this is a special edition of "state of the union" this morning for the dedication of the martin luther king memorial. "reliable sources" will return next week. president obama arrived here a short time ago and will soon dlirch his tribute to dr. -- deliver his tribute to dr. king. this will close with the extraordinarily rare playing of dr. king's "i have a dream" speech in its entirety. the king family has approved its use for this one event. the president will speak the end transto the memorial, a small area that only accommodates a small number of vips. the general public is assembled in a field with its own stage and jumbo trans. since early morning they have been listening to music and speeches pie some of the people closest to dr. king. cnn's joe johns is down at the memorial dedication site. joe, i've been listening to the speeches that i could listen to. it seems a little bit from the podium a mixture of remembrance, looking ahead and a sprinkle of politics thrown in there. set the scene for us. >> reporter: you certainly got all of that right, candy. we're seeing a bit of the past, the present, and perhaps the future of both the civil rights movement, the social just movement, and some politics, frankly, thrown in there. and as you said, we are sort of awaiting the appearance of the person who is probably one of the greatest beneficiaries of all of the legacy of martin luther king jr. that would be the first african-american president, barack obama. so throughout this day starting around 8:00 eastern time right on up until now, a variety of different speakers, including family members of martin luther king who actually in some ways were sort of channeling his memory. listen to this. >> i don't think my brother's legacy could get much larger. but i was wrong because here i am overjoyed and humbled to see this great day when my brother, martin, takes his suspect place on the national mall. [ applause ] >> this is just overwhelming. >> this is a day that all americans can be proud of. and may i remind you that this is not just a celebration for african-americans but for american and citizen around this world. [ applause ] >> and no doubt today the world celebrates with us. today, our nation acknowledge its growth again, for this memorial represents the stair step beyond its laws of segregation. symbolizes that a black preacher, prophet from the south effected a social change that helped to redeem the soul of america. >> it is also important to not place too much emphasis on martin luther king the idol, but not enough emphasis on the ideals of martin luther king jr. [ applause ] >> so while we commemorate his memory today with this great memorial, let us not confuse nor forget what he stood for and died for. the young people around this nation organizing are very something, but let us not forget the ideals he gave up his life for, love, peace, equality, jobs, education, nonviolence, decent housing, and an end to war. >> reporter: just a lot of living history out here on the mall right now, candy. and once again, we're told the president of the united states now on his way over to this memorial for his part of this event. >> you know, joe, i talked with congressman john lewis, a man who i know you know well, as i do. and one of the things that we were talking about president obama, he said that on inauguration day president obama gave to john lewis a picture of the day and wrote on it "because of you, john," and the idea that this memorial is being dedicated -- and it's been 15 years in the making. being dedicated at time that an african-american is serving as president is amazing because i think even when martin luther king jr.'s fraternity, black fraternity came up with the idea of a memorial, even they could not envision where we would be just as far as history is concerned. just a short 15 years away. >> reporter: yeah. that's true. well, there is a certain amount of amazement i think. and i wasn't able to hear all of your question because there's a helicopter and a lot of noise flying around here. but i think the jist of it is this notion of having an african-american president just however many years after the death of martin luther king. there were a number of leaders if you will if the civil rights movement still alive, speaking here,including john lewis. let's listen to them and talk about it. >> dr. king was our leader. he'd never, ever ask us to do anything he wouldn't do. he was arrested, jailed, beaten, and constantly harassed. his home was bombed. he was stabbed. he suffer ed from the errors of hate and the dproots struggle to prove -- grassroots struggle to prove that love can overcome the limitation of hate. had it not been for the philosophy of peace, the fi philosophy of nonviolence that he preached, and his insistence on the nonviolent resistant based on brotherly love, this would be a different nation. we would be living in a different place today. >> we recognize here that in the midst of the amazing truths that an african-american preacher who never held public political office is recognized here among the fathers of the country. indeed, he has become a father of the country. [ applause ] >> for his leadership gave birth to a new america. >> but you think of martin luther king as a giant of a man. but the one complex he had was a complex about his height. he was really just 5'7", and he was always getting upset with tall people who looked down on him. now he's 30-feet tall looking down on everybody. [ applause ] >> reporter: hearing the president of the united states just now arriving here at the dedication of the martin luther king memorial on the mall. that last sound bite, candy, with andrew young pretty funny. but also sort of underscores the notion that there's actually been quite a bit of kef subrounding this memorial about the inscription -- controversy surrounding this memorial about the inscription, the placement, the person who designed it. but i have to tell you, and i think you know, too, from living in the city, every time there's another big memorial put up, it seems there's a big controversy. and it always degrees down. also, martin luther king himself was a pretty controversial figure to many people. they call him just a peacemaker, but he was also very much an agitator. and people here know that. >> joe johnson on the mall for us. cnn, of course, is going to be covering the president's speech. a very important speech both for those in the audience and to the president coming up. we're going to take a break, but we'll be back with joe johns and more of the speakers. ♪ ♪ we're centurylink ... we're committed to improving lives and linking americans to what matters most with honest, personal service... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds ... and more ways to customize your technology. ♪ ♪ welcome back to cnn's coverage of the dedication of the memorial to dr. martin luther king jr. that is a live picture you are looking at right now. a picture of the memorial as you can walk in to in on two sides. it is a massive, massive structure. today being dedicated amidst a flood of memories, dreams for the future, a little bit of politics. speaking of which we want to take you to the speaker right now. a man who knows his way around politics and words. it's the reverend al sharpton. >> we line up to vote, don't make this partisan. when you mess with social security, this is not about obama, this is about our mama. we will vote like we never voted before. [ cheering ] let me say as i close, when we go through to the temple of hope, to the stone of hope, had the them come from all over the world to the stone of hope where you fight in europe, where you fight in the middle east, where you fight in africa, come here to the king monument and see the stone of hope. and when you walk through, you'll see a man standing in a pasture of faith because we not only had hope, but we had faith. faith that fed us when we were hungry. faith that clothed us when we were naked. faith that brought us from the back of the bus toward the white house, from the outhouse to the white house. we come this far by faith! leaning on the lord, trusting in his holy way! he never -- he never -- he never failed us yet! >> reverend al sharpton. a little bit sermon, little bit politics, a little bit of a rally. this, again, the dedication of the memorial on the washington mall to the reverend dr. martin luther king. this -- he was the first african-american to be named "time's" man of the year. the youngest person at the time to ever win a nobel peace prize, but there were so very many time between those awards and when he first started where dr. king was in the forefront of the very front lines of the civil rights movement which meant that there were beating, there were arrests, and along with him was a man who is now a congressman, his name is john lewis of georgia. i spoke with him earlier. in august of 1963, chairman of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, lewis was the youngest speaker at the march on washington. he watched dr. king as king delivered his famous "i have a dream" speech. i asked lewis to reflect on that day. on that day, were you excited about the possibilities? were you frightened about the possibilities? what -- can you kind of capture that moment for us. >> well, on that day, i think we all were pretty pleased, really happy. the leadership, all of us of the movement had gone up on capitol hill to visit with the bipartisan leadership on the house side. then we went up on the senate side. and then we started walking down constitution avenue, trying to move toward the washington monument and the lincoln memorial. and the people were already marching. you saw just hundred and thousands of people coming from union station, and we thought we were supposed to be the the ones leading the march, but they were already marching. it was like, there go my people, let me catch up with them. >> tell me about the day that president obama was inaugurated. i know that he signed a picture for you. tell me what he wrote on it, and where do you keep it? >> president obama on that day -- he was over and signed a photograph and said "because of you john, barack obama." i keep it in atlanta in our home there. and i will cherish it forever. >> that must mean -- >> it means everything. you know, on that day i cried, and i cried. it was tears of happy not, tears of joy. and i was just wishing that some people that i'd known, i wish they cough been there. >> one of the thing that you said to someone around inauguration time for president obama was that barack obama is what comes at the end of that bridge in selma, talking about the selma to montgomery marches where there were brutal beatings, yourself included. but it was so key in the voting rights act. has president obama at any point been a disappointment to you? >> this president has not been a disappointment to me. this young president has been trying. he's been pulling people together, been working hard. and i think the best days for him as president is yet to come. >> and what do you make of the criticism, some of it from the congressional black caucus, that he has not been helpful to the african-american community specifically? there is anger toward him at being too accommodating, anger at him not offering help, jobs in particular. offering help to the african-american community. do you think that frustration is misplaced, or do you think it's valid? >> no, i think some of the frustration -- and i understand why some of my friend and some of my colleagues could be frustrated or maybe disappointed. but we must keep in mind that the struggle is not just a struggle that last one day, one week, or one political term, presidential term. it's a struggle of a lifetime. and barack obama is not just a president of african-americans. he is the president of all americans. so you only have a short time -- i'm not saying that we should be patient because in another period where i spoke on the march on washington, in 1963, when i was 23 years old, i said, we condition be patient, we cannot wait. we want our freedom, and we want it now. so i understand that. but this president came in to office facing so many problems, so many difficulty. so let's work with him. >> so it's okay with you that he doesn't specifically target package toward the african-american community at this point? >> i think this president must target the whole of america. whether we are african-american, latino, asian american, white american, native american, we're all in the same boat. to help one of us or help all of us. >> we also have a picture of you when they broke ground for the martin luther king memorial. in which you cried that day, as well. do you remember what was going through your mind? >> i was crying because i started thinking about dr. king. i started to think about the first time i met the man. i met him at a little church in montgomery 50 miles from my home. and when i walked through the door of this little church and saw him, he said, "are you the boy from troy? are you john lewis?" and i said, "dr. king, i'm john robert lewis." i gave him the whole name, and he started calling me "the boy from troy." and i just lost it. >> and at the time you were heading the student nonviolent -- >> coordinating. >> the coordinating committee at this point. he knew of you. >> he knew of me, and we got to know each other. it was wonderful working with him. he was my inspiration. he was my hero. >> john lewis again, with martin luther king on the day of that march in 1963 on the washington mall. it was supposed to take place on the 40th anniversary this past august. instead, we had a hurricane, and it had to be postponed until now. later on we're going to show you the entire "i have a dream" speech. but more of our special coverage of the martin luther king memorial dedication here in washington comes next. we want to leave you before this break with some of the choir now singing at the dedication ceremony. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ a couple years of up all night ♪ ♪ and a few thousand diapers later ♪ ♪ oh, yeah ♪ he loves that little girl [ male announcer ] all her life, she's been coming toward you. now that she's driving, she's going the other way. ♪ there goes my life [ male announcer ] thanks to state farm's steer clear program, teens learn safer driving and parents gain peace of mind. 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