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American Morning

Reagan Mourners Began Gathering at National Cathedral

Aired June 11, 2004 - 09:29   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. It is a special edition because we've got a split show today. I'm here in New York City. But Bill Hemmer is in Washington, D.C., and in fact, has been out of the studio all week long, as the long good-bye is being said to the nation's 40th president, Ronald Reagan.
Bill, good morning.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning again here in Washington. The official number just a short time ago, the number of people who paid tribute in the Capitol Rotunda to Ronald Reagan, 104,684. And of course, the number was just about that size, too, in California that we saw earlier in the week. We're going get you to California in a moment. But we do want to keep a close eye on Blair House across the street from the White House. We do expect some time in the next 15 minutes or so the former first lady, Nancy Reagan, to emerge and make the short trip up to Capitol Hill to escort the body of her late husband and the late president, Ronald Reagan.

They'll make the five-mile journey from the Capitol Building to here at the National Cathedral. As we await the events here in Washington, later tonight, the focus will be squarely on California, back to the presidential library now for a moment, Simi Valley, California, and David Mattingly who is there again this morning.

David, good morning.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. This week of remembrance began here in Southern California, and soon it will end here at the former resting place of former President Ronald Reagan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A flurry of final preparation and late- hour rehearsals thunder through California's Simi Valley heralding the approaching finale to a week of national mourning.

DUKE BLACKWOOD, DIR., REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: It's going to be very solemn, highly, highly emotional.

MATTINGLY: By the time the casket of former President Ronald Reagan returns to California and the Navy's Point Mugu, it will have flown twice across country, and been personally visited by tens of thousands of people on two coasts. The final public viewing will be brief, from points along a 15-mile drive back to the Reagan Presidential Library later today where an overwhelming show of public respect began just five days earlier. The former president will be buried beneath this monument, bearing a quote from the library's dedication in 1991.

RONALD REAGAN, 40TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always also eventually triumph, and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life.

MATTINGLY: Words of characteristic Reagan optimism are expected to set the tone for burial services open to 700 invitation-only guests. Among them, long-time Reagan friend Johnny Grat, honorary mayor of Hollywood, who placed a wreath at the Reagan star on the walk of fame.

JOHNNY GRAT, REAGAN FRIEND: This is Reagan country. And we all kind of believe that he put the red, white and blue back in the American flag.

MATTINGLY: But while final services will be full of patriotic symbolism, looking out into the California sunset, it will be the words of the three surviving Reagan children that are expected to make the event a deeply personal experience, as a nation says a last good- bye to Ronald Reagan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And it will be a very well-planned sunset close, about 7:30 Pacific time here in California -- Bill.

HEMMER: ... Simi Valley. Back here in Washington, outside Blair House, we're going to keep a close eye on what's happening there. Nancy Reagan expected to emerge now any moment and again, make that trip up to Capitol Hill.

A short time ago, we saw Prince Charles arrive and pay his respects to Nancy Reagan. In addition to that, we saw the first President Bush, George Bush and the former first lady Barbara, pay their respects as well.

Allen Lichtman is a presidential historian, I want to talk to Allen at this moment here and really take a bit of a pulse of what we expect throughout the day.

And good morning. Welcome back to you.

ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: Throughout the morning I've been thinking that this country does not have royalty. But this is about as close as we get, don't you think, when we say good-bye to a president who has served this nation.

LICHTMAN: This is one of our great national rituals. And we don't have too many ancient and sacred rituals in this country. This gives us a chance to reflect upon ourselves as well as upon the president, upon our own history as a people and what binds us together. That's why you hear so much -- even though the Reagan era was pretty turbulent and pretty divisive, you hear about a president who was binding us together with some very critical common themes at a crossroads in American history.

