Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00PROGRAM AND ALL OF OUR BOOK PROGRAMS ANY TIME ONLINE AT BOOK
00:00:03TV DOT ORG.
00:00:06HERE'S A LOOK AT WHAT'S COMING UP ON BOOK TV.
00:00:09DEMOCRATIC SENATOR CORY BOOKER
00:00:11OF NEW JERSEY TALKS ABOUT HIS BOOK STAND AND REFLECTS ON
00:00:14AMERICAN IDEALS AND LEADERSHIP. AFTER THAT.
00:00:17IN A RARE INTERVIEW, C-SPAN'S BOOK TV SITS DOWN WITH AUTHOR
00:00:20ROBERT CARO AT HIS NEW YORK CITY HOME AND OFFICE TO DISCUSS HIS
00:00:24WRITING PROCESS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ROBERT MOSES AND LYNDON
00:00:27JOHNSON AND NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS MAGGIE HABERMAN AND JONATHAN SWAN
00:00:32REVEAL BEHIND THE SCENES STORIES FROM INSIDE THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE.
00:00:35THAT ALL BEGINS NOW ON BOOK TV.
00:00:38WE WELCOME SENATOR CORY BOOKER,
00:00:42WHO IS THE SENIOR UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW
00:00:47JERSEY. HE SERVED AS MAYOR OF NEWARK BEFORE BECOMING NEW JERSEY'S
00:00:50FIRST BLACK SENATOR AND ONLY THE FOURTH POPULARLY ELECTED BLACK
00:00:55SENATOR IN U.S. HISTORY. FROM MARCH 30TH 1ST TO APRIL 1ST
00:01:00OF LAST YEAR, HE SET A NEW RECORD, A NEW RECORD, FOLKS, FOR
00:01:03THE LONGEST INDIVIDUAL SPEECH IN
00:01:06THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
00:01:11SENATE.
00:01:12THAT SPEECH WENT ON FOR 25 HOURS
00:01:17AND FIVE MINUTES, JUST SLIGHTLY LONGER THAN TONIGHT'S PROGRAM.
00:01:23NOW, TONIGHT, HE'LL BE SPEAKING ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK, STAND OUT,
00:01:26WHICH DRAWS ON HISTORY AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO CALL FOR
00:01:30RESILIENCE, SOLIDARITY AND A RECOMMITTING TO OUR SHARED
00:01:35IDEALS. HE WILL BE JOINED BY CHERRI GREGG, WHO IS CO-HOST OF WHITE
00:01:39WIVES FLAGSHIP DAILY RADIO NEWS SHOW STUDIO TWO.
00:01:42SHE IS ALSO THE EXECUTIVE
00:01:44PRODUCER AND CREATOR OF THE EMMY
00:01:46AWARD WINNING GOOD SOULS PROJECT. W H Y Y IS EFFORT TO HIGHLIGHT
00:01:50INDIVIDUAL WORDS SERVING AS ROLE MODELS FOR COMPASSION,
00:01:53GENEROSITY AND SERVICE. PRIOR TO HER CURRENT POSITION,
00:01:56CHERRI COVERED CIVIL RIGHTS, SOCIAL JUSTICE, RACE AND PUBLIC
00:01:59AFFAIRS ISSUES IMPACTING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES.
00:02:03SPENDING NEARLY A DECADE AS THE COMMUNITY AFFAIRS REPORTER FOR
00:02:06KW NEWS RADIO ALSO REPORTING FOR
00:02:10CBS THREE EYEWITNESS NEWS. FOLKS, I KNOW YOU ARE AS EXCITED
00:02:13AS WE ARE FOR THIS PROGRAM, FOR THIS CONVERSATION TONIGHT.
00:02:17PLEASE JOIN US IN WELCOMING SENATOR CORY BOOKER AND SHERRY
00:02:25GREG.
00:02:34IT'S GREAT. THIS IS A GOOD CROWD. AND YES. OH, MY GOODNESS. WOW.
00:02:37IT'S SO GOOD TO BE HERE, EVERYONE. THANK YOU. YEAH. WELL, WELCOME BACK TO FILL IT OUT.
00:02:41IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK. SO THANK YOU. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BOOK. THANK YOU.
00:02:45IT'S LOVELY. THANK YOU. WE WERE JUST ADMIRING THE PICTURE ON THE FRONT.
00:02:49YES, IT'S AMAZING. THAT'S ACTUALLY FROM THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON.
00:02:52AND MY MOM WAS IN THAT CROWD. SHE WAS WORKING AS AN ORGANIZER
00:02:56OF THAT DAY. WOW, THAT'S AMAZING. AMAZING PIECE OF HISTORY.
00:02:59SO THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A BOOK, IT WAS CALLED UNITED. YES.
00:03:03AND THAT WAS TEN YEARS, ALMOST 11 YEARS AGO. YEAH. YEAH.
00:03:06AND NOW YOU'VE WRITTEN STAND WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS
00:03:09MOMENT THAT MADE YOU SAY, I HAVE TO WRITE THIS BOOK?
00:03:13WELL, I THINK THIS BOOK REALLY IS A RESPONSE TO PEOPLE WHO
00:03:17EVERYWHERE I WENT OVER NEW JERSEY AND THE NATION WERE
00:03:19ASKING ME, WHAT CAN I DO? I'M SO UPSET. I'M ANGRY.
00:03:23I'M HURT AND I'M AFRAID AND IT
00:03:26REALLY INSPIRED ME TO WRITE A
00:03:28BOOK THAT ANSWERED THAT QUESTION. AND SO WHAT I WANTED TO DO WAS
00:03:32TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT VIRTUE, WHICH MIGHT SEEM TOO ABSTRACT,
00:03:36BUT I SAID, ACTUALLY, VIRTUE IS NOT ABSTRACT.
