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At Least 25 Dead After Russian Missile Strikes Apartment Block; Biden Approves Disaster Declarations for California, Alabama; Treasury Secretary Warns U.S. Will Reach Debt Limit January 19; Biden Delivers Sermon at Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church to Honor MLK. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 15, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, on what would have been Martin Luther King's 94th birthday. President Joe Biden will deliver a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to honor the legacy of the slain civil rights leader. Biden will be the first sitting president to speak at a Sunday service at Georgia church where King served as pastor.

Biden is expected to talk about King's life and legacy, as well as democracy and voting rights on the eve of the MLK federal holiday. And this comes as Biden is facing a growing controversy and new questions. You're seeing live pictures right now of the president walking into Ebenezer Baptist with its pastor, who is also the senator, Warnock. And you are seeing these pictures live and people standing in his presence.

CNN White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz is outside Ebenezer Baptist Church. And, Arlette, I was mentioning, I mean, this comes as the president is being hit with a lot of questions about documents that have been found in his personal residence, in Delaware, as well as at his former office. So, what do we expect his message will be largely staying away from the controversy and answering some of those questions and more specifically addressing the legacy of Dr. King?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, President Biden's is hoping to keep the focus on what he will deliver in this sermon today at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King -- Reverend Martin Luther King was the pastor at the time of his assassination. And officials at the White House have said that the president wants to talk about the legacy of Dr. King, as well as the path forward for the nation.

Now, this all comes ahead of that Martin Luther King holiday tomorrow. And the president is coming to this historic church at the invitation of Senator Raphael Warnock, who just run reelection to the Senate is actually the pastor here in Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Now, you hear that the service is starting to get underway there. Of course, this all comes at a very interesting time, as conversation about those classified documents found at both the president's residence in Wilmington, Delaware, and a former private office. Those conversations about the classified documents have really dominated so much of the news in the days leading into this.

Another interesting point, of course, is the fact that President Biden himself is weighing whether he wants to launch another bid for reelection. Of course, Georgia would be pivotal to a 2024 campaign. This is a state that helped Biden win when he flipped it from red to blue back in 2022. But today, the focus of his message is expected to be honoring the legacy of Dr. King.

WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz, we're going to check back in with you again, a lot of pictures right now, President Biden there at Ebenezer Baptist Church, as things get under way there and Senator Raphael Warnock, who is pastor there, will be introducing the president just ahead of the president's sermon. We'll take you there again in a moment.

In other news right now, a heartbreaking scene in Dnipro, Ukraine, after an apartment block was hit in a deadly Russian missile strike. A young girl seen cleaning up, right there, in the rubble of that aftermath. Ukraine says at least 25 people were killed, including a child, and at least 73 people were injured. Rescue crews are searching for dozens of people who are still missing.

CNN Correspondent Scott McLean is in Kyiv this morning for us. So, Scott, tell us more.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, yes, the death toll may still yet rise because the Ukrainians say that there are still dozens of people, 43 people who remain unaccounted for. That is why they have had this frantic search effort to try to find anyone who may be trapped inside that building or buried under the rubble. That rescue effort has involved more than 300 people, a heck of a lot of equipment, as well.

The mayor of Dnipro, though, said today that he believes that the chances of finding someone alive at this stage of the game, more than 24 hours later, is, in his words, minimal. That is because not only would someone be badly injured but the temperatures outside are below freezing.

[11:05:00]

We're talking about only 27 degrees. So, you would be injured, you would be cold, not to mention all of the smoke and gases you would be inhaling.

It is also an extremely delicate operation to try to pull people out of that rubble because the mayor says that that rocket actually went all the way down to the basement. Not even the basement was a safe space in this case. And so there's no way for rescue workers to get at people from underneath. They have to go from the top.

And yet there have been people pulled out. There was a moment last night, overnight at around 1:00 in the morning, where rescue workers heard a woman's voice. And very quickly this hive of activity at the scene went very silent as they tried to communicate with her. Listen.

So, that woman ended up getting pulled out alive at around 11:30 local this morning, ten hours later. That is nothing short of a miracle.

Now, the Russian military put out a statement calling this missile strike operation a success, saying that they were going after energy infrastructure and that all of the targets were hit. They made no mention of this apartment block in Dnipro.

