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Donald Rumsfeld, Jimmy Carter Remember Gerald Ford; Lacrosse Players Invited Back to Duke University
Aired January 03, 2007 - 14:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So what exactly happened at the execution of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein? You've probably seen the cell phone video that has been released. And it's creating a lot of controversy. A security guard present at this execution of Saddam Hussein is being questioned and detained now in connection with the cell phone video that showed taunting, apparently from Shiites, in the moments just before the former Iraqi dictator was hanged.
Tony Snow talked a little bit about it at the White House briefing today. Kathleen Koch was there.
What did he say, Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of concern on the part of reporters about what the administration thought about the spectacle that the execution devolved into. A White House spokesman this morning said that U.S. embassy personnel, the U.S. military spokesmen in Baghdad expressed their concerns to Iraqi officials before and after the execution and that things would have been handled differently if the U.S. were in charge.
Snow this afternoon really tried to refocus attention on the fact that in the end, justice was done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You had a long process where people were very careful about having a legal process where he had the right to self-defense, where he had the right to counsel, where he had the right to make his best case.
And the government is investigating the conduct of some people within the chamber. And I think we leave it at that.
But the one thing you've got to keep in mind is, you got justice. This is a man who killed hundreds of thousands and was executed for it according to the laws of the country and in accordance with legal traditions that have met international scrutiny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Snow says that President Bush himself has not seen the video of the execution. He says that President Bush is staying focused on his primary job right now, and that's crafting the new U.S. strategy in Iraq -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, when do you think he could make that speech? We heard possibly sometime next week.
KOCH: Well, President Bush in an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal" today said that he would make the address in the days ahead. Tony Snow this afternoon said that the plan is fairly far along. He says it's not done yet. Before the president reveals it to the nation, he said he'll be doing some discussions and notification visits, talking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill about it, also notifying the Iraqis.
Snow said, quote, "They will know and will have agreed to work with us." -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch live at the White House, thanks.
And you can you go to CNN.com to get more on the execution of Saddam Hussein. You can read his farewell letter, comment on the images you've seen and interact with others. Get more at CNN.com, where you're in control.
LEMON: We want to take you back now, Kyra, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the memorial service -- the final memorial service for President Gerald Ford is happening at the Grace Episcopal Church.
And there you see now is former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who served as chief of staff during the Ford administration. He is one of the people who is going to be eulogizing the former president, along with Jimmy Carter.
Let's listen in.
DONALD RUMSFELD, FMR. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Reverend, clergy, President and Mrs. Carter, Mr. Vice President and Lynne, honored guests and friends of Gerald Rudolph Ford, there's an old saying in Washington that every member of the United States Congress looks in the mirror and sees a future president.
Well, Jerry Ford was different. I suspect that when he looked in a mirror, even after he became president, he saw a citizen and a public servant.
A few days ago a neighbor offered an insight, saying, "He was one of us." And he was. And that made him special and needed in a dark and dangerous hour for our nation.
No matter how mean-spirited or partisan Washington became -- and let's not forget that as president, Gerald Ford, as other presidents, was roundly criticized and belittled, but he never lowered himself to that level.
Mr. Vice President, you will recall well his strong disapproval when his longtime friend, Congressman George Mahon, a Democrat, was criticized and his deep disappointment when, for a variety of reasons, he was unable to attend a function honoring his political rival but close friend, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill. In the Oval Office, working on his transition to the presidency, we saw him welcome advice from Democrats and Republicans alike in those very early days. But the advice he valued most, as he put it, "Was that which comes from my wife."
Betty, as I recall, your advice was unvarnished, sometimes unsolicited, and almost always right on the mark.
Indeed, everyone who knew him could see that Gerald Ford seemed to marvel every day at his great good fortune at having met and married Elizabeth Bloomer Ford.
Betty was a first lady like no other, an inspiration for truly millions that she never met and a rock of support for a husband who relied greatly on her wisdom, her candor, and, indeed, her personal courage.
Betty, we thank you for your devotion to him, to our country, and to the millions of Americans who have benefited because you have touched their lives.
Mike, Jack, Steve and Susan, you and your children are in our prayers today also. You strengthened and sustained your dad during a profound and turbulent time. And your country is grateful for that.