00:03:38IT'S STRATEGY, IT'S STRENGTH. IT'S HOW WE'VE OVERCOME.
00:03:42AND SO I WANTED TO WRITE A BOOK
00:03:44WITH HEROES FROM OUR HISTORY AND OUR PRESENT, NOT PEOPLE
00:03:47NECESSARILY IN HIGH PUBLIC OFFICE, BUT TO SHOW WHAT WE ALL
00:03:50HAVE THE POWER TO DO AND I THINK THIS IS A VITAL, URGENT MOMENT
00:03:54IN OUR HISTORY. BUT I ALSO THINK WE ALL HAVE A
00:03:58CHOICE ABOUT HOW DO WE MEET IT. AND THE REASON WHY WE ARE HERE
00:04:01TODAY WHERE WE ARE IS BECAUSE PEOPLE IN GENERATIONS, IN DARK,
00:04:05DARK TIMES MADE THE CHOICE TO SHOW THE BEST OF OURSELVES IN
00:04:08THE WORST OF TIMES. YEAH, YOU HIGHLIGHT IN THE BOOK
00:04:11WHERE AND THE VERY BEGINNING OF A REFRAIN THAT MANY OF US GREW UP HEARING.
00:04:15IF YOU DON'T STAND FOR SOMETHING, YOU'LL FALL FOR ANYTHING.
00:04:19HAVE YOU HEARD THAT? YEAH. YEAH. EVERYBODY. MY GRANDMA TOLD ME. MY MAMA TOLD ME.
00:04:23AND WHAT HAS THAT COME TO MEAN TO YOU AT THIS POINT IN YOUR
00:04:27LIFE? WELL, I'LL BE HONEST. I HAD.
00:04:29HEY, I.
00:04:31YOU KNOW, COMING UP IN POLITICS
00:04:34IN NEW JERSEY, I KNOW I HAVE TO
00:04:36WATCH WHAT I SAY ON THIS SIDE OF THE RIVER.
00:04:41BUT, YOU KNOW, I CAME UP IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, IN THE TOUGHEST IMAGINABLE.
00:04:46IMAGINE. WELL, POLITICS. IT WAS ROUGH. WE DON'T CALL IT BRICK CITY FOR
00:04:50ANYTHING. IT'S TOUGH. IT'S HARD.
00:04:52AND I CHALLENGE THE INCUMBENT
00:04:54MACHINE AND HAD A LOT OF DIFFICULTIES. AND I TELL YOU THIS, IF YOU'RE
00:04:58GOING TO HAVE SPECTACULAR FAILURE IN YOUR LIFE, HAVE A DOCUMENTARY TEAM THERE TO
00:05:01CAPTURE IT BECAUSE. MY FIRST AWFUL LOSS TO THE
00:05:06MACHINE WAS CAPTURED IN AN OSCAR NOMINATED DOCUMENTARY THAT THEN
00:05:09WOULD GO ON AND LOSE TO MARCH OF
00:05:11THE -- PENGUINS.
00:05:14MY WIFE AND I ARGUE, AM I CUTER THAN A PENGUIN?
00:05:18AND SO SO I IT WAS NEWARK WAS A
00:05:24TIME OF HIGHS AND LOWS, A CITY
00:05:26THAT BROKE ME DOWN AND BUILT ME
00:05:28UP TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
00:05:30AND SO I HAD THIS MOMENT WHEN
00:05:34THIS PRESIDENT WAS ELECTED, I
00:05:36HAD A MOMENT WHERE I THINK ALL OF US WERE FEELING SHOCKED.
00:05:39AND HE DIDN'T COME IN LIKE HE DID LAST TIME. THIS TIME HE CAME IN WITH THIS
00:05:44BIBLE ABOUT HOW THEY WERE GOING
00:05:47TO TRANSFORM OUR SOCIETY, AND THEY STARTED DOING IT RIGHT AWAY.
00:05:50AND SO SUDDENLY WE HAD VETERANS COMING TO OUR OFFICE WHO SAW THE
00:05:54MASSIVE CUTS IN VETERANS SERVICES AS PEOPLE COMING BACK
00:05:58FROM FIGHTING EBOLA ON THE FRONT LINES.
00:06:01SUDDENLY, USAID WAS A VISCERAL.
00:06:03DID PEOPLE JUST WERE WORRIED AND AFRAID. AND SO IN THOSE FIRST MONTHS I'M
00:06:06IN NEWARK WHERE PEOPLE HAVE THIS
00:06:10WONDERFUL WHOLE HABIT OF TELLING ME EXACTLY WHAT'S ON THEIR MIND.
00:06:13YOU KNOW, I'M JOGGING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND PEOPLE SLOW
00:06:17DOWN AND GO, HEY, HEY, MAYOR,
00:06:19YOU ARE GAINING WEIGHT, MAN. AND I'LL BE LIKE, I AM NOT YOUR
00:06:24MAYOR OR AND BEN AND JERRY ARE
00:06:26LIKE, MY BEST FRIENDS.
00:06:31SO.
00:06:31SO HERE I AM IN IN A SUPERMARKET
00:06:35I BROUGHT INTO A FOOD DESERT WHEN I WAS MAYOR. BUT NOW I'M THE SENATOR. I'M WALKING THERE AND THIS GUY
00:06:39CORNERS ME AND HE CORNERS ME IN IT IN A IN A CHILLING PLACE FOR
00:06:43A GUY WHO'S PLANT BASED. IT WAS IN THE FROZEN MEAT AISLE.
00:06:45YOU GO AND YOU GET HIM AND HE
00:06:49JUST STARTS LAYING IN TO BE LIKE, WHY AREN'T YOU DEMOCRATS DOING MORE?