And the mayor of the city figures this was not the intended target. He figures that the intended target was likely a thermal power station across the river. And that makes a lot of sense, considering the type of missile that the Ukrainians believe the Russians were using.

This is the kind of missile called a Kh-22. It is usually intended to sink ships and it is not very accurate, accurate only to a radius of about 550 yards or so. It's the same kind of missile, Fredricka, that was used on a shopping mall last summer in the city Kremenchuk, which killed 18 people. The intended target apparently in that case was a facility to repair military vehicles a few hundred yards away.

The trouble here is that the Ukrainians, they don't have any way to shoot this down. The air defense system has not had any success in striking it down. Of the more than 200 missiles of this variety that have been incoming since the war started, the Ukrainians say that not a single one has been shot down.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. Scott, and then there's the issue of power. Because -- excuse me -- Ukraine is saying that Russian strikes targeted power infrastructure around the country, as well as, you know, bombarding residential buildings. So, what about power being restored in places that had power?

MCLEAN: Yes. So, the Ukrainians don't give specific details on these energy facilities that were hit and the extent of the damage. They don't want the Russians, frankly, to know whether they need to go back and finish the job. But sufficed to say, there were energy facilities in five different regions that were hit. Emergency power cuts are now ongoing, as they have been for a while.

There was a bit of reprieve over the last two weeks where there was not a whole lot of missile strikes, which allowed crews to do some repair work and some upgrades on the system. But now, obviously, they're back to square one. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Scott McLean, we'll check back with you, thank you so much.

All right, at least 68 people have died after a Yeti Airlines plane crashed in Central Nepal today. That's according to the country's aviation authority. There were a total of 72 people on board the flight, including 6 children, 15 foreign nationals were also among the victims, including citizens from Australia, France and Ireland. It's the country's deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years. And officials say search efforts were suspended after dark and will resume this morning.

Meantime, back in this country, we're standing by, just moments from now, that man right there, the president of the United States, President Biden, will deliver remarks on democracy and voting rights at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. He will be the first sitting president to speak at the church where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. We'll bring you those remarks live. Stay with us.

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WHITFIELD: All right. New today, President Biden has approved disaster declarations for California and Alabama, freeing up federal aid to help recovery efforts as both states reel from severe weather. At least seven people were killed in tornadoes that swept across Alabama last week. And in California, weeks of torrential rain and mudslides have killed at least 19 people. And right now, about 8 million Californians are under flood watches, as a new wave of powerful storms pushes in.

The risk of potentially dangerous flooding and mudslides are much higher because the ground in many areas are just so saturated to absorb anymore water.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking all of this for us. So, Allison, California, I mean, it's getting a little bit of a break right now, but what is on the horizon?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Hopefully an even like a much longer period of relief. Right now, we have got just a few spots that are getting light rain. And that's a good thing. You don't want the heavy downpours that we have been seeing. But we are going to see another atmospheric river event push back into the state as we go into the afternoon and especially the evening hours.

Two different systems, this one appeared that's bringing rain and snow to the Pacific Northwest, and then this area of clouds right here, that's going to be the secondary system that pushes more rain and snow into Central and Southern California for the latter half of the day today.

[11:15:05]

We do still have flood watches in effect across areas of California. This includes San Francisco, San Jose, down through Monterey. And, again, it's the combination of the new rain we anticipate getting today but also on top of all of the rain that we have been seeing the last two to three weeks.

Here, you can see those two different systems pushing in. So, again, that first system in the Pacific Northwest, the secondary system really starting to funnel a lot of that moisture in around dinnertime tonight and that will continue through the day on Monday.

But also too then, notice it begins to spread that moisture into the intermountain west and the southwest. So, you also have Arizona, Utah, Nevada also looking at a pretty intense amount of moisture here. The Sierras still expecting upwards of three feet of snow on top of what they've already had. And because of that, you still have winter storm warnings in effect, but not just for California. Notice a lot of the spattering of those as we go into the intermountain west too just going to show you the impact of spreading.

Another impact that's spreading, you have wind advisories in California, but now you are also starting to see those spread into New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, because as that system pushes east, it's going to take that increased threat for wind with it.

