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Bush Pays Respects to Ford in Rotunda; James Brown Funeral Encore

Aired January 01, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. You can see this is new video of President Bush and the first lady arriving at the Capitol Rotunda. They're going to pay their respects there to former President Gerald R. Ford. As we continue to view this and talk about it, why don't we head over to Kathleen Koch who is standing by with some information for us.
Hey, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a very solemn moment and this is one of the duties of a president. In this case the 43rd president coming to pay his respects to the 38th. This, of course, the second time that President Bush has had to carry out this very solemn and mournful duty.

As you'll recall, it was in June of 2004 when President Ronald Reagan died also at the age of 93 that President Bush made the same trip to the Capitol Rotunda and paid his respects again to a man -- very well-loved man -- in both cases, who held this, the highest office in the land before him. Back to you.

LEMON: Yes. And, Kathleen, just the president released a statement. I want to read it because it's very poignant as we continue to linger on these pictures, waiting for the president and the first lady there.

"Jerry Ford was, simply put, one of the most decent and capable men I ever met during our time in Congress together so many years ago. He epitomized leadership, then as president he led this nation so ably through the turbulent waters of Watergate and was both a vigilant and effective cold warrior. Most of all I remember him as a devoted family man and a man of honor who never stopped serving his country he loved so deeply. Jerry Ford was the kind of human being who made you proud to call him your friend and we will miss him very much."

And that is, of course, former President George H.W. Bush saying those words today. Over 2,500 people at least at this ceremony here. There was a ceremony earlier over the weekend or on Friday in California, but 2,500 folks there. You can see Karl Rove entering the building. Have gone through wearing parkas, braving some really rough weather there. Lots of rain happening in the Capitol and all over the country.

But they've been going through, saying that this was a man who lived a life with dignity, made some tough choices. Although he wasn't president for very long, he did lead the nation through a very tumultuous time, right after Vietnam. And then, of course, right after the impeachment of Richard Nixon.

And, Kathleen Koch, we saw Karl Rove there. And then it appears the president will be coming soon. But the president, initially over the weekend, did not take part in the initial services because he said that was more of a congressional issue. Didn't take part in the services yesterday but he is coming today, Kathleen.

KOCH: Yes. And then he will be delivering the eulogy at the funeral at the National Cathedral tomorrow. And as you mentioned, the words of praise that have -- the outpouring nationwide that have come out in the wake of the death of former President Gerald Ford. President Bush described it well. So many people the "accidental president."

LEMON: Hey, Kathleen, Kathleen, we're going to go. There is the president. Let's just take a listen here while the president pays his respects to the former president. Sorry about that.

All right. You could hear -- what struck me most, the flash of cameras in the Rotunda there. That was very quick. Is Kathleen still standing by?

KOCH: Yes, yes I am. And that was a very brief visit. I was wondering whether we might see them greeted by any of President Ford's children, Susan, Steve, Jack, Michael, they've spent a great deal of time in the Rotunda this weekend, greeting the mourners who have come through by the thousands, shaking their hands personally, talking to them.

And that is, again, something that so many people have commented on about the life of Gerald Ford, how important his wife Betty and his children were to him. And they are certainly returning that favor greatly to him in death, being there for him almost every minute and sharing the special moment with the nation. And as I was mentioning earlier, one of the things that President Bush pointed out was that he stepped into the presidency, Gerald Ford did, without ever having sought this office. This was not his goal. It was not his ambition.

LEMON: He wanted to be speaker of the house.

KOCH: He wanted to be, yes. But -- and he had a lot of wonderful moments in Congress and in this -- in Statuary Hall. It's very interesting that his children used Statuary Hall in Congress as a bit of a play area when he was there, when he was holding office, and they would run and hide and duck and play hide and seek around the statue, so this was somewhere where they felt very comfortable and certainly very fitting for him.

But President Bush pointed out that at this time when Gerald Ford came to office on August 9th, 1974, that -- he said, for a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, that Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most.

LEMON: Right. KOCH: His life was a blessing to America, a nation that will be grateful to him forever.