You know, a wonder of America is that its future presidents can rise from unlikely places: a log cabin in Kentucky, a haberdashery in Missouri, an ice creamery in Kansas, or a paint shop in Michigan.
In fact, a visit to this city in the 1920s or 30s might well have come across a towheaded boy cleaning paint cans or selling soda at the amusement park to earn some extra money during the Depression.
Jerry Ford had a self-described fiery demeanor. He said because of it, his mother made a lot of friends, all of the mothers of the kids that he had gotten into scraps with. But if he had a certain vinegar, he was also brimming with promise. He demonstrated that at Michigan, at Yale, as a volunteer in the Navy stationed aboard the USS Monterey.
When Joyce and I visited him just after Thanksgiving, he told us about the time that the Monterey, the aircraft carrier he served on, encountered a typhoon which heavily damaged the ship and nearly threw him overboard. I doubt that he ever managed it that 30 later, he would be at the head of a different kind of ship, swept by a different kind of storm, and that America would be -- depend on his steady and trusted hand at the helm.
When I joined Gerald Ford as a member of Congress in 1962, I found a skillful legislator who had earned the respect of his colleagues. He was energetic in his desire to serve and to contribute. But he did not wake up every morning wondering how he could get ahead. In fact, in 1964, Betty will remember that a small group of us had to work very, very hard to persuade Jerry Ford to run for minority leader of the United States House of Representatives. And I was able to see him work skillfully to achieve passage of the historic civil rights legislation during the 1960s. Later, as White House chief of staff, I was standing next to President Ford during two assassination attempts that stunned an already traumatized country, which he handled with courage, with poise, and, I should add, with good humor.
He was a patriot who knew that freedom is precious and that it comes at a cost. I'm grateful that I was serving last year when the Navy considered naming a new aircraft carrier class the USS Gerald R. Ford, a decision to be announced some time later this month, I'm told.
And, without giving away any secrets, I can report that, during that visit with President Ford, I brought him a cap with the USS Gerald R. Ford emblazoned across the top of it.
How fitting it will be that the name Gerald R. Ford will patrol the high seas for decades to come, in the defense of the nation he loved so much.
Over the past few days, in the midst of our mourning, Americans have searched for the words to best describe Jerry Ford, the man, and the Ford era.
My own thoughts are drawn to the profound and historic legacy he created in his nearly 900 days as president. It takes time and distance before one can truly measure an event or even an era, but many here remember well what our country was like on that day that Gerald Ford took the presidency.
The pressures were enormous. The stakes were high. The world was watching. And the American people were holding their breath, wondering what would happen next.
The words President Ford used to reassure our country and the American people were plain and they were straightforward. His sincerity gave them eloquence. Even in a country coarsened by skepticism, few doubted that the gentleman from Michigan would keep his word.
That was his special magic. He was then, and remains today, the only person who took office without having been elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency. He had no national base. He had no political platform, no campaign team, no time to prepare for his truly awesome responsibilities. In a sense, he stepped into an airplane in full flight as the command pilot, without even knowing the crew.
Our Cold War enemies were searching for signs of vulnerability. So the American president had to be strong. Our nation was reeling from bitterness and suspicion. So the president needed to be comforting and reassuring. The economy was fragile, and our national political institutions were shaken. So the president had to be decisive and confident.
Our country generally seems blessed to find the right leader at the right time. Through that special providence, the times found Gerald Ford. Because Gerald Ford was there to restore the strength of the presidency, to rebuild our defenses, and to demonstrate firmness and clarity, America could again, in Lincoln's words, stand as the last, best hope of Earth.
He reminded Americans of who they were. And he put us on the right path, when the way ahead was, at best, uncertain. And, all things considered, those are probably most lasting and profound contributions that a leader can make.
It's commonly said that President Ford healed the nation. And he did. Like all great leaders, he knew victory, and he knew loss. After a long and tough campaign, one might have expected him to carry some bitterness over his narrow defeat for election in his own right.
Instead, he remembered the cloudy skies over Washington on the day of -- he first entered the White House. And, as his plane left the city on his last day as president, he recalled that the sun was shining brightly.
He said, "I couldn't see a cloud anywhere, and I felt glad about that."
Today, we say goodbye to a leader, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and, for so many of the people here today, a friend. And we take comfort knowing that Gerald Ford is now in a place greater than even the country he led, a kingdom everlasting, and without a cloud in sight. It is a place where, in the words of the scriptures, the lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.