The good news, Fred, let's focus on the good news to end with, and that is by the time we get to the end of this week, we finally start to see a drier pattern set in for areas of California.

WHITFIELD: Very good. All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for that.

All right, again, we continue to watch Ebenezer Church here in Atlanta. That's Senator Raphael Warnock, who is the pastor, and his special guest, the president of the United States. Momentarily, the president will be introduced and he will speak. We'll take that live.

Meantime, the president is marking the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday at the very church where the civil rights leader once preached. Biden will be the first sitting president to speak during a Sunday service at that church.

Joining us now, the executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, Andrea Young, she is also the daughter of civil rights leader and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Andrew Young. Andrea, so good to see you.

ANDREA YOUNG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACLU OF GEORGIA: So great to be here with you today.

WHITFIELD: I mean, your father was a close confidant of Dr. King. He was one of the original civil rights foot soldiers. And he's in the audience there today, correct? And what does this mean for you, that this is the first time a sitting president will be an invited speaker at Ebenezer?

YOUNG: Well, I think, you know, what I look at is it see Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock, who is so much the culmination of the worth for the Voting Rights Act, for the Civil Rights Act. I think for President Biden, to acknowledge that today is quite appropriate and quite remarkable. And I love that America and the world really is seeing the source of power of the civil rights movement, which was the church that we see on display today.

WHITFIELD: And Biden's adviser, who is a former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, says today he will speak on issues, and I'm quoting now, including how important it is that we have access to our democracy. And, of course, Georgia has been pivotal, it has been at the center point of so much, whether it be voter turnout, which has been record breaking, whether it be the restrictions placed on voting access, and, of course, the efforts to overturn a free and fair election.

And I wonder if there's an expectation that maybe a disproportionate amount of expectation for this president, this Congress, to address or right some of those wrongs.

YOUNG: Yes. Well, I know that one of Senator Warnock's priorities is the restoration of the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted by the case in Shelby v. Holder. We do see more barriers erected on voting as a result of no longer having preclearance. So, we think this is probably the top priority that I know Senator Warnock and the president should have for the health of our democracy.

WHITFIELD: All right. Andrea Young, I'm listening to you in one ear and I'm also listening to Reverend Warnock with the other because we expect that he is actually going to be introducing the president of the United States with his sermon. And that is what it's being called. President Biden will be delivering a sermon there at Ebenezer.

As we continue to watch, we're going to take a short break. You're going to stay here with me because I can't wait to hear your thoughts about what we do hear from the president. We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Congress could be headed for a debt ceiling showdown in the coming days. The Treasury Department now says the U.S. will reach its debt limit this week and default as soon as June.

Newly empowered hard line Republicans are demanding deep spending cuts to raise the limit, setting up a major battle with Democrats and the Biden administration.

CNN Congressional Reporter Daniella Diaz joining me now from Capitol Hill. Daniella, good to see you. So, Speaker McCarthy made a lot of promises to secure the speakership. How might this impact negotiations?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: A lot of promises, indeed, Fred. One of the concessions he made, which Congressman Chip Roy, one of the holdouts, confirmed to CNN is that a proposal that McCarthy is currently floating within the House GOP conference would decide which payments will be made to the Treasury Department, what will be prioritized by Congress should Congress or the United States reach its debt ceiling.

[11:25:02]

Remember, Chip Roy was one those key negotiators with McCarthy, one of the key holdouts. He wasn't supporting McCarthy until one of these agreements was made.

But, look, the bigger picture here, Fred, is that McCarthy is stuck in the middle. He has a razor thin majority. He is going to need conservatives, moderates behind any proposal in the House to support legislation that would address the debt limit. They want to limit government spending. That is the priority. They don't want to continue to raise the debt ceiling. So, he's going to have to navigate that.

But he's not in a rush. He was actually on Fox News just a few hours ago, where he said, we need to take a pause. They plan to address this before the nation defaults on its debt over the summer. Take a listen to what he said.

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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): As we hit this statutory debt limit once again, I do think it's worth a moment to pause and look, how did we get here. And, first of all, Maria, there is no doom right today. The hundreds of billions of dollars the government currently has, we won't hit our debt limit until really this summer. So, let's take a moment and realize why did we get here.