HEMMER: Nancy Reagan has really played a major and significant role in the events that we've seen and watched and heard about throughout the entire week. I thought Joanne Drake, the chief of staff for the Reagan office, said something very interesting this past week. She talked about Ronald Reagan being on his deathbed last Friday and Saturday in California. And she said, I'm quoting now: "He opened his eyes and he gazed at her, meaning Nancy, his eyes as blue as ever. It was the greatest gift ever," meaning toward Nancy Reagan. That indicates what to you in terms of the depth of the relationship between this man and woman?

LICHTMAN: This was not only one of the great partnerships of American history, and as we now know she participated in a substantive way in the administration. This is one of the great love stories in all of American history. More sentimental than anything Ronald Reagan could have put upon the screen, and he was the final and last expression of love between them.

HEMMER: To our viewers, excuse the sirens, we're sitting here literally on the road which is where the National Cathedral is located. And we do expect dignitaries from so many countries here. There are actually six groups of people invited inside the National Cathedral.

And I guess they kind of come close to royalty as well. Six different groups, friends of the family, of the family themselves, House and Senate members with their spouses, Supreme Court justices with their spouses, and from the diplomatic corps, three each invited, those countries that have embassies here in the nation's capital.

Talking with Wolf Blitzer about 30 minutes ago, back in 1981 he asked then Vice President Bush to read at his funeral today. He asked Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 to play a part in his funeral. What does it suggest to you about Ronald Reagan and what he was thinking at that point, about his own legacy and his own funeral that we'll see today?

LICHTMAN: Ronald Reagan always identified with the nation. And Ronald Reagan was already thinking about his role as a national leader, and planning it out carefully. People think of Reagan as disengaged and off in the ether somewhere, forget it. Everything he did was planned. Even where he stood they had chalk marks telling Ronald Reagan just where to stabbed.

It was one of the greatest acts in all of American history, and an act that was tremendously successful. You know, part of the presidency is establishing a special mystical bond with the American people that only a president can do. Ronald Reagan not only thought about how to do it at the time, he thought about how to do it for all of history.

HEMMER: Thank you, Allan. Stand by with me here in a moment. The sirens you heard were escorting buses that came from Capitol Hill, escorting the members of Congress to the National Cathedral. It is about 9:37 here in Washington. Funeral services will get under way at about 11:30, so a little less than two hours from now. But again, Soledad, the event we're waiting for at this point is Nancy Reagan to emerge from Blair House. We're waiting here in D.C. Back to you now in New York.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks a lot.

Time to check in with Jack for the "Question of the Day." Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Before we do that, I invite to join me this weekend for "IN THE MONEY." We're going to examine one of the Reagan legacies that seems to have disappeared when he left office. He used to have bitter ideological disagreements with people like Tip O'Neill over all kinds of legislation, social policy, whatever, but at the end of the day and at the end of the argument, the two men could sit down, have dinner together and resume a collegial and polite relationship.

This country does not have that anymore here in Washington, D.C. We are deeply divided politically. We're going to take a look at what happened and what might be needed to get it fixed. So "IN THE MONEY" airs Saturday at 1, Sunday at 3. We hope you'll join us for that.

The last batch of e-mails has to do with the passing of a great Ray Charles. And let me read you a couple real quickly.

Hazel (ph) in Ontario writes this: "Thank you, Ray Charles, for all your wonderful music. Now 'Seven Spanish Angels' have come to take another angel home, you'll be missed.

That was a great duet that Ray Charles sang with Willie Nelson, "Seven Spanish Angels."

David (ph) writes from Boca Raton: "Ray Charles, wonderful voice, a classy part of American culture. When he sang "America the Beautiful," his voice was incredibly uplifting, though he could not physically see, he could see the soul of America with his voice. He'll be greatly missed."

And Doug (ph) in Stony Creek (ph) says: "The immortal Ray Charles said it for all of us. 'Hit the road, Jack.'"

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: I'm sure he didn't mean that to you personally.

CAFFERTY: Well, he may have. But that's OK.

O'BRIEN: ... I think actually did.

CAFFERTY: But the album to listen to this weekend is "Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music." If you don't have it, get it. It is magnificent.

O'BRIEN: Jack Cafferty, thank you. Nice e-mails.