May God bless Gerald Ford and his strong and loving family. And may God bless the country he loves so much, served so well, and did so much to heal and strengthen.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: "For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."
Those were the first words I spoke as president. And I still hate to admit that they received more applause than any other words in my inaugural address.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: You learn a lot about a man when you run against him for president, and when you stand in his shoes, and assume the responsibilities that he has borne so well, and perhaps even more after you both lay down the burdens of high office and work together in a nonpartisan spirit of patriotism and service.
My staff and my diary notes, as I prepared for this eulogy, reveal a list of more than 25 different projects on which Jerry and I have shared leadership responsibilities.
He and I were both amused by a "New Yorker" cartoon a couple years ago. This little boy is looking up at his father. And he says, "Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a former president."
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: Jerry and I frequently agreed that one of the greatest blessings that we had, after we left the White House during the last quarter-century was the intense personal friendship that bound us together.
During our closely contested political campaign, as Don just reminded me, we habitually referred to each other as "my distinguished opponent." And, for my own benefit, while I was president, I kept him fully informed about everything that I did in the domestic or international arena.
In fact, he was given a thorough briefing almost every month from the head of my White House staff or my national security adviser. And Jerry never came to the Washington area without being invited to have lunch with me at the White House.
We always cherished those memories of now perhaps a long-lost bipartisan interrelationship.
Jerry Ford and I shared a lot. We both served in the U.S. Navy, he on battleships, I on submarines, as junior officers. In fact, it was my profession. And we both enjoyed our unexpected promotion to commander in chief.
Each of us had three sons. And then our prayers were answered...
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: ... and we had a daughter.
And we both married women who were good-looking, smart, and extremely independent.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: As president, I relished his sound advice. And he often, although, I must say, reluctantly, departed from the prevailing opinion of his political party to give me support on some of my most difficult challenges.
For many of these, of course, he had helped to lay the foundation, including the Panama Canal treaties, nuclear armaments control with the Soviet Union, normalized diplomatic relations with China, and also the Camp David accords.
In fact, on a helicopter in flight from Camp David back to Washington, President Anwar Sadat, Prime Minister Menachem Begin and I made one telephone call, to Gerald Ford, to tell him that we had reached peace between Israel and Egypt.
President Ford and I also shared a commitment to force the Soviet Union to comply with its promise to respect human rights within the Helsinki agreement, which gave strength to brave dissidents behind the Iron Curtain, and helped to undermine Soviet tyranny from within.
Our mutual respect, which I have described, blossomed into a valued personal friendship during our shared trip to attend the funeral of President Anwar Sadat in Egypt. We formed a personal bond while lamenting on the difficulty of unexpectedly defeated candidates trying to raise money to build presidential libraries.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: That's what bound us together most firmly, I think, for the rest of our days.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: In the early days of the Carter Center, Jerry joined me as co-chairman in all of our important conferences and projects. And I never declined an opportunity to help him with his own post- presidential plans.
We enjoyed each other's private company. And he and I commented often that, when we were traveling somewhere in an automobile or airplane, we hated to reach our destination, because we enjoyed the private times that we had together.
More -- one of our most successful and little-known joint efforts, by the way, was agreeing on how to respond to the literally hundreds of invitations from people who claimed that all the presidents were going to participate in an event. And, after a private telephone conversation, we would quickly let them know that at least two of us would not be attending.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: Yesterday, on the flight here from Washington, Rosalynn and I were thrilled when one of his sons came to tell us that the greatest gift he received from his father was his faith in Jesus Christ.
It is true that Jerry and I shared a common commitment to our religious faith, not just in worshipping the same savior, but in attempting, in our own personal way, to achieve reconciliation within our respective denominations.
We took to heart the admonition of the Apostle Paul that Christians should not be divided over seemingly important, but tangential issues, including sexual preferences and the role of women in the church, things like that.
We both felt that Episcopalians, Baptists and others should live together in harmony, within the adequate and common belief that we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, that we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ.
One of my proudest moments was at the commemoration of the 200th birthday of the White House, when two noted historians both declared that the Ford-Carter friendship was the most intensely personal between any two presidents in history.
This close relationship extended to our spouses, as Betty worked on drug and alcohol abuse, and Rosalynn addressed the challenges of mental illness. And, when those two women descended on Washington together, few members of Congress could resist their combined lobbying assault.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: The four of us learned to love each other.