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DIAZ: The bigger picture here too, Fred, is whatever McCarthy decides and passes through the House is going to need Senate approval as well. And, of course, remember, Democrats lead that chamber. So, he is going to need Democratic support for any legislation they want to pass through Congress to address the debt ceiling before it goes to President Biden's desk for signature. So, we don't expect this to be a one and done and easy solution. We do expect a lot of debate on this issue in the coming weeks. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Negotiations continue. Daniella Diaz, thanks so much.

All right, live pictures right now of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. This historic church once pastored by Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King. And today's special guest to deliver his sermon, the president of the United States. We're watching and listening. We'll take you there live in a moment.

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome back. Our camera right now is trained on President Joe Biden there at the pulpit soon at Ebenezer Baptist Church. This is the church once pastored by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta.

Right now, you're looking at Senator and Reverend Raphael Warnock, who is doing the introductions. This is the first time a sitting president has delivered a sermon at Ebenezer.

Let's listen in right now to the introduction that Senator Warnock is giving ahead of the president of the United States.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Welcome, Christine King Farris.

Christine King Farris, the only remaining member of that famous family when we see Daddy King and Momma King and Martin Luther King Jr. and his siblings. She's the only one left. And at age 95, she still worships every Sunday.

We are always glad to see her, and through it all, God has been with her. Let's hear it for the King family. Magnificent, thank you, good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Introduction there of a 95-year-old sister of the late Martin Luther King. Today would have been his 94th birthday.

Again, joining me right now, the executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, Andrea Young, she's also the daughter of civil rights leader former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Andrew Young, who earlier we saw him, he is there in the audience as well, Andrea, along with Senator Jon Ossof, and Commissioner Thurman, Congressman Hank Johnson and also a member of Congress, Lucy McBath.

What is it like to be in the Ebenezer Church? Kind of set the stage for us. I've been in the old church across the street but this is the newer rendition of Ebenezer, its larger obviously more modern, it accommodates more people. But there is a special feeling when you go to a service or even if you are a visitor of Ebenezer. Describe it for me.

ANDREA YOUNG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACLU OF GEORGIA: You know, this is the Cathedral Church of Atlanta, right? It's the Cathedral Church of the civil rights movement. It's a place that people come -- we celebrated John Lewis' funeral there. We celebrate the King Holiday every year. There will be a service tomorrow. And so this is the place that we come to remember and also to be renewed for continuing the work of Dr. King, non-violent social change, the beloved community that every person is able to live with dignity and respect, not just in America but in this world. And so that's the spirit of Ebenezer.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That renewal is a really important message because -- and especially on his birthday, which is also now a federal holiday. I hear many civil rights, you know, foot soldiers talk about how it's important to reengage. This is a moment to be a reminder of reengaging in those things that Dr. King, you know, sacrificed his life for.

[11:30:04]

He didn't look at it as, of course, a sacrifice, but this was part of his fight for America, for global change on fighting poverty, you know, fighting for equity, voting rights.

So, talk to me about that effort or energy of reengaging in the legacy of Dr. King.

YOUNG: Yes. Well, this is, of course, very important as we see know the continuing the struggle to sustain our voting rights. We see the attack on the right to access to the ballot. We see the election deniers, this resistance to a multicultural democracy, which is what we began to have with the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

And so one of the things that they didn't really focus on in this picture but three mayors of Atlanta were sitting in a row, the current mayor, Andre Dickens, Keisha Lance Bottoms and then my dad.

WHITFIELD: And your dad.

YOUNG: Right?

And so this is possible because of the Voting Rights Act. As you can see, Atlanta is certainly thriving under the leadership of black mayors that we have had. And so that in particular is something that we have to be reminded of today, that we really are in a struggle for our very democracy. And Dr. King always said that. We are in a struggle for the soul of America. Will we be a multicultural democracy? Will we live up to the true meaning of its creed that all people are created equal or will we go backwards? And so that's -- we're very much at a pivotal point today.

