I kneeneed a trophy. Thank you, i appreciate it and happy friday. We start with the final fare wells to a giant of the House Of Representatives, Elijah Cummings. Funeral services are starting as we speak in his beloved baltimore. The church is so packed theyre having to turn some people away. You will see speeches live from Hillary Clinton and nancy pelosi this hour and later today from former president S Barack Obama and bill clinton. They have halted congressional action on the Impeachment Inquiry today, but there are still two big developments this morning. A top source is telling nbc news that investigation into the russia investigation is now a criminal one. Were going to explain what that means legally, the extra power the doj now has, and why democrats are livid. And just in the last couple of minutes, nbc news Learning Lawyers for ousted National Security adviser john bolton are in talks for a possible private deposition in the impeachment
investigation. Why thats explosive. But a Current White House official, were learning, agreeing to cooperate, too. The fallout from both sides of the aisle and the white house as we speak with a lawmaker fresh off a trip to ukraine, ready to tell us what bill taylor told him. Our nbc news team is here. Were going to get to the impeachment developments. I want to start with Geoff Bennett in baltimore. Elijah cummings worshipped at this church for nearly 40 years and this is set to begin in a matter of moments for now with a procession of clergy and family and some very highprofile speeches. Reporter youre right about that, hallie. And from our Vantage Point here in front of the church, for the last 20 minutes or so weve seen a steady extreme of dignitaries make their way in. Nancy pelosi and the former president and joe biden walking hand in hand. Weve seen senator warren, also
amy klobuchar. So today we expect a public celebration for Elijah Cummings, born the son of share croppers in 1951 into the jim crow south, now departing this life into the detect. He was one of the lions of the u. S. Congress. And we heard nancy pelosi yesterday say that she called him the Master Of The House for his keen political sensibilities, but she also referred to him as a mentor of the house, geven tiven the way e helped freshmen lawmakers. We saw alexandria ocasciocortez, rashida tlaib, ayanna pressley. He mentored the three of them. It is a remarkable life that he lived and thats one of the reasons why we expect to hear from former president s today. We are going to be carrying those speeches, geoff, live here coming up in just about 15, 20
minutes or so. Please let us know who else youre seeing walking in the church and how were doing on timing. I appreciate that. In the meantime, we also want to talk about the bombshell from the Justice Department. The doj review of the russia investigation, you know the investigation into the investigation President Trump has wanted, has now turned into a criminal now. So the doj is investigating itself. Thats what this means. The u. S. Attorney from connecticut, John Budurham is spear heading this thing. He now has the power to subpoena witnesses and em panel a grand jury and file charges, all against some of his own officials. I want to bring in now nbc news correspondent, Julia Ainsley who covers the Justice Department and Kristen Welker has some new reaction from over at the white house. Julia, let me start with you. Talk through the significance of this. Really an escalation and one the democrats arent happy about. Reporter thats right. Its important to keep in mind that we dont know exactly when
this turned into a criminal investigation. We just know that it is now. It began as an administrative review. But some of our reporting in the last few weeks has indicated that they had rash etcheted thi. People who are Career Officials at the cia have begun to lawyer up. You do if if you are told that you could face some kind of criminal exposure. Its going beyond what would be an internal review, much like an Inspector General report or an Office Of Professional Responsibility report would be. Now people could face criminal exposure as theyre being questioned about the origins of the russia probe, what became the Mueller Probe. Again, its an investigation into the investigation. But what im hearing is that theres really a lot of irony in this, because the same questions are being asked about the durham probe that the durham probe is seeking to answer about the Mueller Probe. Were asking whether or not this is politically motivated. We know john durham was tasked with this by the attorney general, william barr, just
after the Mueller Probe wrapped and the president wanted a way to try to get to the bottom of this deep state conspiracy that he thinks is behind him. And were asking what evidence they had that predicated a criminal investigation. What got them across this line . Because at this point it doesnt seem that they do have the teeth behind this. And if they do, theyre not telling us. Thats the exact same question they are trying to answer as they look into how Justice Department investigators and fbi opened a probe in 2016 and whether or not they had enough information from reliable sources to get the warrants that led them to start monitoring some people in the president s or bit. So its all very circular and hard to keep track of. But the main thing to know is that this investigation into the investigation has ratcheted to a new point and now people who were involved will now potentially be facing subpoenas or maybe even witnesses being called before a grand jury. One thing we do know,