Let's go back out to Bill Hemmer in Washington, D.C. -- Bill.

HEMMER: In the Rotunda, Soledad, watching again a live picture of the attorney general, John Ashcroft, arriving at this hour and as we all wait and sit back and wait for Nancy Reagan to arrive as well. Our coverage continues in a moment live in D.C.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Our weekly "Extra Effort" series is a tribute to those who go the extra mile to help others. This morning, a women who's life is devoted to bringing new hope to the children of war.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa has the story of her global relief mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New Yorker Elissa Monanti looking anxious on the Kuwait-Iraq border. She's been waiting for hours. Her delivery, 14-year-old Ali Amir (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But this is a happy day.

HINOJOSA: Her goal, to get Ali all the way from Iraq to here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make a muscle. Not bad.

HINOJOSA: The Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia so he can be fitted for a new hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up and down.

HINOJOSA: Ali lost his limb last year when he picked up an unexploded mine near his home in Basra. Elissa Montanti had never been to Iraq but knew there were children there who could use her help so she went there on her own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children being brought in, lying unconscious, flies hovering over their face. It was surreal. It was like you couldn't even comprehend that this is happening and that nobody here really sees this.

HINOJOSA: Elissa though is committed to seeing and serving the youngest victims of war. It was seven years ago that Elissa, a former musician and lab technician, gave up everything to go to Bosnia to meet a 12-year-old war victim named Kenan Malkic.

(on camera): In Bosnia you lost how many limbs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two arms and my left leg.

HINOJOSA (voice-over): All by herself she convinced doctors to help him get new limbs. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's my everything. She took me out of Bosnia and made me what I am today, which is, you know, if it wasn't for her, I would probably be in a wheelchair by a window.

HINOJOSA: There are hundreds of children Elissa can't help, like these Iraqi victims in Basra. Her tiny organization is called the Global Medical Relief Fund. But essentially it's just her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't even have the finances sometimes to pay the phone bill.

HINOJOSA: But the reward, something simple, like a huge smile from Ali.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): We adore her. And it's like a dream for him. She's a dream.

HINOJOSA: For the joy of watching a broken child feel whole again.

Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: You can learn more about the Global Medical Relief Fund at this Web site. It's GlobMed.org. It's "GlobeMed".org, but really spelled G-L-O-B-dash-med-dash-dot-dash-org. Or you can contact them by phone, 866-734-4673.

Let's go back out to Bill Hemmer.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, the road is getting crowded outside the National Cathedral. A short time ago more dignitaries arriving. The sirens again blaring in the background. They've died down for now. And our focus remains on the Blair House, Pennsylvania Avenue, across the street from the White House. Nancy Reagan expected at any moment to make that short trip up to Capitol Hill. One final journey here in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Live outside the Blair House, I want to take you there now live, as Nancy Reagan now getting ready to make that trip up Capitol Hill, again, a journey for her that holds so much emotion and so many memories as well.

We anticipate Mrs. Reagan to arrive at the Capitol Building in a matter of moments. And when she does arrive, there will be a short ceremony that takes place as the body of the former president is taken out and removed from Capitol Hill.

We expect the motorcade, lasts about five miles in distance from the Capitol Building to the National Cathedral here, winding past 22nd Street up Massachusetts Avenue, finally concluding here at the National Cathedral. That should take place sometime around 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. So there's about an hour and 15 minutes from this point. The funeral itself will begin at 11:30 Eastern time.

Then as we move our way into the afternoon hours, the trip back to Andrews Air Force Base, back on that government plane, back to California. Then later tonight that sunset burial at the Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

It has been a day, not just today, but also yesterday and the day before of dignitaries coming to Washington, and paying their final respects not just to the man Ronald Reagan, but also to the woman, Nancy Reagan. Margaret Thatcher stopped by yesterday at the Blair House, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, Brian Mulroney, the Canadian prime minister, all making a visit to Nancy Reagan and giving her their words and their thoughts about -- their reflections on the life of Ronald Reagan and the former first lady.