In closing, let me extend, on behalf of Rosalynn and me and Jack and Chip and Jeffrey and Amy, and our 11 grandchildren, and one great- grandson, our personal sympathy and love to Betty and Mike and Jack and Steve and Susan, and all of your extended family.
The tens of thousands of people who lined the highway yesterday and today were expressing this mutual love which we share for President Jerry Ford.
I still don't know any better way to express it than the words I used almost exactly 30 years ago. For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he did to heal our land.
PHILLIPS: Former President Jimmy Carter, also Donald Rumsfeld, Ford's chief of staff and defense secretary, both holding back the tears, as they talked about one of the best friends that they ever had and worked with -- Carter, specifically, talking about the healing of a nation.
Rumsfeld also mentioned this. And, of course, one of Ford's first acts as president was that he pardoned Richard Nixon, after the Watergate scandal. And, to his critics, Ford explained that that pardon was necessary to heal the country -- both Rumsfeld and Carter believing that he did that.
Tom DeFrank, "New York Daily News," conducted Ford's last interview.
I took away from both of those eulogies, Tom, how faithful Ford was, how much he cared about the country, reconciliation within politics, but both Rumsfeld and Carter talking about the fact that he healed a country in a time when everyone was devastated, after what Richard Nixon did, and lied to country.
TOM DEFRANK, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Yes.
I think, Kyra, these were two very powerful and eloquent -- eloquent eulogies. But they were very different -- Jimmy Carter talking about the personal relationship between Gerald Ford, talking about how the relationship began out of necessity, because Jimmy Carter was having trouble getting anybody to help him build his library.
And President Ford said, I will come do an event for you, if you come do an event for me. And they had this tag-team match for a while. And they were -- they -- they liked each other. They didn't always agree about things, but I think there was a real powerful bond.
I must say, I almost came out of my chair when President Carter began his remarks, because I had heard those before, obviously. And he immediately said, those were the first words he ever said as president.
And for him to then end his eulogy repeating it, and then having trouble getting through it, I think, was a very powerful moment.
I think Don Rumsfeld's eulogy was extremely eloquent as well, but it was a very different sort of thing.
President Ford loved Don Rumsfeld and he loved Dick Cheney. These were his two White House chiefs of staff. He stayed close with them all these years, and very fond of both of them.
And I think both President Carter and Secretary Rumsfeld did wonderful jobs remembering President Ford.
PHILLIPS: And I -- we have a number of pictures with you and the former president, and also various pictures of Ford with Rumsfeld and also with Jimmy Carter.
And, as you think about those times and those memories, these were the two final speakers at this service at the church. And now his body will be buried this afternoon on a hill, right near the Gerald Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
Your final thoughts now, as you look at your personal pictures? You have now either been a part of or heard all the special ceremonies honoring Gerald Ford.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: What is going through your mind?
DEFRANK: Well, first of all, I'm looking at that picture and remembering Tom Brokaw's remark about wide lapels.
But what's going through my mind is...
(LAUGHTER)
DEFRANK: What's going through my mind is, when I saw him in November, I knew, when I left there, that the next time I would see him would be at the sight of his burial in Grand Rapids.
The other thing that I was thinking about, that was New Year's Eve 1976, a farewell reunion for those of us who had traveled with him on Air Force Two. He was president. He didn't have to come say goodbye to us. But he came and said goodbye to us.
That's a picture in Vail, Colorado -- but powerful, powerful memories, Kyra. That's for sure. PHILLIPS: Tom DeFrank, thanks for sharing your time with us and your stories and the memories.
DEFRANK: It's a pleasure.
PHILLIPS: For us, too.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And two men on different sides of the aisle, both paying tribute today to the 38th president of the United States, one of those, the 39th president of the United States, saying, we were both agreed that -- saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ -- and, of course, the defense secretary pointing out so eloquently, saying that he was a patriot who knew that freedom is precious.
You're looking at live pictures now from Grand Rapids, the family of Gerald R. Ford sitting in the front, his children, Michael, Steven, Susan Bales Ford, and then Jack Ford, and, of course, the former first lady, Betty Ford, all paying their final tributes to their dad and their husband and their loved one.
Stay with the CNN NEWSROOM for continuing coverage.