00:06:51AND I SAID, WE'RE IN THE MINORITY. AND HE GOES, WELL, WHY AREN'T
00:06:55YOU CALLING HEARINGS? I SAID, WE CAN'T. AND I WAS EVERYTHING.
00:06:58HE SAID TO ME. I HAD AN EXCUSE WHAT WE COULDN'T DO. AND THEN SUDDENLY HE JUST LOOKS
00:07:02AT ME AND HE MAKES A JOKE THAT I CALL IT DAD JOKE.
00:07:06HE GOES, ARE YOU AN AMERICAN OR AN AMERICAN? OUT.
00:07:09AND AND THEN HE GOT SERIOUS. HE LOOKS AT ME AND HE GOES,
00:07:12WHERE'S THE GUY WHO BEAT THE
00:07:16MACHINE? WHERE'S THE GUY THAT DID A TEN DAY HUNGER STRIKE IN THE
00:07:20PROJECTS TO GET US ALL MOTIVATED TO DO MORE? THERE WAS A GUY THAT MOVED INTO
00:07:23A MOBILE HOME AND PARKED ONE OF THE WORST DRUG QUARTERS IN OUR
00:07:27CITY AND JUST HELPED PEOPLE. WHERE'S THE GUY? AND HE JUST WENT THROUGH MY
00:07:30CAREER. HE GOES, I'VE BEEN VOTING FOR
00:07:34YOU SINCE 1998. WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS RIGHT NOW IS THE GUY I KNOW, NOT THE
00:07:38GUY I'M HEARING.
00:07:39AND SO I WENT BACK TO TO TO
00:07:45WASHINGTON. AND MY CHIEF OF STAFF'S HERE AND
00:07:47MY MY SOUTH JERSEY DIRECTOR,
00:07:49AMAZING WOMEN THERE ON MY TEAM.
00:07:51AND WE JUST STARTED THROWING AROUND IDEAS AND SOMETHING HAD
00:07:55STUCK IN MY CLOTH FOR A LONG TIME, WHICH WAS THE FACT THAT
00:07:57THE RECORD FOR THE LONGEST SPEECH HAD BEEN A RACIST RANT BY
00:08:01A SEGREGATIONIST STROM THURMOND.
00:08:04AND THAT'S WHEN WE DECIDED THAT THAT WE WOULD START TRYING TO
00:08:07DUST OFF THE OLD NEWARK PLAYBOOK. AND START DOING THINGS DIFFERENT TO CHALLENGE THAT.
00:08:11AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY OF YOU WATCHED CORY BOOKER,
00:08:15SENATOR HERE AS HE DOES A LONG
00:08:18TIME TO TALK? YOU KNOW, THAT'S A LONG TIME TO TALK.
00:08:22BUT THIS WAS AND BUT YOU I DON'T THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE REALLY
00:08:26UNDERSTAND ALL THAT YOU HAD TO
00:08:27DO IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS TO
00:08:31BREAK THIS RECORD. SO TO EXPLAIN, LIKE PHYSICALLY
00:08:33HOW CHALLENGING IT WAS AND WHY YOU DECIDED TO TAKE THAT ON.
00:08:37BECAUSE BY THE WAY, WE ALL HAVE A COUSIN PAM BECAUSE YOUR COUSIN PAM. YES.
00:08:41WHO'S A DOCTOR, BY THE WAY. YES.
00:08:43WAS A WAS A LITTLE NERVOUS FOR YOU? YEAH. SHE'S WORRIED ABOUT SOME OF THE
00:08:47THINGS I DID AND WHAT HEALTH RISKS THEY MIGHT BE.
00:08:51BUT I WANT TO STIPULATE BEFORE I TELL YOU WHAT I DID TO PREPARE.
00:08:53BUT RIGHT NOW, YEAH, IN AMERICA,
00:08:56THERE'S IN THIS REGION AND THIS
00:08:58I KNOW I'M ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER. THERE'S SOMEBODY ON THEIR
00:09:01SECOND, MAYBE THIRD SHIFT AT A DINER. YEAH, BECAUSE THEY DON'T DO THAT.
00:09:05IF THEY DON'T CATCH THAT EXTRA SHIFT, THEIR FAMILY IS NOT GOING TO STAY. THERE'S SOMEBODY IN A HOSPITAL
00:09:10THAT'S NOW DOING HUMBLE WORK
00:09:12CLEANING BEDPANS OR BEING A
00:09:17CAREGIVER THAT THEY'RE ON A 24 HOUR SHIFT. SO I JUST WANT AS MUCH AS PEOPLE
00:09:20HAVE FOLKS A LOT OF ATTENTION ON WHAT I DID. THERE ARE PEOPLE IN AMERICA
00:09:24EVERY DAY WHO ARE GOING AROUND THE CLOCK AND SOMETIMES WE DON'T
00:09:27EVEN COUNT IT AS WORK, BUT WE KNOW IT'S WORK. IF YOU'RE TAKING CARE OF A BABY
00:09:31AT HOME AND GOING AROUND THE CLOCK.
00:09:33SO WHAT WE DECIDED TO DO WAS TO DO A SPEECH IN WHICH WE
00:09:37HIGHLIGHTED AMERICANS AND BROUGHT IN THEIR STORIES.
00:09:39BUT PREPARING I HAD SOME WORRIES.
00:09:43I HAD THE WORRY OF THIS, THE PHYSICAL TEST.
00:09:46AND SO I SAID, YOU KNOW, HOW CAN I MAKE SURE I CAN WORK THROUGH,
00:09:49YOU KNOW, THAT THERE'S NO BREAKS, NO BATHROOM BREAKS.