kristen, is that democrats arent happy with jerry nadler tweeting overnight the Justice Department has now become a vehicle for President Trumps political revenge. You, i know, just had a chance to speak with a Top White House official. What are you hearing . Reporter i did, hallie. Defiance from the white house, mark short, of course, who is the Vice President s chief of staff, firing back at democrats who are arguing that essentially the president is using the Justice Department as a political weapon. Take a look at what he had to say just moments ago. Kristen, i think that every american should have an expectation for impartial justice, and i think that every american has a right to know whether or not the obama Justice Department was pursuing political goals. And all that i understand is that the Inspector General has a report coming out that is leading to potentially additional criminal probe. And so i think we all have a right to know about that and well find out soon enough. Reporter hallie, to your point, this is something that President Trump has been calling for. Hes been trying to discredit the Mueller Investigation for years, referring to it as a witch hunt and a hoax. We know that ultimately mueller didnt find sufficient evidence to prove a conspiracy, but he did lay out 140 instances in which there was contact between the Trump Campaign and russia and ten separate instances which he said could rise to possible obstruction of justice. So that is the backdrop against which this all is occurring and unraveling. Now, i also had the chance to ask Kellyanne Conway if President Trump was briefed by the attorney general, if hes been in contact with bill barr about this investigation, and she said shes not sure, hallie. Julia ainsley and Kristen Welker, thanks to the both of you. We want to get to capitol hill because we have new reporting on this. In the past hour nbc news has learned lawyers for fired National Security adviser john bolton have been in touch with
house Committee Officials who want to interview him. We know from our reporting that bolton was not happy with how the ukraine call initially went down back in july. The call that triggered Impeachment Inquiry. Weve also learned that tim morris son has agreed to comply with investigators. A new poll finds americans are evenly divided, 49 to 49 on whether President Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Break it down along party lines, no huge surprises there. Most democrats say yes, about the same number of Republican Voters say no. But look all the way to the right. More independent voters, 53 , say the president should be impeached and removed from office. If youre in the white house, that is the column you are looking at. Msnbcs Garrett Haake is here joining us now. Garrett, this bolton news i think is very interesting because this is somebody who lawmakers, democrats that ive spoken to, absolutely want to hear from. And frankly, given the way that
based on my sources and my reporting, bolton left the white house, he may have some stories to tell. Reporter he may, hallie. And thats part of the reason democrats do want to see him come testify, either in a closed deposition like setting or at an open hearing. But look, bolton is somebody who was so close to all of this decisionmaking, the way that democrats have approached these depositions, it was essentially start on the outside, starting with the whistleblower report and working their way closer to how these decisions are made. If Indeed Bolton does come, he could give a private closed door deposition and potentially provide a lot of information that way. I look at this from the political perspective and think that bolton is probably someone who democrats would like to see testify at an open hearing eventually if they get that far, just because hes someone that the American Public will know. This is not a case of a diplomat who nobody had ever heard of. This is someone who has been a Major Political feature. Everybody knows who this is. Reporter if you have followed politics over the last
three president ial administrations, you know who john bolton is and that will be part of making the public case potentially if democrats can get that far. And i should add it is our understanding discussions are happening within a very small group. Most members dont even know the details of whats been discussed with boltons attorneys so far. Theres also a piece that democrats now and this was alluded to yesterday on this show about whether or not the whistleblower would testify or not and it seems like more and more democrats are saying, hey, we dont need this whistleblower to testify. Republicans are like, hey, bring it in. Reporter yeah, there are a couple Different Things going on. First the idea of protecting the whistleblowers identity. There were a lot of concerns about his or her physical safety. The idea that this person should not be named and outed publicly is something that lawmakers, frankly in both parties take
seriously. But for the political aspect of it and moving the Impeachment Inquiry forward, republicans were hammering the whistleblower from the start as someone who had second or thirdhand information. What youve seen now is democrats say lets get a little bit closer to the folks who did have firsthand information and thats what weve done. So while the whistleblower brought things to the democrats attention, he or she is less useful if there are firsthand accounts, documents, primary sources that can be used in their place. So the whistleblower has this political quality, particularly for republicans, who can still attack this person as this figure who started this all who is a deep state operative or whatever they want to say. But as more and more of the whistleblowers information gets confirmed, their actual testimony here becomes less important to the actual probe. Garrett haake over on capitol hill, thank you for that. I want to actually pick up