former first lady hillary clinton and first lady michelle obama held hands in front of the graveside. they placed the wreath in front of the grave site and then held their hands on their hearts for the playing of "taps." >> reporter: president obama presented one of his pred serieses with the highest medal of honor, the medal of freedom to 16 recipients including bill clinton. >> reporter: president obama presented one of his predecessors with one of the country's highest honors, the medal of freedom. >> saved hundreds of millions of people. >> he also highlighted oprah winfrey's global work and acknowledged her for not changing her name. >> her bosses told her she should change her name to suzie. i have to pause here to say i got the same advice. >> reporter: gloria steinem inspired millions of women and former honoree sally ride was

at the graveside. all the priests present that day selected one phrase from the bible. [speaking african language] "we are all going home one day." but my moment was at the graveside, when they gave a chance to a lay preacher. he was a very tiny man, with a thin trimmed moustache. he wore one of those double-breasted suits, which -- wore. and every time this man called upon the lord, he had a wonderful gesture for me. [speaking african language] this reminded me of my kieri days. standing next to that little black coffin, he started by saying, "here lies jacob." that was the old man's name. here lies jacob at the age of 101 years old. here lies jacob at the end of the road. this man with his bare hands, he has built the highways, the tunnels, the bridges of this country. and with his bare feet, he printed all those footpaths running through the bush and farms. here lies jacob at the end of the road. he said to those mothers squatting next to the grave, with their eyes solemn and the veils on their face

at the graveside. all the priests present that day selected one phrase from the bible. [speaking african language] "we are all going home one day." but my moment was at the graveside, when they gave a chance to a lay preacher. he was a very tiny man, with a thin trimmed moustache. he wore one of those double-breasted suits, which -- wore. and every time this man called upon the lord, he had a wonderful gesture for me. [speaking african language] this reminded me of my kieri days. standing next to that little black coffin, he started by saying, "here lies jacob." that was the old man's name. here lies jacob at the age of 101 years old.

and so i got orders to go first to the white house, second to the capitol, and third to the graveside. >> let's start with the white house. this was the first time you had been inside the white house? >> first time i had been inside the white house, i had been in the rose garden a couple of times and on the lawn with my camera. and i only had have one picture of president kennedy in the rose garden, and he's standing on the porch with someone else. i can't remember who it is. but i had not been inside the white house until that -- until i got posted there. and i was -- the body was in the east room. the casket was in the east room. and the green room is where all of the dignitaries gathered. the east room runs north and south. the white house is laid out on an east-west axis. the east room is at the east end, of course. it runs north and south. and the green room is at the southwest corner of the east room. and so i stood by the door as the legion of dignitaries came through. of course, bobby kennedy, and he was talking to sergeant shriver. and then i can't remember who the chancellor

in that background directly in line with the graveside across memorial bridges the lincoln memorial. president kennedy's grave is on the open sloping area just three dogwood trees stand sentinel. whites in bloom but of course, they are there now. the costas manchin and are listed in the great yellow columns gleaming in the sun a flag will be at half staff. it was there in the household lump robert e. lee made the agonizing decision to join the southern cause in 1861. the site was 11,000 acres and commandeered during the civil war for those that came across the war to seize it because overlooked the capital city of washington. they took possession of the property for the back taxes which mounted as i recall to about $96. laughter's of war there was some litigation and the lee family contested the seizure and she argued there was physically impossible to cross the river to pay the taxes that is why they could not be paid. it is likely it is true but in any event the lee family appears to win the case later the of the government paid the family several thousand dollars for the site than

the caisson is still on a driveway, about a hundred yards from the graveside. the broad-trunked trees indicating the age and perhaps suggesting the long history behind this stretch of ground. , the custis-lee mansion and the surrounding hills and slopes were converted at the time of the civil war into a military hospital, and then the wounded and head of the battle of bull run were treated here. the caisson being drawn nearer on the driveway to the gravesite. the caisson has been halted. nearest driveway point the grave. there are only a few hushed sounds. despite the thousands of people gathered at some distance, but a semi circle around this vast area. some of the religious leaders just a few feet off to the left rear of the caisson. period in which the to giveon is waiting the elements farther back time to move up, time to give the occupants of cars to dismount and walk up the slight incline to the gravesite. believed toingent be members of congress and their , arrivedplomatic corps here about an hour and a half ago, brought here in a dozen or so buses. they

remembering. ♪ >> the flame burned to the graveside, a flickering reminder of the moment jfk died, 50 years ago today. >>> 50 years ago this very hour, john kennedy was now dead. for the better part of two hours, and the new president, lyndon johnson, is making a call, this call.