00:09:52WE HAVE TO BE CONTINUOUSLY TALKING. YES, YOU COULD TAKE A SIP OF
00:09:56WATER, BUT. YES, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW THIS YET. WHEN YOU GET TO BE IN YOUR 50S,
00:10:00YOU HAVE TO GET UP LIKE 2 OR 3 TIMES IN THE MIDDLE OF NIGHT TO
00:10:01GO TO THE BATHROOM AND AND SO SO
00:10:07WHO YOU HAD TO PREPARE, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE. LIKE, HOW ARE YOU NOT GOING TO GO TO THE BATHROOM?
00:10:11SO I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE
00:10:13A MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT. SO SPIRITUALLY, I'M A I'M A
00:10:17PERSON OF A FAITH AND A LOT OF
00:10:20PRAYER, A LOT OF CENTER, A LOT OF ASKING FOR PRAYERS FROM
00:10:24COLLEAGUES OF MINE WHO ARE PRAYER WARRIORS LIKE RAPHAEL
00:10:26WARNOCK AND LISA BLUNT, ROCHESTER AND ANGELA, ALSO
00:10:30BROOKS. THEY WERE AMAZING. LISA FROM ROCHESTER BROUGHT ME TO TEARS BY LAYING HANDS ON ME
00:10:34RIGHT BEFORE I STARTED THE 25 HOURS. THERE WAS THE MENTAL
00:10:38PREPARATION, WHICH WAS ALL MY STAFF.
00:10:40THEY PREPARED A 12 BINDERS FULL
00:10:44OF STORIES AND LETTERS FROM
00:10:46PEOPLE, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRAT. SO WE WANTED TO BE INCLUSIVE
00:10:49SPEECH AND THEN PHYSICALLY I HAD TO FAST THREE DAYS TO MAKE SURE
00:10:52I SHUT DOWN THAT SYSTEM. AND THIS IS WHAT FREAKED MY
00:10:55COUSIN OUT WAS JUST NOT DRINK FOR MORE THAN A DAY.
00:10:58SO I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM BECAUSE AS MUCH AS WE
00:11:03TALKED ABOUT WEARING A DIAPER, PEEING ON NATIONAL TV WAS NOT DO
00:11:06THAT, CAN'T DO THAT, CAN'T DO THAT. I JUST DIDN'T THINK I COULD DO IT.
00:11:10YEAH, YEAH. BUT THEN YOU DID IT AND IT BROKE
00:11:14THROUGH BECAUSE THERE'S SO MUCH
00:11:16NOISE IN NEWS AND POLITICS AND
00:11:18JUST THE INTERNET. AND YOU BROKE THROUGH.
00:11:21PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS
00:11:25AND YOU INCLUDE THIS STORY IN YOUR VERY FIRST CHAPTER CALLED
00:11:29AGENCY. YES. EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY AGENCY
00:11:33AND WHY THIS WAS YOUR WAY OF
00:11:37SORT OF TAKING YOUR POWER BACK, TAKING POWER BACK AND AND TAKING
00:11:39A STAND. RIGHT.
00:11:42WELL, I AGAIN, ALL THAT WE ARE IS THE INHERITORS OF A LEGACY OF
00:11:46OUR ANCESTORS. AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING IF YOU LOOK AT AMERICAN HISTORY WAS
00:11:50SHAPED BY AMERICANS WHO RECOGNIZED THEY HAD POWER, AS
00:11:54ALICE WALKER SAYS, THE MOST COMMON WAY PEOPLE GIVE UP THEIR
00:11:58POWER IS NOT REALIZING THEY HAVE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.
00:12:01AND SO WHAT I WHEN I LOOK AT OUR HISTORY, REMEMBER, CHANGE DOES
00:12:05NOT COME FROM WASHINGTON. AS MUCH AS I'M PROUD OF THE SENATE OR THINGS THAT WE'VE
00:12:09DONE. CHANGE DOESN'T COME FROM WASHINGTON. IT COMES TO WASHINGTON.
00:12:12WE DIDN'T GET SUFFRAGE BECAUSE A BUNCH OF MEN ON THE SENATE FLOOR ALL PUT THEIR HANDS IN AND SAID,
00:12:16OKAY, FELLOWS, ON THE COUNT OF THREE, LET'S GIVE THOSE WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
00:12:19IT DIDN'T HAPPEN THAT WAY. IT HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THE
00:12:23CREATIVITY OF THE PERSEVERE
00:12:25SCIENCE, THE STRENGTH OF WOMEN MOSTLY IN OUR COUNTRY, WHO
00:12:29BELIEVED THAT THEY COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE. AND SO WHAT I WANTED TO DO IN
00:12:32THAT VERY FIRST CHAPTER IS PROVE
00:12:35TO PEOPLE THAT ONE PERSON CAN SHAKE THIS COUNTRY.
00:12:39AND THE BOOK HAS LOTS OF STORIES
00:12:41OF INDIVIDUALS NAMES I DIDN'T FULLY KNOW.
00:12:44I KNEW THAT THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT WAS STALLED IN
00:12:48CONGRESS, WASN'T MOVING. AND I REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A
00:12:50LITTLE GIRL, NINE YEARS OLD, WHO
00:12:54WANTED TO DRAMATIZE THAT, THAT THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES
00:12:58OF AMERICA, A SACRED CIVIC
00:13:01SPACE, WAS NOT ACCESSIBLE. SO SHE THREW HERSELF OUT OF HER
00:13:06WHEELCHAIR AND CRAWLED ON HER ELBOWS AND HER CHIN, SCRAPING
00:13:09HERSELF UP, CRAWLED UP THE CAPITOL STAIRS, AND THAT THAT
00:13:13BECAME A NATIONAL PHOTO ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY.
00:13:16INDIVIDUALS, WHETHER IT WAS A TIME THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO
00:13:20SHAME AND BLAME LGBTQ AMERICANS IN THE AIDS CRISIS.