We will be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Stunning news coming out of Duke University.
Fredricka Whitfield following all the details for us -- Fredricka.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Don, right now, the attorneys for the lacrosse university students who had been facing those rape charges are in the middle of a press conference right now, making it official that they have been informed by Duke University that two of the students, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, are being allowed to go back to the university, attend once again to the university, and be in good standing, now that the rape charges against all three of the young men have been dropped.
The reason why you're not hearing anything about Duke (sic) Evans returning to school is because that lacrosse player graduated from Duke University last May, just before being charged with rape, sexual assault and kidnapping involved -- as it relates to the dancer who was at a -- the players' party, accusing the players of those charges, because she has since changed her story, and said that now she cannot quite remember all the events that night.
That is why those charges of rape have been dropped. However, the charges of sexual assault and kidnapping still remain, the case still ongoing.
Meantime, Duke University says that it is going to allow these students back to the school. We heard from the attorney for Collin Finnerty, Wade Smith, a moment ago, who said, this speaks to Duke's integrity as an institution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WADE SMITH, ATTORNEY FOR COLLIN FINNERTY: What we want to say today is that, yesterday, we received word that Duke University has changed Collin's status, from administrative leave to student in good standing, and that Duke has invited him to enroll in the spring 2007, and to rejoin his fellow students and his lacrosse teammates at the university this spring.
And we feel that this is a very important moment in Duke's -- in institutional history. It is certainly an important moment in our client's life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wade Smith, the attorney for Collin Finnerty, says that he has spoken with both Collin and Reade, and says that they are very happy about it and excited about returning back to Duke University -- Don.
LEMON: Just to clarify, did they say they were going to do it, or we're not sure yet? Are they considering their options? What is going on?
WHITFIELD: Are the students considering whether to go back?
LEMON: Yes. Are they going to return? Yes.
WHITFIELD: Well, according to the attorney, they're very excited about going back, and will take Duke University up on the invitation to return back to the college campus and resume their studies.
LEMON: All right, Fredricka Whitfield, following all the details for us in the newsroom, thank you.
PHILLIPS: It made justice look like vengeance, and a convicted mass murderer look like a victim.
Now, that surreptitious cell phone video of Saddam Hussein's hanging is the subject of an Iraqi government investigation and possibly arrests. We know one witness is being questioned. Others could follow.
The unauthorized footage, as you probably know, reveals a loud and nasty exchange between Hussein and his executioners, then the sound of the hanging. The official video was silent and didn't show the hanging itself.
LEMON: Dignified, courteous, polite, not words that leap to mind regarding Saddam Hussein, particularly in the final seconds of his life. But those who saw the condemned former dictator while he was still in U.S. custody paint a very different picture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN, COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ: He was dignified, as always. He was courteous, as always had been, to his U.S. military police guards.
His characterization did change at the prison facility, when the Iraqi guards were assuming control of him. But he was still dignified towards us. He spoke very well to our military police, as he always had.
And, when getting off there at the prison site, he said farewell to his interpreter. He thanked the military police squad, the lieutenant, the squad leader, the medical doctor we had present, and the colonel that was on site.
And then we had absolutely nothing to do with any of the procedures or any of the control mechanisms or anything from that point forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And you can go to CNN.com to get more on the execution of Saddam Hussein. You can read his farewell letter, comment on the images you have seen, and interact with others. Get more at CNN.com, where you're in control.
PHILLIPS: Five Western contractors, four of them American, kidnapped weeks ago in Iraq, today, we see their faces, but only on videotape.
We don't know when or where this tape was shot or the men's present conditions. An Associated Press reporter was shown the video last month, after promising to keep the provider anonymous. The five men are security escorts abducted November 16 in the southern city of Safwan.
In the video, all five identify themselves. They ask to be released and for American troops to leave Iraq. The reporter who received the video was told the men are probably still alive.
LEMON: Final day of ceremonies for a former president -- make sure you stick with the CNN NEWSROOM -- live pictures now at the cathedral in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where people are speaking.
We heard from the former president and the former defense secretary just a short time ago. You're looking at pictures of the family from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Don't go anywhere. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check in now with CNN's Jeanne Meserve. She's at the Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids. You know what I want to ask you before you get started, the folks who are standing out there -- are they able to view or hear what's happening at the church in any form or fashion? I know the museum is closed. JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No, they aren't unless they're able to eavesdrop on those of us with monitors over here in the press-stand, they do not.