. >> meanwhile, at arlington national cemetery, a wreath laying at the graveside of jfk. and today, cnn, has a new snapshot about how americans today are remembering the president. >> a new cnn orc poll shows he has a 90% approval rating today among people, far higher than any other president in the last half of the century. >> let's go live to dallas right now where a lot of the activity will go on today. cnn's ed lavender is there. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: we're seeing the crowd beginning to fill up. 5,000 invited people. you have to have a ticket to get into the plaza. all the streets are cordoned off for the ser money. this is the first official ceremony for the city of dallas commemorating this day. and city officials are quick to point out is what they don't want this day to be about is the way he was assassinated here on the streets of dallas. they want this to be a celebration of his life. the sound checks have been going on in preparations for this event. you've seen the images played out on the large screens out here in the blaz za. imagines o

live pictures of the eternal national flame at arlington national cemetery, the memorial and graveside of the late great president. kennedy's economic agenda impacting america today. got us thinking about what the economy might have looked like had he not been assassinated. let us bring in john harwood in washington and joining us larry kudlow the host of "the kudlow report." larry, interesting guy, kennedy. economically, right? i mean not a supply sider, but believed in tax cuts. >> whoa. >> on the high end. >> whoa. he was a supply sider. >> how so? >> she slashed marginal -- he proposed rather to slash marg marginal tax rates from 91% to 0 on individuals. he slashed the corporate tax rate. he slashed the capital gains tax rate. he passed away, but they were put through by congress. you got to make a dotsds line, brian, between kennedy, jfk's tax policy and ronald reagan's tax policy. >> larry -- >> they're identical. >> i was turning a screw here and understand what you're saying, but 91 to 70% on the top end is hardly a supply side tax cut. >> what do you mean? any time you lower -

there is a graveside salute to the up s.it just begs the queste there times when you can be a political and say i'm the president -- can be apolitical and say i'm the president of the entire country. we'll talk to ken burns about a project he's doing where he wants them to remember every word of the gettysburg address. >> earlier this summer i took my 8-year-old to gettysburg precisely because i thought it was important that she understand the history of the moment of the speech lincoln gave. it was important for her to understand what that meant for her life and the life of the country. martha: president clinton never went. george herbert walker bush did not attend and according to some accounts, president kennedy passed up the 100th anniversary of the gettysburg address and went to dl has as that same -- weren't to dallas at that same moment. i urge everybody to go back and look at the text and read the speech because it's stunning and so important to our history. great to have you here as always. in new york, still. we cannot let him go. bill: they are going to give hip the key to th

home, here is a live look at kennedy's graveside in arlington cemetery. people have been stopping by to see the eternal flame. the only surviving sibling laid a wreath at the grave sight. >> it's a stark contrast to the sunny blue skies that greeted president kennedy and the first lady 50 years ago. it forced changes in the program for the memorial. wendy rieger is live in dallas with that part of the coverage. wendy? >> reporter: hi jim, hi pat. we are in the middest of deconstructing the set. some of the magic isn't evident. earlier today, it was truly such a beautiful thing to be a part of. dealy plaza, for 50 years held the memory of violence and a national horror as some would say, a national disgrace. today, this plaza became somewhat of a cathedral, if you will. it was uplifting and time to think about not the shots that were fired, but to think about the man, the presidency and what we are as americans 50 years later and our ability to endure and ability to transcend, if you will. 5,000 people braved this just awful weather. thousands more outside

kennedy funeral in the morning to do the funeral. >> once in position, they were anxious, astonished to find themselves literally at graveside. >> quite a fantastic location. how do we get here, what if something goes wrong, and your mind wanders then you have to get back and say you know, you are here to do a job, simply do the job and get on with it. >> 50 years later we are sitting here and it is something that i would never forget. a young tour guide, both leaving a memory with a young president, both playing an unexpected role in laying him to rest. al jazeera, washington. >> . >> get ready for some active weather here. not much happening now, some areas of rain and snow have cleared out. but some cold air is moving in, a storm developing in the southwest that will bring warm air back on top of the the cold air, that's where you get this mix developing. where it is all told it is snow, once the snow melts though it is no longer snow, and it can fall into freezing air that creates sleet or phrasing rain. that can be a big problem here. in oklahoma, and texas, and that will spread