LEMON: And, Kathleen, you have covered these events. And I'm asking you something because I don't know. Might we make anything of just how quickly this happened? Because you know the interviews that have come out lately of Bob Woodward and some Newsweek saying -- being very critical of the president and the administration's stance on the war and reasons for going to the war. Might we make anything of this or do you think this was just normal?

KOCH: No. This was very traditional that the president would come in. Again, I was personally just wondering because of the presence of the Ford children there through most of the weekend if they might not be present. But certainly, (INAUDIBLE) the president is intending to spend his time with the Ford family, again, at this funeral tomorrow.

And the men did have a cordial and a warm relationship. And I think there is a lot to be said for the fact that Gerald Ford, though he did have these disagreements with the current President Bush, he kept them to himself, he did not make them public. He was very respectful in that way.

The two men met last, it was back in April of this year at President Gerald Ford's home in Rancho Mirage. And you saw the men shaking hands, greeting one another very warmly. You noted President Ford's extreme age, his frail health. And there was that sense at the time that that would be perhaps the last time that the two men would be together. And, indeed, it was.

But certainly this was traditional, that it would be a brief visit, in and out.

LEMON: All right. Kathleen Koch at the White House, thank you so much for that.

KOCH: You bet.

LEMON: Of course, we'll have full coverage of the Ford services throughout the day right here on CNN, so don't go anywhere. And up next, we're going to have -- continue the day with a look at the world's headlines, the top headlines of the day. But we're going to join a special encore presentation of the homecoming celebration for music legend James Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

DEANNA BROWN, JAMES BROWN'S DAUGHTER: God had a Christmas birthday concert for Jesus on Christmas Day. And y'all know James Brown had to headline, right? I'll bet that party was something else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Denise (ph), Mr. Brown's daughter Denise, the fruit don't fall far from the tree. REVEREND JESSE LEWIS JACKSON RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: Soul is feeling and pathos and essence, and the capacity to project it, King James was rightly crowned the Godfather of Soul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first thing we're going to do is, I want y'all to look to your left and tell that person that you love them. All right, all right. That's enough. Now I want you to look to your right and tell that person that you love them. OK, that's enough. Because I know somebody here ain't loving right.

JACKSON: Show your love for his singing, for his dancing, for his message, for his music, for his generosity, for the food baskets, for the legacy, of being an overcomer, for the joy, put your hands together for the king. King James is in the house. Put your hands together. Show your love. "Please, Please, Please." "Try Me." "Night Train." Talk to me, somebody. Put your hands together. Put your hands together. Let me hear you scream! Let me hear you scream! Let me hear you scream! Show your love! Let me hear you scream!

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so used to walking out just say right about now, because it is still star time! I see so many wonderful beautiful faces out there. We have Mr. Michael Jackson has come here.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Sorry to break away from that. But we're bring you live coverage of the of the memorial service -- one of the memorial services, at least, folks paying their respects in Washington, the Capitol Rotunda, to former President Gerald R. Ford. This is a former president, George H.W. Bush, and Barbara Bush paying their respects. Of course, you saw their son, the current president, paying his respects just a short time ago. James Baker is standing next to the Bushes there. And let's listen in for a bit.

All right. And again, that was the former president, President H.W. Bush -- George H.W. Bush paying along with the first lady and James Baker there paying their respects. We'll have continuing coverage of the memorial service as the former president lies in repose there. Full coverage throughout the day right here on CNN. And we're going to join right now in progress, the services -- at least some memorial services for James Brown, former soul singer, who died on Christmas Day. More coverage on CNN throughout the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

REV. AL SHARPTON, FRIEND OF JAMES BROWN: I went through his ups and his downs with him as he did me. But he would always say that I was like his son, I was like Teddy. And I would say he was like my father. He would tease me and say, I'm not your teacher, Jesse Jackson can teach you. I don't know civil rights, he says. And you're not an entertainer. I'm like your father. I'm going to teach you how to be a man. And he did.

The genius of James Brown is no matter where he would in his own life, he would project where life should be. He knew how to live in his personal space and then be the public guy to uplift the world at the same time. The most amazing thing you'd ever seen.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about what he meant for the black community.

SHARPTON: He erased the word negro from our vocabulary. We were negro until James Brown said "Say It Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud." It wasn't just a word. It was, we would define it ourselves, and proudly do it. Thus, I think, began this total love that people have for him.