I don't see anybody over there with a radio or any small portable television, anything like that. So they are just here to show their respect.
We are nearing the final steps of this final good-bye. And the turnout, again, his quite amazing. There are not only these people who positioned themselves on this knoll next to the museum, but they are lining some of the nearby bridges. They appear to be on the motorcade route, once again, turning out to let the family know how much they thought of Gerald Ford.
Last night, of course the body lay here in repose. More than 57,000 people went through the building to show their respects and let the world know how proud they were of Gerald Ford, the former president.
While they're standing out here they have been looking skyward occasionally. That's because we occasionally see and hear the military jets that will be staging the missing man formation when the casket comes back here. That last jet will peel off when the formation flies over the interment site which is over my left shoulder back there.
There will, when the casket arrives here, be an honor cordon down this sidewalk. The casket will pass between that cordon and down to that interment site. There will be a short ceremony there and the vice president will take the folded flag and pass that to Mrs. Ford when all is done.
Back to you, Don.
LEMON: Explain to us, at least from your perspective where the burial site is in position to the museum. How close is it?
MESERVE: Oh, it's quite close. I went down to see it just the other night. If you walk down the sidewalk you see a fenced area down there. Within the fenced area there's a bit of a rise in the ground and cut into the rise is sort of a semi circular wall.
And on it are the words lives committed to God, country and love and then the names Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford. She is going to be buried there, too when she dies. That is where the final parts of the service will be taking place today.
LEMON; And Jeanne, it's always interesting to hear the people who turn out for these events, people who obviously loved Gerald Ford. Were you able to talk to any of the people in the crowd and get their reaction once they removed his body from the museum there?
MESERVE: Well, I've talked to several people observer the last couple of days about why they're here. Most of the people that I've talked to have been local. They've been from the Grand Rapids area. Most of them too young to have known Gerald Ford.
A few of them did remember when he assumed the presidency, that's such a memorable time for those of us of a certain generation. When I heard Donald Rumsfeld talking about him and referring to President Ford having stepped in as flight commander of a flight in flight and not even knowing the crew, it really rang true with me remembering just how traumatic a time that was, that there was speculation at the time the Republic might not even survive.
And some of the people here do remember that. They remember how key he was. They remember how controversial his decision was to pardon President Ford. Most people here if they disagreed with him at the time, they like the rest of America, most of the rest of America, appear to have shifted their opinion and decided he was in the right on that one.
But there are people, who, some of them whose family knew him. One person I talked to last night said, hey, my folks voted for him every election. 13 times he was returned to Congress by the people of Grand Rapids, never with less than 60 percent of the vote.
Politically he was a tremendously popular figure here and that has filtered down to this younger generation even if they never had an opportunity to cast a ballot for the man -- Don.
LEMON: Jeanne Meserve getting personal glimpses of the former president from people who were out there to pay their respects. Jeanne, thank you and as you were talking there, you saw the throngs of people lined up on bridges and throughout the route that the former president took to the church and is going to take back to the museum.
Just an outpouring of support, some 57,000 people turned out. Unprecedented according to our Jeanne Meserve. Jeanne, do you want to comment on that?
MESERVE: Well, unprecedented for this museum. I don't know what the turnout was for other presidential repose sessions that have been held in other museums, other locations around the country. But never had that quantity of people come through here.
And Don, let me tell you, they came through under very tough circumstances, in my opinion. It was pretty darn cold out here tonight -- last night, rather. They kept telling me it's because I wasn't from Michigan and I didn't understand how it was out here. To them it felt mild.
But they were bundled up and they stood in line, some of them for 4 and a half hours in order to get into this museum. And then they were ushered through very quickly. They could not linger there for long, but they felt it was important to make a statement, to show their gratitude for this man who they feel stepped up to the plate when the country needed him.
LEMON: All right. Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Jeanne talking about personal connections. Let's bring in our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She's covered her share of presidents, but see now I'm starting to think that all very bright, politically savvy people are from Michigan. Candy Crowley, who is also from Michigan and talked to Ford about that at a convention.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I did. You know, his love for Michigan, and all Michiganders have love for Michigan, I have to tell you. He was from the western part of the state, I was born in Kalamazoo, which is also in the western part of the state.
