MIKE:
AFTER MORE THAN A WEEK OF
MOURNING.. AND MEMORIALS..
"AMERICA'S PASTOR" REVERAND
BILLY GRAHAM WAS LAID TO REST
TODAY AT HIS
LIBRARY IN CHARLOTTE.
PRESIDENT TRUMP.. AND
VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE..
ALONG WITH THEIR WIVES WERE
AMONG THE MORE THAN 2-THOUSAND
WHO ATTENDED GRAHAM'S
FUNERAL THIS AFTERNOON..
MIKE:
JUSTIN QUESINBERRY FROM OUR
SISTER STATION IN RALEIGH IS
LIVE IN CHARLOTTE TONIGHT WITH
MORE ON TODAY'S FINAL
GOODBYES..... JUSTIN?
JUSTIN:
THOUSANDS IF NOT MILLIONS
WOULD LIKED
TO HAVE ATTENDED THIS FUNERAL IN
PERSON. WE SAW THAT BY THE 13
THOUSND PEOPLE WHO
WALKED BY HIS CASKET HERE
EARLIER THIS WEEK.
THE 23-HUNDRED PEOPLE AT THE
FUNERAL
INCLUDED FAMILY... FRIENDS...
AND
DIGNITARIES.... WITH ONE THING
IN COMMON LOVE
FOR BILLY GRAHAM.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP... FIRST
LADY
MELANIA TRUMP... ALONG WITH VICE
PRESIDENT
MIKE PENCE AND HIS WIFE KAREN...
WALKED SOLEMNLY INTO THE
CRUSADE-STYLE TENT...
TO HONOR THE LIFE OF A MAN THE
TWO LEADERS
CREDIT WITH TOUCHING THEIR
LIVES.
THE PASTOR TO PRESIDENTS... WAS
ALSO A
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR FORMER
NORTH
CAROLINA GOVERNOR PAT MCCRORY...
WHO TELLS
ME HE LAST SAW REV. GRAHAM ABOUT
TWO YEARS. AGO.
PAT "HE WAS PROBABLY THE MOST
INFLUENTIAL PERSON TO EVER COME
FROM NORTH CAROLINA THAT HAD
SUCH AN INFLUENCE ON NOT ONLY
OUR NATION, BUT THE WORLD. ON
INDIVIDUALS IN THE WORLD NOT
JUST ON KINGS AND QUEENS AND
PRESIDENTS AND GOVERNORS.""BUT
ON THE EVERY COMMON WORKING
MAN AND WOMAN THAT HE TREATED
JUST AS HE WOULD A PRESIDENT."
TELEVISION HOST KATHIE LEE
GIFFORD TOLD ME
SHE LAST SAW REV. GRAHAM AT HIS
95TH BIRTHDAY PARTY IN 2013.
GIFFORD "SO, I SAID, 'BILLY,
BILLY IT'S KATHIE LEE.' I GOT
DOWN CLOSE TO HIS EAR. AND, I
COULD SEE HIM GO, AND HIS EYES
JUST OPENED
WIDE AND HE FOCUSED. AND, HE
GOES, 'OH KATHIE, I LOVE YOU
HONEY.'
I TOLD HIM I LOVED HIM AND I
THANKED HIM. I THANKED HIM FOR
LEADING ME TO JESUS AND THANKED
HIM FOR BEING THE BEST FRIEND I
EVER HAD."
THIS TENT INCLUDED THOSE
CELEBRITIES AND
LEADERS... AND OTHER PASTORS...
INCLUDING
TELEVANGILIST JOEL OSTEEN.
JQ WHAT DID HE MEAN TO YOU?
OSTEEN: "WHAT HE MEANT TO ME,
HIS LEGACY OF INTEGRITY AND
SHARING CHRIST AND STAYING ON
COURSE AND KEEPING A SIMPLE
MESSAGE OF FAITH AND THE
GOSPEL."
JUSTIN:
A PRIVATE BURIAL WAS HELD THIS
AFTERNOON HERE ON THE LIBRARY
GROUNDS.
REV. GRAHAM HEADSTONE IS NEXT TO
HIS WIFE
RUTH'S WHO DIED IN 2007. IN
CHARLOTTE - JUSTIN QUESINBERRY.