00:13:25COURAGEOUS AMERICANS FORCED A PRESIDENT NOT TO LOOK AWAY IN A
00:13:29DIFFERENCE, BUT TO CONFRONT IT AND GOT INCREDIBLE CHANGE.
00:13:32THAT'S OUR STORIES AND THAT'S
00:13:34WHAT WE WANTED TO ELEVATE.
00:13:36AND I'LL BE VERY DIRECT TO YOU
00:13:38MY FAVORITE STORY FROM HISTORY
00:13:42AND IT'S VERY MOVING TO ME BECAUSE, I MEAN, I WASN'T EVEN ALIVE.
00:13:45IT WAS THE 60S.
00:13:46AND THERE WAS A YOUNG MAN, 26
00:13:50YEARS OLD, JIMMY LEE JACKSON,
00:13:53WHO HIS MOTHER WAS TRYING TO VOTE.
00:13:56THIS IS WHY THE SAFE ACT THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO PUSH THROUGH,
00:14:00IT TRIGGERS SOMETHING IN ME ABOUT THAT RIGHT TO VOTE.
00:14:02AND HIS MOTHER GOT INTO A CONFRONTATION LIKE WE'VE BEEN
00:14:06SEEING IN SOME OF OUR PLACES LIKE MINNEAPOLIS, WHERE A POLICE
00:14:10OFFICER EXCUSE ME, A STATE TROOPER THROUGH HIS MOTHER DOWN,
00:14:13HE RAN TO HELP HIS MOTHER. AND AND THE ALABAMA STATE
00:14:17TROOPER SHOT AND KILLED THIS 26 YEAR OLD CHILD.
00:14:21NOW, THE COMMUNITY WAS IN MOURNING. A MASSIVE FUNERAL.
00:14:25MARTIN LUTHER KING FLEW IN AND SAID THIS, THIS YOUNG MAN WILL NOT DIE IN VAIN.
00:14:29AND A BUNCH OF YOUNG PEOPLE SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, WE'RE NOT
00:14:33WAITING. WE WERE GOING TO MARCH OVER THE EDMUND PETTUS BRIDGE, GO TO THE
00:14:35CAPITOL, AND PROTEST.
00:14:38AND THEY TRIED TO MARCH, LED BY
00:14:40ANOTHER 20 SOMETHING NAMED JOHN LEWIS, A HERO OF MINE, THAT ONE
00:14:44DAY WHEN I WOULD SERVE WITH HIM IN CONGRESS WOULD BECOME MY FRIEND.
00:14:48AND THEN THEY WERE STOPPED AND BEAT DOWN. BUT HERE'S THE POWERFUL PART OF
00:14:51THE STORY THAT TO ME IS JUST
00:14:54UNMATCHED ON THAT DAY, MOST OF
00:14:57AMERICA, THAT EVENING WAS
00:14:59WATCHING A TV SHOW CALLED JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG.
00:15:03AND THIS WAS BACK WHEN THERE WAS HEART.
00:15:06IF YOU'RE NEXT TO A YOUNG PERSON, HOLD THEM FOR A MOMENT BECAUSE THERE WAS A TIME IN
00:15:09AMERICA WHERE WE ONLY HAD THREE
00:15:11CHANNELS OF HOPE FOR YOUR
00:15:15NEIGHBOR.
00:15:16IT WAS HARD AND WE WERE ALL IN
00:15:19BETTER SHAPE BECAUSE YOU HAD TO
00:15:21GET UP AND WALK TO THE TV.
00:15:25THAT'S LIKE 10,000 STEPS RIGHT THERE.
00:15:28DAY AND THIS IS WHY THIS IS THE JOKE.
00:15:30MY MOM TELLS ME TO STOP TELLING. BUT THE BIRTH RATE WAS SO MUCH
00:15:35HIGHER BECAUSE AT 10 P.M. TV WOULD GO OFF. YES, IT WOULD BE LIKE THE NATIONAL.
00:15:39YOU HAD TO FIND SOMETHING TO DO? NO. THEN WATCH AND THAT'S WHAT WOULD
00:15:43A LOT MORE KIDS BORN BACK IN THOSE DAYS. AND SO HERE IS THIS GUY IN NEW
00:15:46JERSEY ON HIS COUCH WATCHING TV. YEAH.
00:15:49AND HE IS SO UPSET BY WHAT HE'S
00:15:52SEEING THAT HE GETS UP AND SAYS, I GOT TO GO TO ALABAMA.
00:15:56BUT HE HAD JUST STARTED HIS LAW FIRM POURED ALL HIS MONEY. HE COULDN'T CLOSE HIS COULDN'T
00:16:00AFFORD A TICKET. SO HE SLUMPS DOWN AND THEN HE
00:16:03DOES SOMETHING THAT IS SO
00:16:05AMERICAN, IT IS SHAPED OUR COUNTRY.
00:16:08THIS DECISION. HE SAID, I AM NOT GOING TO LET
00:16:12MY INABILITY TO DO EVERYTHING TO
00:16:16UNDERMINE MY DETERMINATION TO DO
00:16:18SOMETHING, TO DO SOMETHING IN
00:16:20THE CAUSE OF MY COUNTRY. AND SO HE DOES A MEAGER WHAT YOU MAY THINK IS A MEAGER
00:16:25CALCULATION. BUT THIS IS WHAT WE DO TO
00:16:27SABOTAGE OURSELVES.
00:16:29HE SAID TO HIMSELF, IF THAT'S THE PRESIDENT, CALL AND TELL HIM
00:16:33I AM BUSY.
00:16:36YEAH, I THINK YOU'RE DOING THAT
00:16:38RAT ALWAYS TRIES TO TAKE MY.
00:16:46I MEAN, HE SENT STEPHEN MILLER
00:16:50TO PULL THE FIRE ALARM WHEN I WAS IN MY 25 HOUR SPEECH.