WHITFIELD: And President Biden was a great benefactor of that multicultural vote of the black vote, of women voters and of Georgia. I mean, you know, I wonder if there is, you know, a pronounced bit of both anxiety and pressure on this president to address these things that are at the top of the list of, you know, all of the sects of voters that I just mentioned, even though he, now with a Republican -- narrowly Republican-controlled Congress, he may be swimming upstream on some of the items on his agenda, which would have addressed that he has said on the campaign trail and early on in his presidency, that he once addressed right away.

YOUNG: Well, President Biden is the president, right, and so an enormous amount of legislation, important legislation was passed in the last Congress that now can be implemented and can be implemented in a way that uplifts diverse communities. So, if we do infrastructure in a way that increases employment and renewed participation of workers of color, lifts their wages, improves their benefits, that has a tremendous impact on the legacy of this president and, again, fulfilling the legacy of Dr. King, because Dr. King, as we know, was fighting for garbage workers when he was assassinated. He was launching a campaign for poor people and for economic justice in America, a multicultural effort. And so these things, you know, do continue his legacy.

WHITFIELD: Right. And isn't it something that we are talking about 55 years, you know, after the assassination of Dr. King, and still at the forefront are the fights for equity and the effort to eradicate or address poverty. These are continuations.

So, I wonder for you, as the daughter of a civil rights soldier, and as the director of the ACLU, if there are moments where you wonder what has happened to the dream. Is it unobtainable? Is it challenged because we are talking about a continuation of the reach of things that Dr. King professed about 55 years ago --

YOUNG: Yes, yes.

WHITFIELD: -- right up until his assassination?

YOUNG: Well, you know, as the old folks said, freedom is a constant struggle. We struggled so long, we must be free. And so we do have to continually work for these things. Whenever folks ask me well, are you discouraged? I have to say, Fredricka, 55 years ago, you and I would not be sitting here on this camera talking about what the president is doing, right?

So, there has been -- there have been tremendous changes but there's sort of a sense of the more you do, the more you know there is to do. And the more we really -- when we think about what is equality, what is equity, who is left out of the story, women were not the prominent focus 55 years ago that they are today.

[11:40:08]

Hispanics, the disabled, there's so many groups now, LBGT folks, who we now are fighting for their full participation in our society that were not quite on the radar 55 years ago. So, we have come a long way in terms of our inclusiveness and who we really understand we've got to fight for so that we really do have an equitable and just society.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. I mean, there's no doubt that there has been tremendous progress and it continues to be measured. I mean, even in the words and the spirit of the late Congressman John Lewis, I mean, he said it in Selma before his passing, that you have to fight to keep the progress that has been made, and you have to continue to fight for the ongoing reach. And I wonder what are your concerns about that message resonating particularly with young people who do have to pick up the baton, many of whom are already doing so.

YOUNG: Yes. I think you see the Black Lives Matter movement, which was a multicultural, multiracial movement for black lives. Some of the events in Atlanta right here near the CNN center, there would be so many allies that were supporting that movement. And we saw in Georgia the impact because the folks in the Black Lives Matter movement did go into the voting booth and they elected more progressive district attorneys, they elected more progressive sheriffs. You know, they elected Senators Warnock and Ossoff, who have been working for criminal justice reform.

And so I think we -- sometimes we have to remind them that, yes, the things you did, did create change, created very important change. And as we continue to exercise the right to vote and to vote for the things that matter to black and brown communities, we can have an impact on what the policies are that impact our communities.

WHITFIELD: Where is your hope meter, your dream meter?

YOUNG: You know, I think that we are in sort of the best of times, the worst of times. I think of my ancestors who came out of slavery and built churches and schools and so forth. And I think African- Americans today have so many more resources. There're so many incredible, talented people of conscience. And I think we just have to renew those efforts and remember that there are -- there is always the need to be -- to be inclusive, intentional inclusive, anti-racist, resist, some of the legacy that we have of making some people lesser. And it's something we all have to struggle with. We all have our blind spots. But I think this younger generation is -- and, frankly, I think a lot of the baby boomers also, we are -- I think we are still in the fight to make this country live up to the trimming (ph) of its creed.