Also today Gerhard Schroeder, Tony Blair, the Afghan president all expected at today's funeral. And an indication of the changing world, not only in this country, but globally, not only is the Afghan president here today, but so, too, is the new Iraqi president, Ghazi al-Yawar will take his place in today's funeral.

At my location here outside the cathedral, the mourners, the dignitaries making their way here. About 15 minutes ago large buses were brought up the street here, given a police escort. Members of Congress were brought here. They're allowed to come with a special invitation, along with their spouses. We will see the Supreme Court justices here with their spouses. The diplomatic corps will be here. Three invitations going out to every country that holds an embassy here in Washington, D.C.

And of course, Nancy Reagan, her family and close friends will be sitting front and center at today's funeral. Eulogies to be presented by the current president, the former president, Brian Mulroney will also have a role in that, and Margaret Thatcher, too, who, as many would argue, a conservative soulmate of Ronald Reagan during his years in office back in the 1980s. She will deliver her address today by way of videotape, given her ailing health for the former British prime minister.

Former Senator John Danforth will deliver the homily. And the cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington will conduct today's gospel inside the national cathedral. A place that is so historic, and so huge, too, many argue here in Washington that this cathedral was the longest construction project the city has ever seen, 83 years upon the beginning of construction until its completion back in 1990.

We said earlier, 700,000 visitors a year come here to see the 30 stories that extend high above Washington, D.C. the highest point, 675 feet above sea level. The highest point in our capital today. And, boy, it stands that way yet again today, as we remember the life of the 40th president, Ronald Reagan. Back in a moment. Our special coverage continues after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: In our last final minutes of what's been a remarkable week, we go back to Jack Cafferty for thoughts.

Good morning, again.

CAFFERTY: A couple of thoughts on the presidency of Ronald Reagan. When he came into office, the country was suffering from a bit of a malaise, as Jimmy Carter put it. We had high inflation, high unemployment, high interest rates. The military had been cut back and reduced and de-budgeted to the point where it was pretty thin, and not the kind of a threat the incoming president, Ronald Reagan thought it ought to represent to the Russians if we were serious about winning the Cold War.

So he did a couple of things. He worked on the economy, he cut taxes, and he refurbished the military and put a lot of money into building up this nation's armed forces. The message being to the Russians, we are serious, and we will win this war, cold or hot.

He also, of course, introduced the "star wars" initiative which created an economic and technological impossibility for the Russians to compete. All right. so the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain come down, and we get a huge peace dividend in this country.

Oh, the note on the economy, it was good by the end of his first term and he got swept into office on a landslide. The peace dividend shows up, and again we started cutting back on the military. Then comes the war on terror all of sudden once again this country finds itself with its military resources stretched to the breaking point.

Our economy is beginning to recover from a recession and from some of the problems that we had when President Bush took office. We've got unemployment coming down. We've got jobs growing. We've got low interest rates. We've got inflation low. And yet because of the situation in Iraq, and the military situation in this country, and the foreign policy situation in this country, it's doubtful that President Bush will enjoy the same kind of cake walk to a second term that Ronald Reagan enjoyed. Some of the similarities in a couple of profound differences in the two men.

O'BRIEN: Very interesting. All right, Jack, thanks very much. Great e-mails today.

CAFFERTY: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Let's go right to Bill Hemmer who has been out covering the story for us all week -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, one final note here from the National Cathedral. President Bush has made his way up to Capitol Hill a short while ago. He is awaiting the arrival Nancy Reagan. One hundred and four thousand people over the past two days passed through to pay their final respects to the former President Ronald Reagan. Our special coverage continues live in Washington with Wolf and Paula and Judy. Stay tuned, everybody. And thanks for being a part of our special program here in Washington on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And that is it for us here on American Morning, and our week of special coverage of the life and death of the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, a week full of special tributes to him, an outpouring of love and affection from those who voted for him, and even some of his foes as well.

It's time now to go to more special coverage with Judy and Paula and Wolf in Washington, D.C.