00:16:53NO, BUT HE SAYS HE CAN AFFORD
00:16:56ONE ONE HOUR A WEEK MORE PRO BONO WORK. JUST ONE HOUR.
00:16:59HE CALLS AROUND NEW JERSEY AND FINDS THIS YOUNG WOMAN NAMED LEE
00:17:03PORTER, WHO'S HEAD OF THE NORTH
00:17:05JERSEY FAIR HOUSING COUNCIL, AND
00:17:07SAYS, CAN I HELP YOU NOW, LEE PORTER, I INTERVIEWED HER.
00:17:11SHE JUST DIED LAST YEAR IN HER 90S. STILL HEAD OF THE NORTH JERSEY
00:17:16FAIR HOUSING COUNCIL. AND THEY COME UP WITH A SCHEME
00:17:19THAT WAS NOVEL AT THE TIME,
00:17:21WHICH WAS TO SEND BLACK FAMILIES INTO WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS IN NEW
00:17:25JERSEY. WE WERE A VERY SEGREGATED STATE
00:17:27AND IF THEY WERE TURNED AWAY AND TOLD THE HOUSE WAS SOLD OR
00:17:30PULLED OFF THE MARKET, THEY WOULD SEND THE WHITE COUPLE TO TEST TO SEE IF IT WAS A LIE.
00:17:34AND THEY GOT THE WHOLE THING GOING AND THEY EXPOSE ALL OF
00:17:38THIS RACISM, DISCRIMINATION,
00:17:40HOUSING BARRIERS. AND HE SAID THEY GOT REALLY GOOD AT IT.
00:17:44AND THEY GOT IT IN THE NEWSPAPER AND SHAMED PEOPLE INTO DOING THE RIGHT THING.
00:17:47BUT THEN ONE DAY, YEARS LATER,
00:17:5069, NOW HE GETS A CASE FILE FROM A FAMILY.
00:17:53IT'S REALLY FRUSTRATED COMING UP
00:17:54FROM THE SOUTH, FATHER, MOTHER, TWO YOUNG KIDS, AND THEY GO TO
00:17:59HELP THEM. THEY SEND THEM OUT TO LOOK AT A HOUSE. THEY FALL IN LOVE WITH THE HOUSE.
00:18:02THEY'RE LIED TO, TOLD IT WAS SOLD. THEY LEAVE. WHITE COUPLE COMES, OF COURSE,
00:18:07THE HOUSE IS STILL FOR SALE. WHITE COUPLE PUTS A BID ON THE
00:18:09HOUSE BID ACCEPTED PAPERS WERE DRAWN UP.
00:18:13CLOSING WAS SET AND THE REAL ESTATE AGENTS OFFICE.
00:18:17AND ON THE DAY OF THE CLOSING THEY WALK IN. NOT THE WHITE COUPLE.
00:18:21THE THE THE BLACK MAN AND THE LAWYER, MARTY FRIEDMAN.
00:18:25SO IT'S ALMOST LIKE A GOOD JOKE. A BLACK MAN AND A -- WALK INTO A REAL ESTATE AGENT.
00:18:28OH, MY GOODNESS. AND THEN HE AND THEY CONFRONT
00:18:32THE LAWYER WHO THEN DOESN'T
00:18:34CAPITULATE AND SAY, YOU GOT ME.
00:18:36I'M IN VIOLATION NOW OF 68 FAIR HOUSING LAW.
00:18:39NO, HE'S SO ANGRY THAT THEY DID THIS.
00:18:41HE STANDS UP AND PUNCHES MARTY
00:18:43IN THE FACE AND SINGS A DOBERMAN PINSCHER ON THE BLACK MAN.
00:18:47AND THEY HAVE TO FIGHT THEIR WAY OUT AND THEY GET OUT A LITTLE
00:18:51BIT, BEAT UP, BUT THEY GET OUT, WRITE LEGAL LETTERS.
00:18:54THE OWNERS OF THE HOME FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON THERE. MORTAR, MORTIFY.
00:18:57THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT. THEY SELL THE HOUSE TO THE BLACK FAMILY.
00:19:00THE BLACK FAMILY MOVES IN. MOTHER, FATHER, TWO YEAR OLD AND A LITTLE BABY.
00:19:04IT'S STILL IN THE CRIB.
00:19:06AND THEN 44 YEARS LATER, THAT
00:19:09BABY IN THAT CRIB 44 YEARS LATER
00:19:12GOES ON TO BE A AMERICA'S FOURTH
00:19:15BLACK PERSON EVER ELECTED TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
00:19:18AND SO AND I JUST WANT TO SAY,
00:19:22WHEN I READ THIS, I TOLD YOU BEHIND STAGE LIKE A LITTLE TEAR
00:19:26POPPED OUT MY EYE WHEN I WAS READING YOUR BOOK. THAT WAS THE MOM. YES.
00:19:29I WAS LIKE, WHAT? YES. AND SO LOOK AT THAT LINE OF CONNECTION.
00:19:33WE ARE ALL SO INTRICATELY
00:19:35CONNECTED IN THIS COUNTRY IN A
00:19:37LATTICE THAT IS SO BEAUTIFUL. AND WE STAND UP FOR
00:19:41RIGHTEOUSNESS. WE STAND UP IN PROTEST.
00:19:43WE STAND UP WITH OUR CREATIVE.
00:19:46YOU SHAKE THAT LATTICE. AND IT MAY BE GENERATIONS, BUT
00:19:50YOU ARE SENDING OUT ENERGY THAT IS GOING TO AFFECT THINGS THAT
00:19:52YOU DON'T EVEN REALIZE AND ESPECIALLY WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO
00:19:56DO IS YOU'RE GOING TO INSPIRE OTHER PEOPLE WHEN YOU ACT TO DO
00:19:58SOMETHING THEMSELVES. YEAH, I LOVE THAT STORY, BY THE WAY.
