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The Funeral of Rev. Jesse Jackson. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 06, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was beautiful, and I mean that. Love me some Isaiah.

We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to -- to things you just didn't think were possible. Each day, we're told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don't even count at all. Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength, we see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance, and dishonesty, and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards. Every single day we see that, and it's hard to hope in those moments.

So, it may be tempting to get discouraged, to give into cynicism. It may be tempting for some to compromise with power, and grab what you can, or even for good people to maybe just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass.

But this man, Rev. Jesse Lewis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path. His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, "Send me." Wherever we have a chance to make an impact, whether it's in our school or our workplaces or our neighborhoods or our cities, not for fame, not for glory, or because success is guaranteed, but because it gives our life purpose, because it aligns with what our faith tells us God demands, and because if we don't step up, no one else will.

How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call. What a great debt we owe to him. May God bless Rev. Jackson, may he rest in eternal peace.

God bless you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Barack Obama. Well, we might as well stay in Chicago. We're in Chicago, and we had the president from Chicago. We might as well move to the songbird from Chicago.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jennifer Hudson.

[15:05:00]

(Jennifer Hudson sings A Change Gonna Come)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, one more time, everybody, for the EGOT, Jennifer Hudson.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the 46th President of the United States. Please welcome President Joseph Biden.

SCIUTTO: That was the incredible Jennifer Hudson, singing "A Change Gonna Come," capturing the emotion in that room there. This is the public home going service, as they are calling it, underway right now for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, just a giant of the civil rights movement, as you heard there in former President Obama's words.

Thousands of mourners have gathered with the Jackson family to honor a man who spent more than half a century pushing America to live up to its promises to all its people. Born in the segregated South, he rose to become one of the most influential voices for justice and equality. And along the way, he launched two then historic runs for president.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And among those paying tribute today, three former U.S. presidents, including former President Biden. Here he is.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... daughter, son, it's called out of the blue, I -- it's not easy, no matter how much you loved them, no matter how close you were. So, I just like to express my deep sense of -- how can I say it -- simply an understanding. But big thing is still left, he left you something that no one else could. He left you character, judgment, honesty. Can't kid yourselves about what's right and wrong.

President Obama, President and Mrs. Clinton, Vice President Harris, Jesse believes the Bible tells us that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with wings and eagles.

[15:10:12]

They shall run and not be weary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on and preach, Joe.

BIDEN: They shall walk and not grow faint. Hope the hell you all got that if you need help getting out of here, you know?

I -- I come from Scranton, Pennsylvania, initially, where, fact, I was an Irish Catholic, wasn't a very positive thing to be. And then, moved down to Wilmington, Delaware, which was segregated by law and remained that way for much of my life. And you know, it's interesting that Jesse Jackson, before we knew Jesse Jackson, I was raised with the notion that -- that hope is all you really have. You can't give up hope.

My dad used to say, when you get knocked down, Joey, just get up. Just get up.

Well, I was a kid. I was a relatively good athlete, and a pretty good student, but I -- I stuttered. I talk -- talk like that. Now, if I told you all earlier, when I was a kid, I had a cleft palate or club foot, none of you would have laughed, but it's okay to laugh at stuttering. I'm not being critical of you, but think about it. It's the one place where people think you're stupid. Oh, really? I'm hell of lot smarter than most of you. Well, all kidding aside, it makes you feel really small, makes you feel really small.

And you know, when I moved from Wilmington to Claymont, Delaware, a world class town, I -- I was surprised. I remember being dropped off at a little Catholic school I went to, third grade, and I watched this bus go by every day and it passed. I was trying to call a Philadelphia Pike, connecting Wilmington, Philadelphia, and it passed the turn to the big high school, Claymont High School, and the little Catholic school I went to, Holy Rosary was right around the corner. I remember saying to my mom, mom, why'd that happen? She said, "Well, black kids aren't allowed to go to school with white kids in Delaware."

And, you know, the more I thought about that -- that -- I thought to myself, how can that be? How can that work? How can that be right? And so, as strange as it sounds, I got involved in being concerned about it. I didn't know damn thing about the Civil Rights Movement. I was going into fourth grade.

But you know what's right, and you know what's wrong, and you feel it.

You know the fact of the matter is a man of God and the people throughout the decade of friendship and partnership, I knew Jesse. We were both young. I'm only 83. He's -- I'll tell you laughing, I was just 40 times two plus, but all kidding aside, we came up through the same time.

I knew Jesse and history remembers him. I know him as determined and tenacious. I know him as underrated, undeterred and unafraid, not a joke.

