge, but can you just describe to us what youre seeing on the ground . I know the pandemic has put some restrictions on what is possible, but what is happening in selma today . Reporter well, you know, there are barricades here, but there are three to four people deep along broad street as they await the caisson with the body of john lewis, the congressman, to approach the bridge. You see people standing somberly. You see people singing gospel hymns. You see people sharing stories. It truly is a wonderful sight to behold because many of these people some from selma, some from around the state of alabama, but some from places as far away as california and new york have come here despite those warnings or cautions about the pandemic. They are masked. They are not social distancing along this route, but they certainly have a conviction. Were talking about convictions so often in this special report. But they were determined to be here. People who are part of the black lives matter movement. People who were neighbors and friends. Some who marched on that bridge with him. So this is something that they feel as though they need to do. They need to say goodbye to their fellow activist, to their congressman in heart, and to the man they say they owe their ability to exercise their rights as full citizens of this nation. Brennan and we know that this is about six days of events that are planned to remember john lewis, that he will go lie in state in the capitol in alabama and then he will go to washington, come here, as Speaker Pelosi explained earlier on this program, to lie in state, but will do so again, because of the restrictions all of us are under, due to this pandemic, in an outdoor capacity so people can come and safely, or as close to safe as we get these days, pay their respects before returning to his beloved georgia for his burial. And remembering this today, i think it is incredible as we await these images, but just to see a military honor guard with that flagdraped coffin, the symbols of our democracy, the reminder that there are some things that persist, even the most strained times that we are under right now, and that in the middle of this, people still wanted to come out, michelle, and pay their respects. Reporter yes, as i said, its its chilling im getting goosebumps now as i think that this nation is honoring a member and an activist from 55 years ago. This man, he meant so much then and still does. I think of the longevity of his career and his activism, and certainly his determination to when fawg down, getting back up. Its such a symbolic gesture, and its something we should be living by, that there are things are you not going to succeed at. And yet, you just pick yourself up and move forward. And he did this over and over and over again. Such an example for us in life, as he is now giving us an opportunity to share stories and share histories in his passing. Brennan and were looking at that live picture there in selma of the caisson, the horsedrawn cart, bringing the casket. And you see behind it the hearse. You will see the transfe happen soon, and then he will be brought, just by just on that cart, no others joining to cross the bridge that final time. You know, Bob Schieffer, when john lewis gave, i believe his final interview or one of his final interviews, it was to our colleague gayle king on cbs this morning and he talked about the protests, the black lives matter protests, the Racial Injustice protests that have been happening over the past few months. And he talked about the fact that it made him happy to see how diverse the crowds were, how widespread support was, that for him in so many ways, he was characterizing himself as someone who is about human rights, about any way that could be defined, not just enshrined in that moment in 1965. But he saw it as a Continuous Movement in many, many ways. Reporter you know, he did think of the black lives movement as an extension of the struggle that he had been so much a part of. But i want to i want to underline one thing, margaret, that we havent talked all that much about. Weve touched on it today. He was an advocate of nonviolence. John lewis never even threw a rock at anybody. He never he never pushed back. He thought because Martin Luther king had taught him that the power in their movement would be the nonviolent act. And when they went through the training for the lunch sitins, and they asked, how do we just sit at these counters and let people hit on us and beat us and slap us . And the trainer told them i saw this film some years ago the trainer told them, sometimes if somebody hits you in the face, keep the eye contact. It will make them think about that. John lewis was its just remarkable that he was not killed somewhere along the way. I mean, he was beaten at one point during the freedom rides, heft left unconscious in a pool of blood in a bus station. He was hurt during those riots i mean, those sitins in nashville where he took a major role in that. And then along the way, and then, of course, this thing. And here we are, were coming now. We see the caisson, margaret, coming to the bridge. Hell be on the bridge in just a matter of minutes here. Brennan he will, indeed. And as you point out, it was a concussion and a fractured skull that he suffered that march day in 1965. And, yet, despite those injuries he still went on, just some two weeks later, to continue the march from selma to montgomery. And this route that we are watching, its also worth pointing out here, this is the same route. The decision was made to follow that same route that they did back in 1965 from Martin Luther king boulevard to alabama avenue to broad street, and just over that bridge. And as you can see there, as michelle was describing for us, there are crowds, some we can see wearing masks. Im told some people there wearing tshirts that said, good trouble, as michelle was remindsing us, that was how lewis described sort of his advice to young people, to continue to agitate for change. And as we await the ceremony to begin, which i believe will be starting soon, bob, i know when you made that walk across the bridge with john lewis just five years ago, that must have been incredibly powerful for you. Reporter well, it was. Ive never experienced anything quite like it. And ive covered a couple of stories in my time. This is not the first time i was involved in a big story. But just to be with him and id spent a lot of time with him benefit we went across the bridge and this man was so humble. We talked about this before. And, you know, he was humble even though he was one of the most i think one of the most famous people in america. I mean, john lewis couldnt walk from his office on capitol hill over to the Capitol Building without 10 or 15 p