where garrett left off with democrat from california, a member of the House Armed Services committee who is joining us i think from sacramento. Thanks for being on the show. Good to be with you. Lets start with the whistleblower, that he or she may not testify. Do you think that this person needs to be heard . No, not necessary. All criminal probes start with some piece of information and then you follow the facts. Thats exactly what the House Of Representatives is doing, following the facts. And indeed theyre getting closer and closer to the president , and there is firsthand information now available. Bolton certainly would be a very big firsthand actual participant in what was going on. So yes, we dont need to talk to the whistleblower or hear that testimony. Clearly that started it. From there, the facts are being laid out. There will be public hearings very soon, as all of this information will now be made public. But this is the gathering, if you will, this is the grand jury process. Very soon, meaning maybe mid november as weve been hearing . Well, that would be a good time, yes. But im not controlling that. Every day theres a new set of facts, a new path to be followed, and that could cause a delay as Additional Information comes in and the necessity of following that particular path. So it sound like youre hedging your bets a little bit on the timeline. You brought up somebody that i knew from my day job covering the white house, former National Security adviser john bolton. We are now hearing from our team that boltons attorneys are in contact with House Attorneys about a possible closeddoor deposition. How important is it to you to hear from john bolton privately . Well, first privately, find out what he has to say, what is it that he knows, what firsthand information does he have available. He may very well be one of the witnesses in the public hearings that will inevitably take place here. In any case, he is extremely important. He was there, he was the National Security adviser, and so right at the heart of the matter. And whether he had good relations with trump or not,
obviously those fell apart over the course of his work. This obviously has heightened interest, given the deposition from the acting ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, which we learned about. Feels like a lifetime ago, just a few days ago. You are recently back from a trip to ukraine, i understand, and you had a chance to speak with the acting ambassador specifically about these text messages. I assume about his interactions with people inside and around the white house. Tell me what you heard from him. Well, first of all, we heard that ukraine desperately needed the american assistance, desperately needed the 390 million of military aid. We also visited the military, their Ministry Of Defense. Mr. Taylor was with us, or ambassador taylor was with us at all of those briefings. He was very clear that money, that assistance, was desperate and had to be coming forward. It turned out that the moment that we got off the bus to meet him at the Ministry Of Defense,
our cell phones went off with a text message. So we got off the bus and we had to brief discussion with him about it. And he affirmed, yes, that is my message, and yes, thats the way it was. Unfortunately, we didnt get into any further discussions with him about that, because we immediately went to a ceremony in which every morning the Ministry Of Defense honors those ukrainian soldiers that were killed on that day over the previous five years of war with russia. It was a very, very moving ceremony. We then went on to meet with the minister of defense. Again, they needed american assistance and we knew then that it was being withheld, that it had been withheld, and had just recently been made available. Very quickly, youre not on one of the three committees leading the Impeachment Inquiry. I spoke with a colleague of yours on the other side of the aisle, congressman matt gates, who was quite i think clearly angry and felt like this was not
a fair or public process, because he as a nonmember of intel or Foreign Affairs or oversight was not able to be in the room for these closeddoor depositions. Do you also feel aggrieved in that way . Are you also concerned that you can not be in the room based on the rules that are laid out in congress . Absolutely not. Matt, get over it. We all have our committee assignment. These are important and there are 47 republican members of congress that have the right to be in those committees to hear the depositions and to participate and ask questions. So get over it, matt. This is just a bunch of whining with no basis whatsoever. No, i have no concern. I know that i have confidence in my members, democrat and republican, that are participating. Congressman gary mendy, i appreciate you bowing on the show. Thank you. Thank you. We want to take you back up to baltimore as the funeral now begins for congressman elijah