VARGAS: He always remained humbled.

SHARPTON: Always remained humble. He was a tiger in the boardroom, but in the streets he was gentle as a lamb. I don't care who it was, he had time for it, which is why I think the people are turning out by the hundreds of thousands like they are, because he knew -- they know he was their star.

VARGAS: What do you think James Brown is thinking right now as he sees the number of people that have come to show their respect?

SHARPTON: I think he is humbled and I think at the same time he is vindicated, because he always told us, I am going to make more impact than even you all think.

And even though he knows they are going to criticize him, Michael says he don't care what they say. Michael came for you today, Mr. Brown. Come on up, Michael. Come up here. Brothers and sisters, as I bring the family and then Mr. Bobbit (ph), and then we will conclude the eulogy. I think it is only appropriate, based on my last conversation, we hear some words of expression from Michael Jackson.

MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER: Hello. What I'm going to say is brief, but to the point. James Brown is my greatest inspiration. Ever since I was a small child, no more than like 6 years old, my mother would wake me, no matter what time it was, I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the master at work.

And when I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I've never seen a performer perform like James Brown. And right then and there, I knew that that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, because of James Brown. I love you. But -- James Brown, I shall miss you, and I love you so much. And thank you for everything. God bless you. And I love you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I speaking of the one and only Mr. Bobby Bird (ph)!

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SHARPTON: I sent a message, children, to St. Peter this morning. I told Peter to open the gates wide, not that James Brown is that tall, but he swaggers and he likes a lot of room to walk in. You need to open up the gates for the Godfather. He's a little short in height. He'll be swinging his arms. You'll know him because he'll be walking to the beat of a different drummer. He'll be humming a tune you never heard before.

When we first met him, music was only 2/4. He cut it into a 1/3. And the whole world changed a beat because of James Brown. Rap started from James Brown. Hip-hop started from James Brown. Funk started from James Brown. We got on the good foot because of James Brown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: About a week ago, Ms. Hogan called me and said, Reverend Sharpton, Mr. Brown is trying to reach you. And we talked about every week. I sometimes would wait until the next day to call, because you need a good half hour to put aside to talk to James Brown. You never could cut him Off. He would just keep talking.

But Mr. Bobby called me about two hours later and said, you need to call him, he wants to talk to you. It was the last conversation we had. He said to me, Reverend, he said, "I've been watching you on the news. I want you to keep fighting for justice. But I want you to tell people to love one another. I want you to fight to lift the standards back." He said, "What happened to us that we are now celebrating being down? What happened we went from say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud to calling each other niggers and ho's and bitches?"

CHARLES BOBBIT, BROWN'S PERSONAL MANAGER: All of you walk around saying, singing -- say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. Let me tell you how that was done. The young lady, Ms. Marva Whitley who sang for you a short while ago, myself and Mr. Brown, was in Los Angeles, California. We just finished a date. Raining, storming like nothing. Mr. Brown, he always had a lot to say. So we were sitting in there talking, looking at television and there was black crime going on. He said, how come black people can't love each other, how come they can't get together, how come they can't respect each another? I was tired and I agreed, mm-hmm, which was true.

He said, oh, my, my, my, OK you can go to my room. I looked at my watch. Oh, my god, I can sleep tonight because you were going to stay with Mr. Brown until he was going through his bedroom door and be with him until he came out of his bedroom door in the afternoon. I went to my room. I thought, oh, man, I can turn on the television and watch 20 minutes exactly he called me, Mr. Bobby, come here. When I went to his room, on two napkins on the table was a song, "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud." He said, Mr. Bobbit, I want you to get the band together, send them down to the Valley, and get a studio. We are going to record this record tonight. Get me 30 children. I want you to get me 30 children to sing on this song. It's storming and it's almost in the middle of the night. I said, Mr. Brown, where am I going to get 30 children from? He say, you the manager, you can do it.

I went to a church and watched. I found the lady and I got an old school bus and we road around watts and got 30 children, brought them down to the studio, recorded "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud." I gave them $10 and a James Brown album. That's how the song that you love so well was played.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: So ride on, King James. You've landed on your good foot. Good God, you've landed on the good foot.