00:20:02SO IT'S NOT LOST ON ME THAT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM OUR
00:20:07REGION WILL HIT THE STREETS FOR THE THIRD. NO. KING YES.
00:20:10PROTEST THIS WEEKEND? UM, PROBABLY SOME OF THE PEOPLE
00:20:14IN THIS WORLD.
00:20:16AND, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN OUT IN
00:20:19THE COMMUNITY AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WANT TO FIGHT.
00:20:21THEY WANT TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE. BUT YOU HAVE MADE THE ARGUMENT
00:20:27THAT HOW WE FIGHT WILL DETERMINE
00:20:29THE KIND OF VICTORY WE HAVE. YOU MADE THAT ARGUMENT.
00:20:33YEAH. AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF THE TYPE OF FIGHT THAT
00:20:37NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW?
00:20:41SO I ONCE RAN FOR PRESIDENT AND
00:20:44I'M IN IOWA AND I'M RUNNING FOR
00:20:48A DEBATE STAGE AND I'M A FORMER TIGHT END.
00:20:50AND IN THE THEN PAC TEN AND THIS
00:20:54GUY OR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAGE LOOKS LIKE HE'S A FORMER LINEBACKER FOR IOWA STATE.
00:20:59AND THE PROBLEM IS, IS I'M NOT IN MY 20S ANYMORE. AND WHEN I GET UP A HEAD OF STEAM, IT'S HARD TO STOP.
00:21:02YEAH, BUT THIS GUY STEPPED RIGHT UP TO ME AND I HAVE TO PUT ALL
00:21:06MY BRAKES ON TO STOP. AND HE GETS RIGHT IN MY FACE. HE GOES, DUDE, I WANT YOU TO
00:21:10PUNCH DONALD TRUMP.
00:21:14THE FIVE PEOPLE THEY WANT. AND I'M LIKE, DUDE, I'M LIKE,
00:21:17DUDE, THAT'S A FELONY.
00:21:21AND HE LAUGHS AND I SAY, HEY, MAN, CAN I JUMP UP ON THE STAGE?
00:21:25AND TEASE YOU A LITTLE BIT? HE GOES, YEAH.
00:21:27AND I HAD I JUMP UP ON THE STAGE AND I SAY, WHAT?
00:21:30HE SAID. BUT BEFORE I COULD GO ON, I QUOTE HIS LINE.
00:21:34HE SAID, TOLD ME TO EVERYBODY, CHEERS. TRUMP PUNCHED HIM IN THE FACE
00:21:38AND I'M JUST LIKE, NO, THIS IS GOING TO BE THE SHORTEST
00:21:41PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN EVER. BUT THAT'S YOU'RE ALL WRONG.
00:21:45I SAID, LISTEN. I SAID, THAT'S HOW WE LOSE.
00:21:49WE MAY WIN AN ELECTION, BUT WE'RE GOING TO LOSE OUR COUNTRY IF WE'RE DOUBLING DOWN ON THE
00:21:53DARKNESS. I SAID TO THINK ABOUT THE LEADERS IN AMERICA IN THE WORST
00:21:56OF TIMES. THINK ABOUT THE CHOICES THEY MADE.
00:21:59THEY KING AND JAMES BEVEL AND DOROTHEA COTTON AND FRED SHUTTLESWORTH.
00:22:03THEY DIDN'T WIN IN BIRMINGHAM BY BRINGING BIGGER DOGS AND BIGGER
00:22:06FIRE HOSES.
00:22:08WHAT THEY DID DO IS THEY TURNED TO SOME OF THE VIRTUES I
00:22:11HIGHLIGHT HERE THAT THAT BECAME STRONG IMAGES, UNBELIEVABLE
00:22:17WEAPONS THAT ENABLED US TO WIN THE HEARTS FIGHT.
00:22:20YOU SEE, KING SAID IT SO ELOQUENTLY.
00:22:23PEOPLE THINK THE FIGHT IS TRUMP. THEY WANT TO CENTER DONALD TRUMP
00:22:27IN THE AMERICAN NARRATIVE RIGHT NOW. HE IS NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER IN
00:22:32OUR STORY. WE ARE THE MAIN CHARACTER AND
00:22:35KING KNEW THAT. HE KNEW THAT HIS BIGGEST PROBLEM
00:22:38WASN'T THE RANTING HATE FILLED
00:22:41RACISTS THAT WERE BLOCKING SEGREGATION.
00:22:44HE SO DO THE REAL PROBLEM WAS US, HE SAID.
00:22:47WHAT WE WILL HAVE TO REPENT FOR IS NOT JUST THE VITRIOLIC WORDS
00:22:51AND VIOLENT ACTIONS OF THE BAD PEOPLE, BUT THE APPALLING
00:22:55SILENCE AND INACTION OF THE GOOD PEOPLE. AND SO WHAT THEY DID IN
00:23:00BIRMINGHAM IS THEY DIDN'T FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE.
00:23:03THEY SAID, HOW ARE WE GOING TO AWAKEN THE CONSCIENCE OF THIS
00:23:07COUNTRY? HOW CAN WE CALL IT THE MORAL? IMAGINE NATION OF A NATION RIGHT NOW?
00:23:10AND THEY TO SOMETHING THAT TAYLOR BRANCH I'M IN A SACRED
00:23:14CIVIC SPACE, A PUBLIC LIBRARY.
00:23:16GOD BLESS THE FREE PUBLIC.
00:23:18THIS IS AN AMAZING INSTITUTION. IT IS WHAT IT IS.