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


Aired June 11, 2004 - 09:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. It is a special edition because we've got a split show today. I'm here in New York City. But Bill Hemmer is in Washington, D.C., and in fact, has been out of the studio all week long, as the long good-bye is being said to the nation's 40th president, Ronald Reagan.
Bill, good morning.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning again here in Washington. The official number just a short time ago, the number of people who paid tribute in the Capitol Rotunda to Ronald Reagan, 104,684. And of course, the number was just about that size, too, in California that we saw earlier in the week. We're going get you to California in a moment. But we do want to keep a close eye on Blair House across the street from the White House. We do expect some time in the next 15 minutes or so the former first lady, Nancy Reagan, to emerge and make the short trip up to Capitol Hill to escort the body of her late husband and the late president, Ronald Reagan.

They'll make the five-mile journey from the Capitol Building to here at the National Cathedral. As we await the events here in Washington, later tonight, the focus will be squarely on California, back to the presidential library now for a moment, Simi Valley, California, and David Mattingly who is there again this morning.

David, good morning.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. This week of remembrance began here in Southern California, and soon it will end here at the former resting place of former President Ronald Reagan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A flurry of final preparation and late- hour rehearsals thunder through California's Simi Valley heralding the approaching finale to a week of national mourning.

DUKE BLACKWOOD, DIR., REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: It's going to be very solemn, highly, highly emotional.

MATTINGLY: By the time the casket of former President Ronald Reagan returns to California and the Navy's Point Mugu, it will have flown twice across country, and been personally visited by tens of thousands of people on two coasts. The final public viewing will be brief, from points along a 15-mile drive back to the Reagan Presidential Library later today where an overwhelming show of public respect began just five days earlier. The former president will be buried beneath this monument, bearing a quote from the library's dedication in 1991.

RONALD REAGAN, 40TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always also eventually triumph, and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life.

MATTINGLY: Words of characteristic Reagan optimism are expected to set the tone for burial services open to 700 invitation-only guests. Among them, long-time Reagan friend Johnny Grat, honorary mayor of Hollywood, who placed a wreath at the Reagan star on the walk of fame.

JOHNNY GRAT, REAGAN FRIEND: This is Reagan country. And we all kind of believe that he put the red, white and blue back in the American flag.

MATTINGLY: But while final services will be full of patriotic symbolism, looking out into the California sunset, it will be the words of the three surviving Reagan children that are expected to make the event a deeply personal experience, as a nation says a last good- bye to Ronald Reagan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And it will be a very well-planned sunset close, about 7:30 Pacific time here in California -- Bill.

HEMMER: ... Simi Valley. Back here in Washington, outside Blair House, we're going to keep a close eye on what's happening there. Nancy Reagan expected to emerge now any moment and again, make that trip up to Capitol Hill.

A short time ago, we saw Prince Charles arrive and pay his respects to Nancy Reagan. In addition to that, we saw the first President Bush, George Bush and the former first lady Barbara, pay their respects as well.

Allen Lichtman is a presidential historian, I want to talk to Allen at this moment here and really take a bit of a pulse of what we expect throughout the day.

And good morning. Welcome back to you.

ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: Throughout the morning I've been thinking that this country does not have royalty. But this is about as close as we get, don't you think, when we say good-bye to a president who has served this nation.

LICHTMAN: This is one of our great national rituals. And we don't have too many ancient and sacred rituals in this country. This gives us a chance to reflect upon ourselves as well as upon the president, upon our own history as a people and what binds us together. That's why you hear so much -- even though the Reagan era was pretty turbulent and pretty divisive, you hear about a president who was binding us together with some very critical common themes at a crossroads in American history.

HEMMER: Nancy Reagan has really played a major and significant role in the events that we've seen and watched and heard about throughout the entire week. I thought Joanne Drake, the chief of staff for the Reagan office, said something very interesting this past week. She talked about Ronald Reagan being on his deathbed last Friday and Saturday in California. And she said, I'm quoting now: "He opened his eyes and he gazed at her, meaning Nancy, his eyes as blue as ever. It was the greatest gift ever," meaning toward Nancy Reagan. That indicates what to you in terms of the depth of the relationship between this man and woman?