cummings. What an emotional moment, laying the American Flag over the congressmans coffin. Were awaiting comments from Hillary Clinton and House Speaker nancy pelosi in just minutes from now. Thats ahead. I am totally blind. And non24 can make me show up too early. Or too late. Or make me feel like im not really there. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442342424. Gimme one minute. And ill tell you some important things to know about medicare. First, it doesnt pay for everything. Say this pizza is your part b medical expenses. This much about 80 medicare will pay for. Whats left is on you. Thats where an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company comes in. This type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesnt. These are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement for meeting their High Standards of quality and service. So call Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company today and ask for your free decision guide. With this type of plan, youll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. And when you travel, your plan will go with you anywhere in the country. Whew Call Unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the Vitamin Aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Annoepidemic fueled by juul use with their kidfriendly flavors. San francisco voters stopped the sale of flavored ecigarettes. But then juul, backed by big tobacco, wrote prop c to weaken ecigarette protections. The San Francisco chronicle reports prop c is an audacious overreach, threatening to overturn the ban on flavored products approved by voters. Prop c means more kids vaping. Thats a dangerous idea. Vote no on juul. No on big tobacco. No on prop c. That could allow hackers devices into your home. Ys and like all doors, theyre safer when locked. Thats why you need xfinity xfi. With the xfi gateway, devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. Which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords, credit cards and cameras. And people inside from accidentally visiting sites that arent secure. And if someone trys well let you know. Xfi advanced security. If its connected, its protected. Call, click, or visit a store today. You are looking now, were going to show you live pictures from inside the funeral for congressman Elijah Cummings where moments from now Hillary Clinton will speak and shell be
followed by nancy pelosi. His longtime friend and colleague in the House Of Representatives. You can see several lawmakers are assembled right there. Were going to bring you remarks live here in just a couple of minutes when they happen as people around the country remember a beloved statesman, a powerful committee chair. Were keeping an eye on that. We also want to talk whats happening on the 2020 chain trail. Believe it or not, we are now inside the 100day sprint to iowa. Just 100 days from the first votes being cast in the 2020 president ial election. Just how important is this state . The last democratic nominee not to win it was bill clinton in 1992. And with the primary race seeming to be more in flux than ever, no clear frontrunner, iowa is going to give us the first real glimpse into where voters stan. Until this week the three leading the hack, joe biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders. But in the latest poll, look at
that, Pete Buttigieg is surging. Leap frogging Bernie Sanders is take third place. I want to head to shaq brewster, and somebody who has been covering iowa politics for two decades for the states biggest newspaper. Opinion editor at the des moines register. I want to start with you, my road warrior. Youre in one of 31 iowa counties that flipped from blue to red in 2016. How are the they making their pitch . Reporter were here in jasper county. This is a county, as you mentioned, that flipped. It went with president obama in 2008 and 2012 and President Trump in 2016. So these are the kind of voters that democrats want to bring back into their fold. And Bernie Sanders will be here later today at the maytag plant
speaking on the floor. And its now maytag has closed, but new industry has come in. Theyre working on wind turbines. So hes going to be making a pitch for the green new deal. People are following whats going on with this primary. They have a list of top candidates. Its still moving and still somewhat fluid. They have their list of candidates. But what they want to hear are the substance and the policies from these candidates. I spoke to one republican who says he still plans to support President Trump, but is still listening to what these democratic voters have to say, but doesnt think what theyre saying he says theres a lot of infighting and what theyre saying is not connecting with him. I spoke to another gentleman who says he has joe biden at the top of his list because he believes he has the most experience in this race. So 100 days out from the iowa caucus, people are still trying to figure out who they plan on supporting. But the thing thats important to them is that the candidates are coming to areas like these,
coming to their towns and communities and listening to what they want to hear. Youve got to show up. And kathy, youve got to build the infrastructure, too. We talked about Pete Buttigieg doing well in some recent polling. Elizabeth warren, senator Bernie Sanders, joe biden, they have a fair amount of offices. I think we have a list to put up of sort of the numbers, which i think are important. How important is that ground game piece . Do you think this gives buttigieg a chance for some latebreaking momentum . It absolutely is important. A lot of people are attributing Pete Buttigiegs climb in the polls here in iowa to a good debate performance. And yeah, that certainly helped. That was part of why he is now in third place in this latest poll. But unless you have that Campaign Infrastructure to keep that momentum going, to capitalize on that, to get people to sign your pledge cards, to agree to go to caucus
for you, that little great debate performance could just be a blip. And you go back to where you were. So Pete Buttigieg is doing this at the right time. I mean, i think you look at some of the other candidates who might have seen a blip in the polls at some point because they had a good debate performance, like kamala harris, for example, she didnt have enough infrastructure on the ground after the first debate in order to keep momentum going. And now weve seen her slide 13 points in this latest poll down to 3 . So you cant overestimate how important a good and she has built up her infrastructure since then, hopefully for her it wont be too late. What about the rest of the field . The candidates who are more lower tier . As the times points out, most of the contenders are bound to depart the Des Moines Airport next friday damaged, if not politically dead. Does iowa also pick who is definitely not going to be the