WHITFIELD: We're looking forward to the content of the president's remarks there from Ebenezer. We know that he will be talking about the importance of democracy, of voting rights. He's also a man of the church, you know? And you mentioned visiting Ebenezer is a moment of renewal. And knowing that this president is being dogged by a lot right now, he's felt the momentum of his agenda, but now the momentum being met with this drip, drip, drip of investigations surrounding documents located at his former vice presidential office, as well as at his home. What is your sense of a feeling of renewal that this president or recalibration might even gain from this moment at Ebenezer today?

YOUNG: Yes. I think it's an important reset to be reminded of what -- what the Biden presidency -- what the aspirations that people have were for the Biden presidency.

I think I've heard that enrollment in the Affordable Care Act is the highest it's ever been. We know that the infrastructure is going to begin to restore a lot of our mass transit systems and bridges and so forth. We're getting -- Georgia is getting solar and battery plants that I know Senators Ossoff and Warnock were instrumental in.

So, there is so much progress that's been made on climate, which all of us have to be concerned. Whatever your issues is, my grandchild needs a planet to live on.

[11:45:02]

So, I think we need to focus more on majors. There's a lot of -- it's always -- you can always find something to criticize. But let's talk about what are the major things that we have accomplished and what are we going to do to make those things really fulfill the promise that they have? Certainly at the ACLU, we will be looking to see is there equity in how these programs roll out? Is it going to lift people from the bottom or are we -- you know, we've got to do something to deal with this inequality.

I was looking at a statistic that CEO pay has increased by 1,000 percent and the average worker by 18 percent. You know, this is something that has a racial justice implication. And so we have got to address these issues.

WHITFIELD: Andrea young, thank you so much. It looks like it is President Biden's turn now to deliver his sermon, the first sitting president to do so at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Let's listen in.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Can you all hear me? I've spoken before parliaments, kings, queens, leaders of the world. I've been doing this for a long time, but this is intimidating. You all are incredible. Unless they have one thing to rest, I may be a practicing Catholic, we used to go to 7:30 mass every morning in high school, and then in college before I went to the black church. Not a joke. Andy knows this. Andy, it's so great to see you, man. You're one of the greatest we've ever had. You really are. Andy and I took on apartheid in South Africa and a whole lot else. They didn't want to see him coming. But we used to -- that's where we organized, to march and desegregate the city. My state was like your, segregated by law. We were a slave state. It's our great shame. And we had a lot of leftovers of the bad things came from that period of time.

But I -- any way, that's another time. But I learned a lot. And I promise if any preacher preached to me back then, I'm not going to be nearly as long as you were. Actually, I have a bad reputation for speaking too long.

He followed the path of Moses, a leader of inspiration, calling on the people not to be afraid. And always, always, as my grandfather would say, keep the faith. He followed the path of Joseph, a believer in dreams and the divinity they carry and the promise they hold. And like John the Baptist, he prepared us for the greater hope ahead, one who came to bear witness to the light.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a non-violent warrior for justice who followed the word in a way of his Lord and his Savior. On this day of remembrance, we gather at Dr. King's cherished Ebenezer. I say and emphasize the word cherished Ebenezer. And, by the way, sis, every good man, every good brother needs a strong, strong sister. You think I'm kidding? I'm no Dr. King, and my sister is not you, but I tell you what, she's smarter, better looking and a better person than I am, managed all my campaigns.

Folks, you know, on this day of remembrance, as we gather here at this cherished Ebenezer to commemorate what would have been Dr. King's 94th birthday. We gather to contemplate his moral vision and to commit ourselves to his path, to his path, a path that leads to the beloved community, to the sacred place, that sacred hour, when justice rains down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

[11:50:07]

Folks, to the King family, I know no matter how many years pass, it doesn't matter how many years, those days of remembrance are difficult. It brings everything back as if it happened yesterday. It's hard for you. And I want to thank the King family -- it's presumptuous of me to do this, but on behalf of the whole congregation, for being willing to do this year in and year out, that you give so much, so much to the rest of us. And we love you all. We love you all.