LICHTMAN: This was not only one of the great partnerships of American history, and as we now know she participated in a substantive way in the administration. This is one of the great love stories in all of American history. More sentimental than anything Ronald Reagan could have put upon the screen, and he was the final and last expression of love between them.

HEMMER: To our viewers, excuse the sirens, we're sitting here literally on the road which is where the National Cathedral is located. And we do expect dignitaries from so many countries here. There are actually six groups of people invited inside the National Cathedral.

And I guess they kind of come close to royalty as well. Six different groups, friends of the family, of the family themselves, House and Senate members with their spouses, Supreme Court justices with their spouses, and from the diplomatic corps, three each invited, those countries that have embassies here in the nation's capital.

Talking with Wolf Blitzer about 30 minutes ago, back in 1981 he asked then Vice President Bush to read at his funeral today. He asked Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 to play a part in his funeral. What does it suggest to you about Ronald Reagan and what he was thinking at that point, about his own legacy and his own funeral that we'll see today?

LICHTMAN: Ronald Reagan always identified with the nation. And Ronald Reagan was already thinking about his role as a national leader, and planning it out carefully. People think of Reagan as disengaged and off in the ether somewhere, forget it. Everything he did was planned. Even where he stood they had chalk marks telling Ronald Reagan just where to stabbed.

It was one of the greatest acts in all of American history, and an act that was tremendously successful. You know, part of the presidency is establishing a special mystical bond with the American people that only a president can do. Ronald Reagan not only thought about how to do it at the time, he thought about how to do it for all of history.

HEMMER: Thank you, Allan. Stand by with me here in a moment. The sirens you heard were escorting buses that came from Capitol Hill, escorting the members of Congress to the National Cathedral. It is about 9:37 here in Washington. Funeral services will get under way at about 11:30, so a little less than two hours from now. But again, Soledad, the event we're waiting for at this point is Nancy Reagan to emerge from Blair House. We're waiting here in D.C. Back to you now in New York.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks a lot.

Time to check in with Jack for the "Question of the Day." Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Before we do that, I invite to join me this weekend for "IN THE MONEY." We're going to examine one of the Reagan legacies that seems to have disappeared when he left office. He used to have bitter ideological disagreements with people like Tip O'Neill over all kinds of legislation, social policy, whatever, but at the end of the day and at the end of the argument, the two men could sit down, have dinner together and resume a collegial and polite relationship.

This country does not have that anymore here in Washington, D.C. We are deeply divided politically. We're going to take a look at what happened and what might be needed to get it fixed. So "IN THE MONEY" airs Saturday at 1, Sunday at 3. We hope you'll join us for that.

The last batch of e-mails has to do with the passing of a great Ray Charles. And let me read you a couple real quickly.

Hazel (ph) in Ontario writes this: "Thank you, Ray Charles, for all your wonderful music. Now 'Seven Spanish Angels' have come to take another angel home, you'll be missed.

That was a great duet that Ray Charles sang with Willie Nelson, "Seven Spanish Angels."

David (ph) writes from Boca Raton: "Ray Charles, wonderful voice, a classy part of American culture. When he sang "America the Beautiful," his voice was incredibly uplifting, though he could not physically see, he could see the soul of America with his voice. He'll be greatly missed."

And Doug (ph) in Stony Creek (ph) says: "The immortal Ray Charles said it for all of us. 'Hit the road, Jack.'"

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: I'm sure he didn't mean that to you personally.

CAFFERTY: Well, he may have. But that's OK.

O'BRIEN: ... I think actually did.

CAFFERTY: But the album to listen to this weekend is "Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music." If you don't have it, get it. It is magnificent.

O'BRIEN: Jack Cafferty, thank you. Nice e-mails.