And I went to interview him at one of the conventions and afterwards, I bet we talked for ten minutes about Michigan, you know what he loved about it, that sort of thing. So, his love for Grand Rapids was complete.
That he returns here as his final resting place, is no surprise to anyone who knew him. He obviously grew up in this area, wasn't born in Grand Rapids, he was born in Nebraska, but he grew up here. And once you see Michigan, Kyra, I can promise you you're always from Michigan.
PHILLIPS: You know, the only time I've probably seen Michigan up front and personal was at the Rose Bowl when they tried to beat my alma mater in football.
CROWLEY: I'm sorry.
PHILLIPS: I would have loved to talk to Ford about that. He was such a big football fan, an amazing athlete. Also very politically savvy. But, one thing that we have been talking about have been his Midwestern roots and you know, you being from that area as well, I'm from Illinois -- a lot of people talk about the ethic and the work ethic and the family structure there in the Midwest. It's very true. He had that and he had that with his family and instilled that in his kids and so did his wife.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. I mean, she is a remarkable person, as he was in so many ways. We talk about Midwestern values and everybody says, what is that? It's a man that's as good as his word, you ought to be able to take his word to the bank -- that was Gerry Ford...
We talk about Midwestern values. Everybody says, well, what is that? And, you know, it's a man is as good as his word. You ought to be able to take his word to the bank. That was Gerry Ford, hard work from the time he was a young boy helping his family out.
That sort of thing sort of came to typify him and that sort of calm demeanor -- I think you know, a lot of men from the Midwest are not all that excitable or not all that, you know, show outwardly what does excite them what -- you know, they don't have that kind of excitability that sometimes you do see on the East Coast.
So, we saw that with Harry Truman, another person from the Midwest, kind of a very steady emotion all of the time. And that was Gerald Ford, and that is, in so many ways what made hip the right man for the time he was in.
PHILLIPS: Also very God-centered people, God-centered family.
CROWLEY: Very church oriented. Very -- I think we've heard that from the speakers that we've listened to today. And it got them through some tough times. This was not a family without challenges, as you know. Betty Ford had first her breast cancer, while she just -- I think about two months after her husband became president.
Then she struggled with addiction to prescription pills, along with alcoholic addiction. So, they have struggled mightily in some very real ways that people can relate to and they will, of course, credit that as well to church and God and family.
PHILLIPS: Family reading the prayer right now. Let's listen in for a minute.
CHRISTIAN GERALD FORD, PRES. FORD'S GRANDSON: ...with a quiet mind and a grant to all who are mourned, sure of confidence in thy fatherly care that casting all their grief on thee they may know the constellation of thy love. Amen.
Give courage and faith to those who are bereaved that they may have strength to meet the days ahead and holy hope and joyful expectations of eternal life with those they love. Amen.
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, perfect timing, as we're talking about the God-centered family, the absolutely precious -- I couldn't figure out if that's the grandson or the great-grandson, Christian Gerald Ford.
CROWLEY: I'm not sure, I have to tell you. My feel for it is that it's a great-grandson but I couldn't tell you that. You can't take that one to the bank.
PHILLIPS: His grandpa taught him how to say expectation.
CROWLEY: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: What do you think the biggest difference has been or have you seen a difference as we talk about sort of the Midwest thread, of what we're watching here, the services in Grand Rapids, versus the one in Washington, D.C.?
CROWLEY: You know, it remarkable. And I saw this with Ronald Reagan's services is that, in so many ways, the Washington part of this is ceremonial, there's a lot of pomp and circumstance. And you tend to see widows who are quite stoic during this time. Nancy Reagan was. Certainly Betty Ford has been through all of this. And you get the sense that that's for -- that's for the public. That's, you know, really a national mourning day.
This is a much more intimate setting and is much more private. I think you've seep a good deal more emotion from all of the Ford family today than you did during the services yesterday. Part of that is, he's come home, part of that is, this is the last day. They've been through almost a week of this.
And I think you steal yourself and you're not quite in -- you're sort of still in denial but this is the final place but it's also the setting itself. Gerald Ford comes home to the place that he loved. This is the final day. They bury him today, and just such an intimate setting hearing from very close friends as you did with Donald Rumsfeld and Jimmy Carter.
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, always a pleasure. Stay with us, OK? Thank you.
