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Thurmond to be Laid to Rest Today in Home State of South Carolina

Aired July 01, 2003 - 06:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And a final good-bye to the longest serving senator in U.S. history. Strom Thurmond will be laid to rest today in the state he loved, South Carolina. Thurmond died Thursday at the age of 100.
Live to Columbia, South Carolina now and Eric Philips -- good morning, Eric.

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

Thousands have come out over the past two days to view the body of Strom Thurmond, which is at the statehouse here in Columbia. At 100 years old and after serving nearly 48 years in the Senate, many considered him a legend in his own time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIPS (voice-over): Strom Thurmond may be gone, but certainly not forgotten. South Carolinians say they'll always remember one quality that set him apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think his caring spirit. He really cared for the people of this state.

PHILIPS: Thurmond celebrated his 100th birthday last December and much like his political career, the birthday party became a source of controversy after remarks from Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi.

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of him. And if the rest of the country would have followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.

PHILIPS: Lott was referring to Thurmond's 1948 bid for the presidency. Thurmond had left the Democratic Party and was running under the Dixiecrat banner on a strong segregationist platform. In 1954, Thurmond was elected to the Senate. In 1957 he set a Senate record filibustering a civil right bill for 24 hours, 18 minutes. And in 1964, he jumped to the more conservative Republican Party.

But as civil rights laws became a reality, Thurmond changed his views, even supporting legislation for a national Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

STROM THURMOND: I only obeyed the law and even when we had separate races, I did everything I -- I did help people. PHILIPS: And most in the Palmetto State will remember him for his personal sense of politics and willingness to help all people later in life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could be black, white, Puerto Rican or Jew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know in my own life I've known people who say, well, I'll just call Strom Thurmond, and things happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIPS: Thurmond was an avid fitness buff, twice marrying women decades younger than him and fathering children well into his 70s. He was also considered quite a ladies man.

His body will be removed later this morning from the statehouse as part of a military processional and brought here to the First Baptist Church for the funeral.

Live in Columbia, South Carolina, I'm Eric Philips -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, many thanks, Eric.

We appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired July 1, 2003 - 06:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And a final good-bye to the longest serving senator in U.S. history. Strom Thurmond will be laid to rest today in the state he loved, South Carolina. Thurmond died Thursday at the age of 100.
Live to Columbia, South Carolina now and Eric Philips -- good morning, Eric.

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

Thousands have come out over the past two days to view the body of Strom Thurmond, which is at the statehouse here in Columbia. At 100 years old and after serving nearly 48 years in the Senate, many considered him a legend in his own time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIPS (voice-over): Strom Thurmond may be gone, but certainly not forgotten. South Carolinians say they'll always remember one quality that set him apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think his caring spirit. He really cared for the people of this state.

PHILIPS: Thurmond celebrated his 100th birthday last December and much like his political career, the birthday party became a source of controversy after remarks from Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi.

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of him. And if the rest of the country would have followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.

PHILIPS: Lott was referring to Thurmond's 1948 bid for the presidency. Thurmond had left the Democratic Party and was running under the Dixiecrat banner on a strong segregationist platform. In 1954, Thurmond was elected to the Senate. In 1957 he set a Senate record filibustering a civil right bill for 24 hours, 18 minutes. And in 1964, he jumped to the more conservative Republican Party.

But as civil rights laws became a reality, Thurmond changed his views, even supporting legislation for a national Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

STROM THURMOND: I only obeyed the law and even when we had separate races, I did everything I -- I did help people. PHILIPS: And most in the Palmetto State will remember him for his personal sense of politics and willingness to help all people later in life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could be black, white, Puerto Rican or Jew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know in my own life I've known people who say, well, I'll just call Strom Thurmond, and things happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIPS: Thurmond was an avid fitness buff, twice marrying women decades younger than him and fathering children well into his 70s. He was also considered quite a ladies man.

His body will be removed later this morning from the statehouse as part of a military processional and brought here to the First Baptist Church for the funeral.

Live in Columbia, South Carolina, I'm Eric Philips -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, many thanks, Eric.

We appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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