Let's go back out to Bill Hemmer in Washington, D.C. -- Bill.

HEMMER: In the Rotunda, Soledad, watching again a live picture of the attorney general, John Ashcroft, arriving at this hour and as we all wait and sit back and wait for Nancy Reagan to arrive as well. Our coverage continues in a moment live in D.C.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Our weekly "Extra Effort" series is a tribute to those who go the extra mile to help others. This morning, a women who's life is devoted to bringing new hope to the children of war.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa has the story of her global relief mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New Yorker Elissa Monanti looking anxious on the Kuwait-Iraq border. She's been waiting for hours. Her delivery, 14-year-old Ali Amir (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But this is a happy day.

HINOJOSA: Her goal, to get Ali all the way from Iraq to here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make a muscle. Not bad.

HINOJOSA: The Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia so he can be fitted for a new hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up and down.

HINOJOSA: Ali lost his limb last year when he picked up an unexploded mine near his home in Basra. Elissa Montanti had never been to Iraq but knew there were children there who could use her help so she went there on her own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children being brought in, lying unconscious, flies hovering over their face. It was surreal. It was like you couldn't even comprehend that this is happening and that nobody here really sees this.

HINOJOSA: Elissa though is committed to seeing and serving the youngest victims of war. It was seven years ago that Elissa, a former musician and lab technician, gave up everything to go to Bosnia to meet a 12-year-old war victim named Kenan Malkic.

(on camera): In Bosnia you lost how many limbs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two arms and my left leg.

HINOJOSA (voice-over): All by herself she convinced doctors to help him get new limbs. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's my everything. She took me out of Bosnia and made me what I am today, which is, you know, if it wasn't for her, I would probably be in a wheelchair by a window.

HINOJOSA: There are hundreds of children Elissa can't help, like these Iraqi victims in Basra. Her tiny organization is called the Global Medical Relief Fund. But essentially it's just her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't even have the finances sometimes to pay the phone bill.

HINOJOSA: But the reward, something simple, like a huge smile from Ali.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): We adore her. And it's like a dream for him. She's a dream.

HINOJOSA: For the joy of watching a broken child feel whole again.

Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: You can learn more about the Global Medical Relief Fund at this Web site. It's GlobMed.org. It's "GlobeMed".org, but really spelled G-L-O-B-dash-med-dash-dot-dash-org. Or you can contact them by phone, 866-734-4673.

Let's go back out to Bill Hemmer.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, the road is getting crowded outside the National Cathedral. A short time ago more dignitaries arriving. The sirens again blaring in the background. They've died down for now. And our focus remains on the Blair House, Pennsylvania Avenue, across the street from the White House. Nancy Reagan expected at any moment to make that short trip up to Capitol Hill. One final journey here in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Live outside the Blair House, I want to take you there now live, as Nancy Reagan now getting ready to make that trip up Capitol Hill, again, a journey for her that holds so much emotion and so many memories as well.

We anticipate Mrs. Reagan to arrive at the Capitol Building in a matter of moments. And when she does arrive, there will be a short ceremony that takes place as the body of the former president is taken out and removed from Capitol Hill.

We expect the motorcade, lasts about five miles in distance from the Capitol Building to the National Cathedral here, winding past 22nd Street up Massachusetts Avenue, finally concluding here at the National Cathedral. That should take place sometime around 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. So there's about an hour and 15 minutes from this point. The funeral itself will begin at 11:30 Eastern time.

Then as we move our way into the afternoon hours, the trip back to Andrews Air Force Base, back on that government plane, back to California. Then later tonight that sunset burial at the Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

It has been a day, not just today, but also yesterday and the day before of dignitaries coming to Washington, and paying their final respects not just to the man Ronald Reagan, but also to the woman, Nancy Reagan. Margaret Thatcher stopped by yesterday at the Blair House, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, Brian Mulroney, the Canadian prime minister, all making a visit to Nancy Reagan and giving her their words and their thoughts about -- their reflections on the life of Ronald Reagan and the former first lady.