We continue to follow live coverage out of Grand Rapids, Michigan now. You're seeing the casket of former President Gerald Ford. And as Candy said, he will be buried this afternoon on a hill right near the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. We'll continue the live coverage. Quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
LEMON: We're watching the ceremonies for the former president. And as we watch these ceremonies happening, very poignant pictures and moments here. Why don't we bring in a story, and Richard Shenkman.
Earlier we talked about, for the children of Gerald and Betty Ford, not much is new for them when it comes to being in the public spotlight.
But for the grandchildren -- and we learned that Christian Ford, this was the son of John or Jack Ford, as he is nicknamed, who is the son of Gerald Ford -- it appears that in the program here, Mr. Shenkman, they picked a child from -- three of the children, Sarah Joyce Ford, who was born in 1979 and Christian Ford born in 1997, and then Tyne Mary Vance born in 1980, and those are the children of Michael, Jack and Steven.
But for grandkids watching that, certainly a very moving image, moving words and something that we will definitely remember for the history books.
RICHARD SHENKMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, we are going to remember this. And it's important. You know, after Vietnam and Watergate, Americans lost their trust in presidents and in their political leaders and political institutions.
Back in the early '60s, before all of that happened, 75 percent of the American people believed in their institutions, believed that presidents, most of the time were doing right thing for the country. After Vietnam and Watergate that dropped down to about 35 percent. It briefly went back right after 9/11, but now it's back to the 35 percent level.
Events like this are very helpful in re-cementing the country together and giving us a sense that these people who lead us, no matter what their political enemies may say from time to time, that they're human beings, that quite often their heart is in the right place. And I think it's helpful.
LEMON: Yes. And many times, you know, they say people sometimes romanticize their childhood and we may be romanticizing history here for a bit. But when you look at the eulogies of both Donald Rumsfeld and Jimmy Carter, Donald Rumsfeld specifically talking about how bipartisan Gerald Ford was and how he reached across the aisle and how he -- well, very funny, taking advice from his wife -- but how he never really wanted to criticize anyone. He was not that sort of person. Is that correct?
SHENKMAN: I think that that rings true. It's interesting to me to watch Rumsfeld and Carter up there, both of them very interesting selections. Here you have Donald Rumsfeld, whom the late president had told Bob Woodward and Michael Beshlaas (ph) that he was unhappy with the direction of the country under Rumsfeld's leadership over in the Pentagon. He opposed this Iraq war. Rumsfeld, of course, closely identified with the Iraq war.
LEMON: And Richard, that's interesting because that only happened -- we only learned about that in the last couple of days and that will, indeed, change the legacy of this president.
SHENKMAN: It really does. It really does reshape the way we think about Gerald Ford. Although, it reinforces an impression that he was a man of the past in the way that he was much more of a moderate Republican than the modern Republican Party...
LEMON: Why would he do this? Why would it take so long for him do this? Why wouldn't he do it when it was happening or in the run-up to the war?
SHENKMAN: Well, most presidents don't want to comment in public about what their successors are doing in office any more than when they were president they wanted to be hearing in public from the previous holders of the office. They respect the office. They understand that the guy who's there at the time, he needs to be able to feel like he can do what he wants without having to look over his shoulder and hear from his previous incumbents of the office.
So, I think he did it out of respect. Quite often the presidents just can't help themselves when they talk. I think in this case, he was giving an interview for history.
LEMON: Right.
SHENKMAN: And he probably had no idea, back in 2004 when talking to Woodward, or 2005, that the Iraq war would still be going on.
LEMON: Richard, the funeral proceeding here is concluding. I'm sorry to cut you off but we want to take a listen to this.
(MUSIC AND FOOTAGE OF THE FORD FUNERAL)
LEMON: Just really some poignant moments here happening all day, Kyra, in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. This is the final ceremony for the former president, 38th president of the United States. And we have been watching this all day, watching the family members, who have been -- gone through some very sad moment moments, some tears and some laughter as well here today.
PHILLIPS: Now his body will be buried this afternoon on a hill right near the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum there in Grant Rapids, Michigan. The museum's lobby had been opened to the public all through last night into today so people could come through and pay their respects and view the flag-draped casket.
Now the final journey. It'll come to its resting place. As the pastor said, he's headed to the land of light and joy.
And from here, out Wolf Blitzer is going to take over.
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