nominee . That is definitely true. In fact, i would say that is the most reliable job of the iowa caucuses, is to what we in farm country like to say is whittling the field. Whittling is very much an important job for iowa. We have had candidates departing already and its the debates, i think, more than anything else that is doing that job right now. Of course tim ryan just dropping out this week. But you have a lot of candidates who, you know, look at iowa as their very best chance. Somebody like an amy klobuchar, for example, who is a midwestern neighbor to iowa. And who, by the way, at 3 is actually up in the polls. She has a very Good Organization here. Had a good debate. So she is in a position where she could move up. But if somebody like her doesnt do well in iowa, theres really not any point in her staying in the race. Kathy, shaquille, thanks to
the both of you. We want to go back to baltimore, because right now we are waiting to hear from Hillary Clinton at the funeral of Elijah Cummings, and after her House Speaker nancy pelosi, former president obama. That of course has congressman marcia fudge, she is reading from the scripture, new testament. Were going to hear a bit of music and then remarks from Hillary Clinton while we keep an eye on that, and we want to bring in a couple of our next guests. We have nbc news reporter. Mike, let me start with you. As we look at Elizabeth Warren there seated next to eric holder, it looked like, this is truly some of the luminaries in the Democratic Party coming in together to remember somebody who was so important to them, including barack obama and joe biden who are reunited at this moment. Thats right, hallie. I wish i could be a fly on the
wall inside as we see this rare convening of the biggest names in the Democratic Party. And youre right, it is the first time the public is actually seeing the former president barack obama and joe biden, his Vice President , together in public since biden announced his complain. Biden mentioned obama almost at every turn. Were also seeing the last two democratic president s and nominee, Hillary Clinton, and a handful of other 2020 contenders, senator warren doing a reading just now. We also saw senator harris arrive, Tulsi Gabbard and John Dull Lainy as well. Talk about the expectations that you have for what you might hear from barack obama and Hillary Clinton as well. In addition to the tributes to a great man and a great democrat and a great american, i think from all of these sig a
dignitaries who are about to speak, we are going to hear messages about what we are as a nation. In the life of congressman cummings, you have the peril and the promise of america. By peril, i mean hes the son of share croppers. Hes a descendant of slaves, and yet despite oppression, jim crow, segregation, discrimination, racism, this young man who a counselor told would not amount to anything because he didnt speak well, went on to and would not become a lawyer, went on to become a lawyer, went on to be elected to the maryland house of delegates, went on to be elected to congressman, became the chair of the congressional black caucus, became the chair of the House Oversight committee, became the person who was at the center of the Impeachment Inquiry, who was signing subpoenas within hours before he passed. This is a man who is a fierce partisan. Fierce partisan when it came to
the battle of ideas. And the battle of who we are as a country doing right by people. Eric johnson is also joining us as well, someone who knew congressman cummings. I want to read to you an op ed from a huge group of cummings former staffers. Its a different side of cummings. These are from the people who knew him best and worked with him closest. They say that he insisted im going to read it, he insisted they write on personally interviewing every staff member he hired so he could look into their eyes. He would ask why are they interested in public service, how we thought we could contribute and what motivated us . And then he would lean in and ask what feeds your soul . These staffers write that many of them left these interviews with tears in their eyes, talking about the personal connection that cummings made with everybody who worked in his office. His story is an american story. Its a story of perseverance. Its a story of success. Its a story that future generations should know. I like the way jonathan laid out his history. But it also shows that he is as much of an american as any american can be. And for him to mentor and support and challenge staff is an example of what he was doing during his tenure in congress. Holding systems accountable, ensuring that he understood the rules and that the president of this country followed the rules, and overseeing a very important process in this democracy. And that is the inquiry of an impeachment. Many of us, we look in awe at the speech of Barbara Jordan during the nixon years. I think in future we will look in awe at the process and the example that congressman cummings laid out for all of us. We just saw a shot of two republican members of congressman, mark meadows and jim jordan. Mark meadows, of course, notoriously close with congressman cummings, kind of had his back in one of the moments when he defended his friend and colleague against allegations of racism. Its significant and i think its interesting, the two of them sitting in a row right behind adam schiff. Bitter partisan fighting on capitol hill unfolding, but in this church in baltimore, members of both parties are coming together to honor somebody. This is the capitol hill that i know. I worked in government for about a decade. I worked alongside people who worked very closely with Elijah Cummings. And the government i know, the capitol hill i know, its a family. And even if you have your disagreements in those Committee Hearings and in the back rooms, you can go out and have a drink and you can go out and break bread and you can really share common purpose and common principles about our country. And i think that that friendship