Also today Gerhard Schroeder, Tony Blair, the Afghan president all expected at today's funeral. And an indication of the changing world, not only in this country, but globally, not only is the Afghan president here today, but so, too, is the new Iraqi president, Ghazi al-Yawar will take his place in today's funeral.

At my location here outside the cathedral, the mourners, the dignitaries making their way here. About 15 minutes ago large buses were brought up the street here, given a police escort. Members of Congress were brought here. They're allowed to come with a special invitation, along with their spouses. We will see the Supreme Court justices here with their spouses. The diplomatic corps will be here. Three invitations going out to every country that holds an embassy here in Washington, D.C.

And of course, Nancy Reagan, her family and close friends will be sitting front and center at today's funeral. Eulogies to be presented by the current president, the former president, Brian Mulroney will also have a role in that, and Margaret Thatcher, too, who, as many would argue, a conservative soulmate of Ronald Reagan during his years in office back in the 1980s. She will deliver her address today by way of videotape, given her ailing health for the former British prime minister.

Former Senator John Danforth will deliver the homily. And the cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington will conduct today's gospel inside the national cathedral. A place that is so historic, and so huge, too, many argue here in Washington that this cathedral was the longest construction project the city has ever seen, 83 years upon the beginning of construction until its completion back in 1990.

We said earlier, 700,000 visitors a year come here to see the 30 stories that extend high above Washington, D.C. the highest point, 675 feet above sea level. The highest point in our capital today. And, boy, it stands that way yet again today, as we remember the life of the 40th president, Ronald Reagan. Back in a moment. Our special coverage continues after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: In our last final minutes of what's been a remarkable week, we go back to Jack Cafferty for thoughts.

Good morning, again.

CAFFERTY: A couple of thoughts on the presidency of Ronald Reagan. When he came into office, the country was suffering from a bit of a malaise, as Jimmy Carter put it. We had high inflation, high unemployment, high interest rates. The military had been cut back and reduced and de-budgeted to the point where it was pretty thin, and not the kind of a threat the incoming president, Ronald Reagan thought it ought to represent to the Russians if we were serious about winning the Cold War.

So he did a couple of things. He worked on the economy, he cut taxes, and he refurbished the military and put a lot of money into building up this nation's armed forces. The message being to the Russians, we are serious, and we will win this war, cold or hot.

He also, of course, introduced the "star wars" initiative which created an economic and technological impossibility for the Russians to compete. All right. so the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain come down, and we get a huge peace dividend in this country.

Oh, the note on the economy, it was good by the end of his first term and he got swept into office on a landslide. The peace dividend shows up, and again we started cutting back on the military. Then comes the war on terror all of sudden once again this country finds itself with its military resources stretched to the breaking point.

Our economy is beginning to recover from a recession and from some of the problems that we had when President Bush took office. We've got unemployment coming down. We've got jobs growing. We've got low interest rates. We've got inflation low. And yet because of the situation in Iraq, and the military situation in this country, and the foreign policy situation in this country, it's doubtful that President Bush will enjoy the same kind of cake walk to a second term that Ronald Reagan enjoyed. Some of the similarities in a couple of profound differences in the two men.

O'BRIEN: Very interesting. All right, Jack, thanks very much. Great e-mails today.

CAFFERTY: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Let's go right to Bill Hemmer who has been out covering the story for us all week -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, one final note here from the National Cathedral. President Bush has made his way up to Capitol Hill a short while ago. He is awaiting the arrival Nancy Reagan. One hundred and four thousand people over the past two days passed through to pay their final respects to the former President Ronald Reagan. Our special coverage continues live in Washington with Wolf and Paula and Judy. Stay tuned, everybody. And thanks for being a part of our special program here in Washington on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And that is it for us here on American Morning, and our week of special coverage of the life and death of the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, a week full of special tributes to him, an outpouring of love and affection from those who voted for him, and even some of his foes as well.

It's time now to go to more special coverage with Judy and Paula and Wolf in Washington, D.C.

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