John Lewis honored at US Capitol

Rep. John Lewis' friend and former colleague Rep. Jim Clyburn spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about the impact the civil rights icon had on Capitol Hill and across the nation.

Lewis, who served as the US representative for Georgia's 5th Congressional District for more than three decades, was widely seen as a moral conscience of Congress because of his decades-long embodiment of the nonviolent fight for civil rights.

Clyburn said he met Lewis almost 60 years ago during an organizing meeting in Atlanta.

Clyburn, who has offered legislation aimed at renaming the Voting Rights Bill after Lewis, said that this election year should be dedicated to the congressman.

Lewis died at the age of 80 following a six-month battle with cancer, a loss that sparked an outpouring of grief and tributes to his life and legacy across the country. He will be honored by his former colleagues on Capitol Hill today.

Watch the interview:

Pool

The casket of Rep. John Lewis has arrived at Joint Base Andrews.

A motorcade will now carry him to the US Capitol, pausing by Washington, DC, landmarks on its way.

The landmarks will include: Martin Luther King Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Black Lives Matter Plaza and the African American museum.

Lewis will then lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda where an invitation-only arrival ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be at Joint Base Andrews to welcome the C-32 plane carrying the remains of Rep. John Lewis and 20 Lewis family members and current congressional staff, according to pool reports.

Pelosi will be joined by the Joint Base Andrews base commander, Tyler Schaff, and Representative from Military district of Washington, Lori Maldonado, as well as US Army Master SGT Benjamin Cadle.

The C-32 plane is currently expected to land at 10:53 a.m. ET, according to JBA Special Air Missions.

Services and ceremonies to honor the life of Rep. John Lewis, who died last week at age 80, continue today in Washington, DC. The civil rights icon served as a member of Congress for more than 30 years.  

Lewis' casket departed Montgomery, Alabama, this morning for the nation's capitol. Upon arrival, a motorcade will travel throughout Washington, DC, on its way from Joint Base Andrews to the US Capitol, passing numerous locations including Black Lives Matter Plaza, the site of Lewis' last public appearance.

The congressman will then lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda and be honored by his former colleagues at an invitation-only arrival ceremony at 1:30 p.m. ET. Remarks are expected from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as wreath layings from both houses of Congress. 

As a precaution due to the coronavirus pandemic, a public viewing will then take place outdoors in the evening, with Lewis' body lying in state at the top of the East Front Steps of the Capitol. 

Here's a look at the schedule:

Rep. John Lewis' former Congressional colleagues will be honoring him today at the US Capitol, where he was a congressman for more than 30 years.

Lewis, a Democrat who served as the US representative for Georgia's 5th Congressional District, was widely seen as a moral conscience of Congress because of his decades-long embodiment of nonviolent fight for civil rights.

His passionate oratory was backed by a long record of action that included, by his count, more than 40 arrests while demonstrating against racial and social injustice.

A follower and colleague of Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis participated in lunch counter sit-ins, joined the Freedom Riders in challenging segregated buses and — at the age of 23 — was a keynote speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington.

In a statement announcing his death last weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "Today, America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history: Congressman John Lewis, the Conscience of the Congress."

Lewis had vowed to fight the disease after announcing in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which was discovered as a result of a routine medical visit and subsequent testing.

"I have been in some kind of fight — for freedom, equality, basic human rights — for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now," he said in a statement at the time.

Lewis has said King inspired his activism. Angered by the unfairness of the Jim Crow South, he launched what he called "good trouble" with organized protests and sit-ins. In the early 1960s, he was a Freedom Rider, challenging segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South and in the nation's capital.

Once in Washington, he focused on fighting against poverty and helping younger generations by improving education and health care. He also co-wrote a series of graphic novels about the civil rights movement, which won him a National Book Award.

In 2011, after more than 50 years on the front lines of the civil rights movement, Lewis received the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, placed round his neck by America's first Black president, Barack Obama.

Obama said in a statement following Lewis' death that the civil rights icon will "continue, even in his passing, to serve as a beacon" in America's journey towards a more perfect union.