between Elijah Cummings and mark meadows is what thats all about. I think its remarkable to see someone like jim jordan there. We talked about how this was a constellation of very well known, notable democrats. Theres going to be just as many republicans there in that Office Rather in that pew today and i think that that says something also about congressman cummings and his legacy as well. Former president s on their feet listening to this. Can we just take a minute and just listen in to this moment that is captivating everybody who is in baltimore right now . After weve done all we can square your shoulders and lift up your head lift up your head because hes going to come through oh gods going to come through after the pain, after the rain oh, hes gonna come through,
yes, he will he promise hell do what he said he would do its remarkable when you look at this, president obama, that shot, hes singing right along to the power thats in this room here. And it is, joel, you called it the callstar game for the Democratic Party here. One thing i want to add to jump off your observation there. The other part i wanted to say about congressman coming is in addition to being a fierce partisan, hes an unflinching patriot. He cared about this country and he cared about the rule of law, he cared about the constitution. And so in him we see all of america. But i am so happy that we were able to see show the shot of Congressman Meadows and congressman jordan, because it shows that despite the differences, the parties can come together, the people can
come together. A funeral is a very human moment, a very human event. And by those two men and those two men in particular, to my mind, the fact that they are there and didnt use yesterdays ceremony to be their checkthebox, ive done my part to honor this man. The fact that they are there in baltimore in that Baptist Church is a wonderful thing. Also, you know, and ill be quick because i know that secretary clinton is coming up. He is one of the most notable cbc members weve ever seen, not just because of what he meant to the black community, but the bridge that he built to members and not just in his caucus, but on the on the other side of the aisle. On the other side of the aisle. Really being a bridge to younger cbc members. I think that Shouldnt Be Unsaid as well. Derrick, i want you to jump in quickly, knowing that i may have to interrupt you once we see secretary Hillary Clinton take the stage in about 30
seconds here. What an appropriate song. After youve done all you can, you just stand. In this time of loss of civility, congressman cummings represented a Civil Patriot who stood up for the rights of individuals and for this democracy, despite many around him who simply worked to erode civility in congress. But after he did all he could, he continued to stand to ensure that this democracy represented all of us and that we had a government that will be accountable and his life testament is that. After he had done all he could, he stood strong for this country. The pastor is introducing the speakers that we will hear from today. The first one will be the woman who has just stood and is making her way up to the lectern, the podium. That is former Secretary Of State and former first lady
Hillary Clinton. She will begin the series of remarks and after that well hear from House Speaker nancy pelosi. Were going to take a few minutes and listen in to what secretary clinton has to say. This is the day the lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Because this is the day for the homegoing celebration of a great man, a moral leader, and a friend. To Bishop Walter scott thomas and first lady of the church, patricia thomas, and the Baptist Church, thank you for welcoming us all here to reflect on the life and celebrate the service of Elijah Cummings. And to the cummings family, to
his political family, the constituents from the maryland congressional 7th district, thank you for sharing him with our country and the world. [ applause ] thank you, mia. As you have said so beautifully, you walked by elijahs side on this journey. Thank you for your steadfastness, your resilience and your relationship. [ applause ] it is no coincidence, is it, that Elijah Cummings shared a name with an Old Testament prophet . Whose name meant in hebrew, quothe lord is my god and who used the power and wisdom that god gave
him to up hold the moral law that all people a to. And because of all people are equal. Like the prophet, our elijah could call down fire from heaven. [ audience reacts ] but he also prayed and worked for healing. He weathered storms and earthquakes, but never lost his faith. Like that Old Testament prophet, he stood against corrupt leadership of king ahab and queen jezebel. [ applause ]
and he looked out for the vulnerable among us. He lifted up the next generation of leaders. He even worked a few miracles. And he kept reminding us, life is no dress rehearsal. The American People want to live their lives without fear of their leaders. And as leaders, we have a responsibility to keep the promises made when running for office, to make the lives of americans better. As elijah said, while were all on this earth, thats my message. Our elijah was a fierce champion for truth, justice and kindness