Before we honor Dr. King, we have to pay tribute to Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who we dearly miss. She led the movement that created the King holiday and so much more. In my view, this is her day as well. And to Raphael Warnock, reverend, doctor, senator, congratulations on your historic victory, a fellow Morehouse man. I've come to a lot of Morehouse men. That old saying, you can't tell them much. But I tell you what, we've set up for the first time ever in the White House the divine nine committee that's active every day. And I watch how the other graduates take on the Morehouse men. You stand in Dr. King's pulpit and you carry on his purpose and this service doesn't stop at the church door. It didn't with Dr. King. It doesn't with you. It doesn't with the vast majority of you standing and sitting before me. I want to thank you for the honor of inviting me to be called to America's freedom church. And thank you to this congregation and to all the distinguished guests, not only the elected officials who are here today who have done so much over so many years and so many young people are going to do so much more than we were able to do.

What's your name, honey? Good to see you. Maybe I can have a picture with you before I leave, okay? Is that all right?

I say this with all sincerity. I stand here humbled, being the first sitting president of the United States to have an opportunity to speak at Ebenezer Sunday service. You've been around for 176 years. I know I look like it, but I haven't. I'm God fearing thanks to my parents and to the nuns and priests who taught me in school, but I am no preacher. But I've tried to walk my faith, as you all have.

I stand here inspired by the preacher who was one of my only political heroes. I've been saying it and Andy has heard me say it for year, I have two political heroes my entire life when I started office as a 22-year-old kid on the east side in the civil rights movement. I got elected in the United States Senate when I was 29. I wasn't old enough to take office. And I had two heroes, Bobby Kennedy. I admired John Kennedy, but I never could picture him at my kitchen table, but I could Bobby. And no malarkey, Dr. King.

And the fact is that I stand here at a critical juncture for the United States and the world, in my view. Some of my colleagues are tired of hearing me saying, but we're at what we call an inflection point, one of those points in world history, where what happens in the last few years will happen in the next six or eight years are going to determine what the world looks like for the next 30 to 40 years.

[11:55:02]

It happened after World War II. It's happening again. The world is changing. There's much at stake, much at stake. And, you know, the fact is that this is the time of choosing. This is the time of choosing direct choices we have. Are we a people who would choose democracy over autocracy? I couldn't ask that question 15 years ago. Everyone thought democracy was settled. Not for African-Americans, but democracy as an institutional structure was settled. But it's not. It's not.

We have to choose community over chaos. Are we the people who are going to choose love over hate? These are the vital questions of our time and the reason why I'm here as your president. I believe Dr. King's life and legacy show us the way we should pay attention. I really do.

Dr. Martin Luther King was born in a nation where segregation was a tragic fact of life. He had every reason to believe, as others of his generation did, that history had already been written, that the division could be America's destiny. But he rejected that outcome. He heard Micah's command to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.

And so often, when people hear about Dr. King, people think of his ministry and the movement, where most about the epic struggle for civil rights and voting rights. But we do well to remember that his mission was something even deeper. It was spiritual. It was moral. The goal of the southern Christian leadership conference, which Dr. King led, stated it clearly and boldly and must be repeated again now, to redeem the soul of America. I'm not joking, to redeem the soul of America.

What is the soul of America? It's easy to say, but what is the soul of America? Well, the soul is the breadth, the life, the essence of who we are. The soul makes us us. The soul of America is embodied in the sacred proposition that we're all created equal in the image of God.

That was the sacred proposition for which Dr. King gave his life. It was the sacred proposition rooted in scripture and enshrined in the declaration of independence, the sacred proposition he invoked that day in 1963 when he told my generation about his dream, a dream in which we're all entitled to be treated with -- my father's favorite word -- dignity and respect. A dream in which we all deserve liberty and justice, and it's still the task of our time to make that dream a reality because it's not there yet, to make Dr. King's vision tangible, to match the words of the preachers and the poets with our deeds. As the bible teaches us, we must be doers of the word.

A battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. It's a constant struggle. It's a constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice, against those that traffic in racism, extremism and insurrection, a battle fought on battlefields and bridges from courthouses and ballot boxes to pulpits and protests. And at our best, the American promise wins out. At our best we hear and heed the injunctions of the Lord and the whispers of the angels.

Well, I don't need to tell you that we're not always at our best. We're fallible. We fail and fall.

[12:00]

But faith and history teaches that however dark the night, joy cometh in the morning.