Come on, Mayfield, come on Fred, come on Bobby, come on Reverend Sharpton, come on! We have reason to celebrate. Good God, what a man, what a life, what a legacy!

Give it up for James Brown.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I called Mr. Brown. I said, Mr. Brown, I've got some good news. He said, what is it, Mr. Dallas? I said, we always addressed each other as Mr. Brown and Mr. Dallas, for 24 years. It was just the respect we had for each other and you did things Mr. Brown's way or you didn't do them at all. There were not too many times it was buddy or James. I said, Mr. Brown, I'm not going to be able to call you Mr. Brown any longer. What do you mean Mr. Dallas? I said, it's about to be doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In recognition of his unparalleled contributions to the nation and to the world, man who shaped the canon of contemporary music, popular and secular, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, gospel, pop, blues, you name it, in recordings, movies, television, the charts, vocals, orchestrations, recitations, dance, acrobatics, comedy, drama. As the man who respected education and educational access, as a man who loved the Lord, and as the man who brought worldwide fame and credit to Augusta, GA.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: He sung his song and he danced his dance, but he wasn't just singing for himself. He sung for us. He danced for us. He screamed for us.

Common people, working people, poor people. We didn't have a star till we had James Brown. James Brown wasn't smooth and wasn't acceptable. He wasn't tall and light-skinned with good hair. He looked like us. And he made the whole world see how good we could be.

I've seen him up and down. I've seen good days and bad days. But I never saw him shaking. I've never seen him back down. I've never seen him bend, buckle or bow.

James Brown was a man's man. And he stood up like a man. He lived like a man. And on Christmas Day, he died like a man. (SINGING)

BOBBIT: I took a blanket and I covered over him. And that's how I was able to hear him breathe his last three sighs. He breathed very softly three times. He opened his eyes. He closed his eyes. And he had expired. I called the nurses and the doctors, they came, they worked on him for a long time but he was gone.

And one other thing, I want to say to you, the king is dead. Long live the king. Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He was the Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, a performer who lit up the stage with his distinctive voice and endless supply of energy. All James Brown did was change the face of R&B, soul and funk music in the '60s and the '70s, leaving behind those signature tunes that continue to influence today's generation of musicians.

Growing up poor in the Depression era south, Brown said he shined shoes and danced for spare change. And despite a criminal record dating back to an armed robbery conviction in his teens, Brown managed to become to a certified music icon.

He emerged as the standout talent in the R&B group the Famous Flames in the late '50s. And with the hit album "Live at the Apollo" released in 1963, James Brown shined in the national limelight. A year later, he and the Famous Flames performed together for the last time.

Soon after, Brown recorded two of the songs he would be known for the rest of his career. His hits "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," and I Got You," in which he coined in his catch phrase...

JAMES BROWN, SINGER (singing): I feel good.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN ANCHOR: ... topped both the R&B and pop charts in 1965. Brown's style of rhythm and blues with attitude gradual earned its own genre. By the '70s, his music was funk. He led a new group, the James Brown Review, and the performer was now a bonafide hit machine, with more than 50 top-10 R&B songs under his belt by the mid '70s. And in the late '70s, a new musical craze took too over the country, and the '60s hitmaker Soul Brother No. 1 struggled to connect with the disco generation.

Cameo performances in hit movies of the '80s, like "The Blues Brothers," reintroduced Brown and his quirky performance style to younger audiences. His "Living in America" became a top-10 hit in 1985, with both the song and singer appearing in "Rocky IV." That success was short-lived.

By 1988, Brown, once again, found himself tangling with the law. First came allegations of assault on then-wife Adrian Brown. And just a year later, after Brown allegedly threatened people with a handgun, he sent police on an interstate car chase, with police opening fire on Brown's pickup truck. He was sentenced to six years in prison, and paroled after 2 1/2. Brown had several more brushes with the law through 1990s, arrested multiple times for drug possession and domestic abuse.

But that couldn't change what Brown had done for music. The singer received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and inductions to both the Rock 'N' Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2003, Brown was named a Kennedy Center honoree. He continued to work well into his '70s, touring internationally and performing for special events.

James Brown, the self-described hardest working man in show business, lived up to his name.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: What a great tribute to James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. Thanks for watching. The news continues on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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