in every part of his life. [ applause ] his integrity and character, his cando spirit, made him a Guiding Light in the congress. He pushed back against the abuse of power, he was unwavering in his defense of our democracy. He had little tolerance for those who put party ahead of country or partisanship above truth. [ applause ] but he could find Common Ground with anyone willing to seek it with him. And he liked to remind all of us that you cant get so caught up in who you are fighting that you forget what you are fighting for. [ applause ]
even his political adversaries recognized that it wasnt really about politics for our elijah. He led from his soul. He often said that our children are a message to a future we will never see. I saw that firsthand when i attended an event for the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in israel. [ applause ] a Leadership Program for young people in his district. And elijah didnt just put his name on the program and then forget about it. He interviewed every applicant. He was personally invested in their success. He wanted all of us to see our young people as he memorably
asked us to do when he gave the eulogy at the funeral for freddy gray, did you see him. By the time these young people came back from israel to baltimore, they had studied hebrew, they had seen and been seen, and made lifelong friends, all because Elijah Cummings knew from his own experiences that its one thing to learn abstractly about the world, but another to experience it with people different from yourself. Learning from each other, lifting each other up. You know, elijah often said his philosophy was simple, do something, go out and do something, no matter how daunting a problem seems, no matter how helpless you feel,
surely there is something you can do. I think that remains his challenge to each of us, as he said, even if it seems small, theres usually something you can do if you are looking for it. You can defend the truth, you can defend democracy, you can lift up others. And toward the end of his life, he said i am begging the American People to Pay Attention to what is going on, because if you want to have a democracy intact for your children and your childrens children, and generations yet unborn, we have got to guard this moment. This is our watch. Our elijah knew, because he was
a man of faith and a man of the church, that life was fleeting and precious. And thats why he worked so hard to make every moment of his life count. When were dancing with the angels, the question will be asked, he said, in 2019 what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact . [ applause ] i will end with the paraphrase of a poem that elijah recited in his very first speech in the congress. He said that he told himself this poem as many as 20 times a
day. I only have a minute, 60 seconds in it, forced upon me i did not choose it, but i know that i must use it. Give account if i abuse it, suffer if i lose it. Only a tiny little minute. But eternity is in it. Thank you. Elijah cummings, for your work, your service, and the lessons you leave us. God bless you. [ applause ]
[ applause ] good morning, baltimore. Thank you, bishop thomas, for bringing us under this beautiful place to pay tribute to our darling, precious elijah, mr. President , mr. President , mr. Vice president. [ applause ] madam secretary, distinguished guests who are all here for our darling elijah. As speaker of the house, i have
the sad honor and personal privilege to bring the condolences of the entire congress of the United States to mia, the cummings family, the people, the constituents of elijahs district, people of baltimore, to our entire country. I say that with great authority, because yesterday my friends and those of you who loved elijah, Yesterday Mia gave us the privilege of having a celebration of elijahs life in the capitol of the United States. [ applause ] the first africanamerican lawmaker ever to serve in repose, lie in repose in the capitol of the United States. [ applause ] it was so beautiful and, as
has been referenced, elijah brought people together in life of different parties and in his death of different parties. And thats why im so pleased that yesterdays service was very bipartisan. In fact, it took bipartisan agreement for elijah to lie in repose on the same place that Abraham Lincoln lay in repose in the capitol. [ applause ] and so today we have a very strong bipartisan of elijahs colleagues from the House Of Representatives, led by our chair of the black caucus, karen bass, our leader, john lewis, marcia who got the nod, and im happy to get it as well. And so many of our members of the house in a bipartisan fashion, please rise to be
recognized. And their families and their staff. Elijahs staff. John lewis, where are you, john lewis . [ applause ] and we had a strong representation from the United States senate in a bipartisan way yesterday, today also led by ben cardin and Chris Val Hollen bringing so many senators here today. Bishop thomas, how brilliant was it of elijahs parents to name him elijah . As the secretary said, the god is my lord. As we know from the Old Testament there is a tradition to leave a seat at the table for elij elijah, might show up. But our elijah always made a
seat at the table for others. He made a seat at the table for children in education, for even members of congress so he could mentor them, for all who wanted to be part of the American Dream. Elijah himself personally lived the American Dream and he wanted everyone else to have that opportunity. Hence many seats at the table. How fortunate for our country that his parents also taught him to live up to his name. How blessed are we all to know him and to benefit from his friendship and his leadership. Elijah was a proud man, proud of his heritage, proud of baltim e baltimore. [ cheers and applause ] and proud of america. He always appealed to our better