And more than most, Jesse was dedicated with every fiber in his being, to redeeming the soul of America. The soul of America.

You know, Jesse came up and I came up together as leaders in the Democratic Party. We had very different backgrounds, in some cases even different views, but never on race.

Sometimes we went toe to toe. We disagreed on some issues, but that's what I actually admired most about Jesse, his passion. He was passionate. His passion, the courage of his convictions.

You know, his courage inspired a hell of a lot of us, even though we were the same age.

[15:14:59]

You know, with his captivating presence, his stirring words, he would be easy for history to mistake Jesse for a firebrand. I think they get it wrong. Jesse certainly created his fair share of good trouble,

But through decades of service, Jesse's abiding message is one of unity,

As he talked about, through decades of service, Jesse's abiding message of unity moved people in the right direction. Above all, he always sought common ground. I remember telling Jesse that I knew -- I knew a guy in South Africa I was going to go see, name is Nelson Mandela, and -- and Jesse saying, how you going to guys actually see him.

By the way, you know, the continent of Africa is going to be the largest continent in the world in terms of population by the year 2050, the largest in the entire world. Watch, man, watch.

And the fact of the matter was that I remember their group of senators going down to -- I was, I got elected when I was 29. I wasn't old enough to be sworn in for real. Some people wasn't bright enough to be sworn in, but the point was, I had to wait 17 days before I could be eligible to be sworn in as -- as the United States Senator. One of the benefits that had was I wasn't going to leave the Senate. I was going -- I wasn't going to be sworn in, because I got a phone call December 18 before we get sworn in January, that my wife and daughter just been killed and my two boys are going to die. So, I decided when I was going, there was an accident, a Christmas shop, a tractor trailer.

So, I decided I wasn't going to go to the Senate. And often pointed out to me, I said, my kids can -- the -- the state of Delaware can always get another senator with a Democratic governor, but they can't -- my kids can't get another father.

But because of a couple people, starting with Teddy Kennedy and a guy named Fritz Hollins from South Carolina, where -- where Jesse is from, and a few others like Hubert Humphrey and others, they put their arm around me and they said, look, just stay. Just stay for 10 months and then go.

Because they knew I was going to be leaving, as Hillary can tell you, and all -- all three of you can tell you, is that when you're a freshman, you don't get on the good committees. Committees everybody wants to get on are appropriations, finance, judiciary and foreign relations.

So, they keep me down there. They put me on two really important committees, the Judiciary Committee, which allowed me to appoint the first black justice to the Supreme Court, but -- and the Foreign Relations Committee. The real benefit of that was I've been around so damn long, I literally, and I don't want -- I'm not -- not being critical my colleagues, I know more heads of state person than any other president in history of United States of America, which means I know a lot about other countries. I spend a lot of time.

Here's the point. You know, the fact is that as I learned, and by the way, I've forgotten more about what Putin does and these guys and Xi than most people know. I've met with Putin for -- anyway.

And remember, Barack was a great, great man to be vice president for, I really mean it, Barack. Thank you. Barack and I had a deal where I -- we'd meet -- we'd meet -- we'd be we'd talk with each other the first -- every morning, we'd be the first two people we talked to, and every night we were the last two people we talked to.

And Barack could be asking me a question or something. I'd say, well, you know, it's all personal relations. You go, I know. I know, Joe, enough about all personal relations, but the fact of the matter is, that's why you're such a damn good president, and the whole point of what I'm trying to get at here is that, you know, Jesse did it really well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he did.

[15:19:58]

BIDEN: You got to know people. You got to understand what the -- what's on their mind. Got to kind of speak to them. You got to be able to talk to them. And above all, Jesse always saw common ground.

Of course, he preached hope, because folks, despite all that he endured growing up, despite the pain and disappointment he experienced, Jesse was an optimist at his core. No matter what you say, at his core, he was an optimist.

I don't know if it was born out of religious beliefs, I don't know how was born out -- or how it arrived. But it arrived at people in different ways. But it mattered a lot. It mattered a lot.

He kept the faith with the American people.

Every time I would move away from -- away from -- move from Scranton, we'd go up here and spend the summers up there. Every time I leave my grandpa Ambrose Finnegan's home, he was an All-American football player at Santa Clara when Irish Catholics weren't very much in vogue (INAUDIBLE) in the minds up there, as Hillary knows my -- that state well.

Every time I'd leave the house, he yelled, Joey, keep the faith, and my grandmother would go, no Joey, spread it. Well, folks, I had the opportunity to come up in politics at a time when people like Jesse around, and Jesse in particular, where he talked about hope. He talked about hope. He believed in his bones and the promise of America, we're all created equal the image of God.

