 |
|
The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Washington awaits
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
 | |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 Photographer Peter Souza recorded the Reagans in the White House.
 CNN's Joe Johns on funeral security measures.
 CNN's Chris Lawrence on crowds filing past the casket.
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hours before daybreak today, mourners started lining up at the Botanical Gardens on Capitol Hill. They'll remain there all day -- swelling in number from hundreds to thousands, and eventually to hundreds of thousands -- as they wait to pay respects to Ronald Reagan, whose casket will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda starting this evening.
The scene of Reagan's memorial moves today from Simi Valley to the capital he never loved, but sought to reshape in his image, which will spend the next three days in a mostly official state of high-security mourning. The Rotunda, usually packed this time of year with tourists, was instead filled yesterday with lighting technicians, organizers and officers rehearsing for tonight's ceremony.
As they prepare for Reagan's arrival, some congressional Republicans are pushing the limits of tribute. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist wants to rename the Pentagon the "Ronald Reagan National Defense Building." Rep. Dana Rohrabacher wants to put Reagan's face on the $20 bill, replacing Andrew Jackson. Sen. Mitch McConnell wants to put him on the $10, replacing Alexander Hamilton. Rep. Mark Souder wants to put Reagan on the dime.
Reagan's final journey to D.C. will go something like this:
Reagan's body, accompanied by Nancy Reagan and family, leaves the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California at 11:30 a.m. ET.Reagan's coffin is expected to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base at about 5 p.m. ET. The formal procession to 16th Street and Constitution Avenue NW should start by 6 p.m.; the transfer to the caisson should take about 15 minutes. We're told the 3rd Infantry is using black horses, not white horses, because their white horses are skittish -- there's no other symbolic reason.Police plan to close Constitution Avenue and all cross streets between 23rd Street NW and the Capitol from 3 to 9 p.m. ET.Nancy Reagan and others in her party will ride in a limousine behind the horse-drawn caisson. When they arrive at the Capitol, she will be dropped around front on the Senate side and walk through the building to the West Front. She'll stand at the top of the steps and wait for the casket to be brought up. She'll be escorted by Maj. Gen. Galen Jackman, the commander of the U.S. Army's Military District of Washington, which does logistics for the event, and possibly by Rick Ahern, a family friend.As the caisson approaches the West Front, the Army Band will play "Ruffles and Flourishes," and then, "Hail to the Chief." There will then be a 21-gun salute, each shot separated by 5 seconds.Next, the fly-over. An Army band will play the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the casket is removed from caisson and carried up the Capitol steps.Three teams of nine service members (eight enlisted, one officer) representing all branches of the military and the Coast Guard will carry the casket up three different groupings of steps. So many people are needed because the casket is heavy and the step are long and steep.The mahogany casket weighs between 425 and 450 pounds empty. The service members did a rehearsal Tuesday to make sure they could carry it up using a similar casket borrowed from Murphy's Funeral Home in Arlington, Virginia.Once in the rotunda, the late president's head will lie toward the east side, his feet toward the west. The coffin will rest on a simple catafalque of rough pine boards, nailed together and covered with black cloth. The catafalque was first used for Abraham Lincoln's funeral.The stars on the American flag on the casket will lie over the President's heart. The Air Force chorus "Singing Sergeants" will perform during the ceremony. The three speakers will be President Pro Tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Vice President Dick Cheney.Eight hundred people will be in the rotunda for the ceremony, VIPs all. There are 65 to 70 people in Nancy Reagan's entourage, including Merv Griffin and other family and friends. The event should last 25 to 30 minutes.After the ceremony the rotunda will be cleared so the family can have private time with the casket. The rotunda is expected to open to the public about 8:30 p.m. ET and will continue through the night and into Thursday. (The public can enter the Capitol via the West Front Terrace and crowds can assemble on Third Street). Reagan's body will lay in state until 7 a.m. Friday, when the casket will be moved to the National Cathedral for the state funeral.Organizers aren't settled on how many people they think will come. Police have said up to 150,000, other congressional and military organizers are estimating up to 250,000. Commemorative cards, also called visitation cards, will be given to each person who comes through the rotunda -- about 250,000 were being printed last night. Condolences books will be available somewhere along the line for visitors to sign.
Reagan's funeral on Friday, the first state funeral since Lyndon Johnson's in 1973, will be the 12th state funeral in which the deceased has lain in the Capitol. Other presidents on that list include Lincoln, Johnson, John Kennedy, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren Harding, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower. Also, Gens. John Pershing, in 1948, and Douglas MacArthur, in 1964, were honored with state funerals after lying in the Rotunda.
CNN congressional producer Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