angels and to the promise of america, of calling us to live up to our principles and for a higher purpose. As he said, and all the words that we will use that are the best words are words that elijah used, was when we were not meeting the needs of children in our country, he said, we are better than this. He held himself to a High Standard and that is why i called him the north star of congress, our Guiding Light. Thigh, maya, forgiving me the opportunity to speak at the baltimore celebration as well as yesterday at the celebration of elijahs life. Previously, ive seen some of you over time speaking as speaker of the house before at st. James epithetical church to
speak for congressman mitchell, a sad and proud day for the Baltimore Community and our country that day, paying tribute to parn was a personal honor. My dalessandro family and the Mitchell Family had been friends for generations. Now it is my great honor and personal sadness to join you at Elijahs Church to celebrate elijahs life. As i said, yesterday members of Congress Said goodbye to elijah. Maya gave us the honor again of holding that official service in the Statuary Hall of the house. At that time i said it was appropriate because elijah was Master Of The House, Master Of The House. In his chairmanship of the committee on oversight and reform, he lived up to his responsibilities to hold the
federal government accountable to the laws of the land. One world i would use to describe elijah over and over again is future. He was there to make the future for our children whom he called, as has been said, our living messengers to a future we will never see, but he wanted for those children to have a future worthy of their aspirations, and he wanted them to have a future built on our values, continued to be billed on our family. As a Master Of The House, he was also the mentor of the house. Anybody in here ever mentored by Elijah Cummings . I think so. It was no surprise that when we had this election and we won the congress that elijah said send me as many freshmen as you can because i want to help them be
oriented to reach their Fullest Potential in the House Of Representatives. So wonderful that he did that and all members, whether new or not, benefited from the generosity of his spirit. Sometimes the candor of how we do our work, whether we asked or not, the candor was there and again it was an honor to share again this some of these thoughts about our dear elijah. Elijah loved baltimore and his district. He was my baltimore brother in congress. We had our chats about baltimore all the time. He loved and respected his constituents. By example, he gave people hope. By his courage he fought for what is right. By his brilliance, knowledge and legal prowess, he made a difference in so many ways, fighting for gun violence prevention, expanding opportunity for everyone,
recognizing now, this was most recent recognizing the cost of Prescription Drugs hurt the health and economic wellbeing of americas working families. He was willing to reach across the aisle, even across the capitol, even down pennsylvania avenue. So it should be a source of pride to all of us who loved elijah that the Committee Chairman immediately named hr3, the lower drug cost act now the elijah e. Cummings lower cost drug plan. [ applause ] our baltimore connection gave me special entree into elijahs thinking that helped me as speaker. Our love of the orioles and the ravens made it fun. Thank you, baltimore, for your contribution to the greatness of
the United States of america. When i spoke on wednesday at my service, i acknowledged we would be honoring elijah today. We lost two great leaders in one week, we did, in baltimore. One of the things that elijah, My Brother Tommy and i, being from baltimore, and i representing San Francisco, had in common was the pride we took in baltimore, our baltimore. Another thing tommy, elijah and i had, in representing San Francisco, had in common, that our hearts are full of love for america. They used to tell them in San Francisco, love means letting other versions exist. Thats exactly what elijah did. Respecting, respecting the views
of others, reaching across the aisle, Building Community and consensus. Thank you, maya, thank you to your children and your entire family for Sharing Elijah with us and for loving him so much. You were the source of his strength and inspiration. I hope it is a comfort to you that so many people mourn your sad loss and are praying for you at this side time. As we always pray for god to bless america, let us acknowledge that god truly blessed america with the life and legacy of elijah e. Cummings, mentor, Master Of The House, north star, mr. Chairman, Master Of The House, may he rest in peace, Elijah Cummings. Thank you so much. [ applause ]
a Standing Ovation for House Speaker nancy pelosi with those emotional remembrances of congressman Elijah Cummings speaking right after former Secretary Of State, former first lady Hillary Clinton. Im back with joel pain, jonathan capehart, derrick johnson, mime memoli. You can feel the raw emotions in these speeches and the celebration of a life truly well lived. We saw Speaker Pelosi add her most raw, most emotional which telegraphed how close she was to Elijah Cummings. I would say Elijah Cummings, i know there was a 60 minutes interview where he talked about his father. I was struck by that because i understand that as a black man, the idea of him carrying that legacy into the house with him. So this was a very strong,
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