We hear this all the time, but I wonder how many people really believe it. He believed everybody deserved retreated with equally and throughout their lives.

And while we've never fully lived up to the promise, I don't think things would have been the same had Jesse not been around, because Jesse decided that his life was ensuring that we never fully walk away from it either. Because there's bad times like now. We're in a tough spot, folks, we've got an administration that doesn't share any of the values that we have. I don't think I'm exaggerating a little bit. So, he knew who we were at our best, and he simply refused to let us off the hook as a party, as a nation, or as individuals, and time and again, in triumph and turmoil, with relentless insistence on what is right and just, he helped lead us closer to fulfilling our nation's promise of restoring the nation's soul.

He used his gifts to influence generations, generations of Americans, and countless elected officials, including presidents, as you see here today. And though through his impassioned words on the campaign trail, and through moments of quiet courage, Jesse changed history in ways numerous and profound.

In fact, I want to thank the Jackson family again, because you don't do it without him. My dad used to have an expression, Ms. Jackson. He said family -- family is the beginning, the middle and the end.

It's all family and Rainbow PUSH coalition, you know, the family, you -- you're just incredible, but I promise you, as much as we're celebrating here, when you leave here, you're still going to home and you're going to feel a little hole in your heart.

He's gone. He's gone. But all I can tell you from experience of losing so many people in my family, the day will come when his memory brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye, it will come. It will come.

In my fair view, this will be sooner than later. Look, you know, the legion of Americans and other many who counted Jesse as a mentor, a friend, a hero, let us be what Jesse called us to be, a margin of hope, sometimes just a margin. You change people's lives. You change community lives. Lift up this country. Light the path to be the nation Jesse always believed we could be.

You know, three years ago this week, Jesse and I came together once again on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

[15:25:01]

Walked across that bridge.

When you stand there coming from a state like Delaware, you understand what's on the other side when they're waiting there; thugs on horses waiting to beat the living hell out of you.

Well, let me tell you something we reenacted that number of times, but this time Jesse -- Jesse was in a wheelchair, but he's not deterred. His faith renewed his strength and with faith, he didn't grow weary and didn't let us grow weary. No, he really didn't. I know it sounds strange, but he didn't.

I reflected on Jesse strength and his spirit, let me close with sharing a hymn that means a lot to the Biden family, particularly meant a lot to my son, Beau. Beau is a wonderful guy. He should be standing here, not me. Beau was the attorney general state of Delaware, a really decent guy, loved by everyone in the community, volunteered to go to Iraq rather than go to Iraq when it was all National Guard, and he died there because he was exposed to those burn pits.

Well, you know, this quote meant a lot, it's -- and it's: "He will raise you up on eagle's wings and bear you on the breath of dawn. Let this light shine upon you like the sun, until next time he sees you, he will be holding you in the palm of his hand."

My prayer for everyone here, and I'm cutting my speech very short because I'm afraid I'm going to be attacked. So, folks, I guess I could say it all in one -- one paragraph, don't give up.

I started off every morning as a young man, when I got back to Delaware, every morning because I got involved in my community. I quit my job with one of the biggest law firms in Delaware, became a public defender and -- and I spent a lot of time with the community.

I was the only white guy worked on the east side of Wilmington, Delaware. Matter of fact, they named the biggest swimming pool after me, the Biden swimming pool. Man, I'm -- all kidding aside, I was one of only 13 lifeguards. I was the only white guy because I wanted to understand. I thought I knew the issues, but understand the individual persons.

I remember, I had an old Chevette. Remember an all-state that halfback I played with. He said, Joe, you have a jerry can, you know, big five gallon. He said, can I borrow your car? I said, you got a car. Sure, you can borrow, what do you -- what a jerry can for? He said, You dumb SOB, I'm going down to see my mother in North Carolina. I can't stop at a gas station. I can't stop at a gas station.

The point I'm making is, the more we know one another, what we understand, what we're going through, there's enough decency in human nature in this country to reach out to help.

You know, Jesse kept hope alive for us in his lifetime, and we've got to continue to do it in our lifetime for our children, because there's nothing beyond our capacity when we work together, nothing, nothing, nothing. So, stand up and finish his job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, let's thank President Biden again, everybody.

SCIUTTO: That was former President Joe Biden speaking in Chicago, telling some personal stories of his time with the late Rev. Jesse Jackson at what they're calling the home-going service for him.

KEILAR: We're waiting to hear now from former President Bill Clinton. We'll bring more of this service to you after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)