00:23:21AND AND AND THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME IS
00:23:26TAYLOR BRANCH'S PULITZER PRIZE WINNING PARTING THE WATERS, AND
00:23:28THIS CHAPTER HE CALLS THE
00:23:30CHILDREN'S MIRACLE BECAUSE THOSE
00:23:33TWO YOUNG ACTIVISTS, BEVEL AND COTTON, GO TO KING AND SAY,
00:23:36YOU'VE GOT TO CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY. YOU GOT TO LET THE KIDS MARCH.
00:23:40AND THEY THEY CONVINCE HIM AND WHEN THEY MARCHED IN FRONT OF
00:23:42BULL CONNOR AND THE SPECTACLE OF THESE HUGE MEN HITTING THEM WITH
00:23:46FIRE HOSES, ARRESTING THEM ALL THE FIRST TIME IN THE MODERN
00:23:50CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, ALL THE JAILS OF THE CITY WERE FILLED
00:23:54AND THEY WERE FILLED WITH PEOPLE AT YEARS AND YOUNGER.
00:23:56AND IT SO BECAME THIS, THIS, THIS.
00:24:00IN FACT, THE SOVIET UNION EVEN HAD THE PICTURES ON THE FRONT
00:24:03PAGES OF THEIR NEWSPAPER THAT
00:24:06THAT AMERICA RESPONDED. AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS EVEN A
00:24:09RENTAL CAR LEFT IN THE AIRPORTS
00:24:12BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE, -- GREGORY, JOAN BAEZ, THOUSANDS OF
00:24:16AMERICANS CAME DOWN TO BIRMINGHAM AND THE SEGREGATION,
00:24:18THEY SAID WAS IMPLACABLE, INVINCIBLE.
00:24:20SEGREGATION FELL IN 12 DAYS.
00:24:23THAT'S THE POWER WE HAVE IN THIS MOMENT.
00:24:27EVERY THING THAT, IN FACT, FREDERICK DOUGLASS SAID THIS.
00:24:31THE LIMITS OF TYRANNY IS PRESCRIBED, LIVED BY THE
00:24:34ENDURANCE OF THOSE WHO ARE IMPRESSED.
00:24:36WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SAY COLLECTIVELY, I'VE HAD ALL I CAN
00:24:40STAND AND I CAN'T STAND IT NO MORE?
00:24:42YES, I QUOTED POPEYE.
00:24:46THIS IS THE MOMENT WHERE WE SHOULD BE TRYING TO NOT MATCH
00:24:48THEIR FREQUENCY, BUT CHANGE IT
00:24:50FOR THE WHOLE NATION. AND THAT'S WHAT THE NO KINGS RALLY IS REALLY ABOUT.
00:24:54YEAH. AND YOU ORGANIZE THE BOOK AROUND
00:24:58TEN VIRTUES AGENCY BROWN AND
00:25:00GONE NEVER ABILITY PATRIOT TISM TRUTH HUMILITY COMMUNITY
00:25:04CREATIVITY PERSEVERE PERIENCE
00:25:07GRACE AND VISION AND SO YOU'RE A
00:25:11DEMOCRAT VISION GOD BLESS DOES
00:25:13THE DOES YOUR PARTY HAVE A VISION? YEAH.
00:25:16NO, I WANT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. I'M. I HAVE I HAVE A LOT OF ANGER.
00:25:20AND ANGER IS A NEUTRAL FORCE.
00:25:23IT COULD SELF EMULATE YOU. IT COULD BURN YOU UP OR YOU
00:25:25COULD USE IT AS FUEL IN YOUR TANK TO FIGHT HARDER TO GET UP
00:25:29AND BE MORE DETERMINED, MORE GRIT. AND SO I HAVE A LOT OF ANGER NOT
00:25:33JUST TOWARDS DONALD TRUMP. HE IS AGAIN, HE DOES NOT CAPTURE
00:25:36THE FULLNESS OF MY SPIRIT. I'M ANGRY AT MY PARTY AS WELL
00:25:40BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WE'VE COME UP SHORT.
00:25:42I'VE COME UP SHORT. WE HAVEN'T MET THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY.
00:25:46THIS IS A GENERATIONAL MOMENT IN AMERICA.
00:25:50THERE ARE THESE TWO GREAT GENERATIONS THAT PRECEDE ME.
00:25:52THE GENERATION OF MY GRANDFATHERS AND GRANDMOTHER
00:25:55THAT BEAT THE NAZIS, THAT HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE STORY OF
00:26:01COLLECTIVE ACTION AND THE GENERATION OF FDR, THESE
00:26:05EXTRAORDINARY PRESIDENTS AND PEOPLE BELIEVE OR MOVEMENTS SO
00:26:09MUCH MY PARENTS GENERATION, THE CIVIL RIGHTS GENERATION, THE
00:26:13REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS GENERATION, THE LGBTQ RIGHTS, THERE'S SO
00:26:15MANY THINGS THAT THEY ACHIEVED. BUT THIS IS THE LAST BABY BOOMER
00:26:19PRESIDENT. AND I BELIEVE THIS SHOULD BE THE LAST BABY BOOMER HEADS OF THE
00:26:23SENATE. YEAH, WE SEE MILLENNIALS.
00:26:27WE SEE MILLENNIALS, XERS COMING UP.
00:26:30EVEN SOME GEN Z IS NOW GETTING INTO THE ACTION. AND THE QUESTION IS, IS WHAT
00:26:34WILL WE STAND FOR NOT WHO WE'RE
00:26:37AGAINST, BUT WHAT ARE WE FOR?
00:26:39AND I JUST WORRY AT THE VERY
00:26:42MOMENT WE NEED VISION IN THE DARKEST PERIOD OF THE CIVIL
00:26:45RIGHTS, MY MOM TOLD ME ABOUT SO MUCH ABOUT THIS DAY AND SHE LOVED THE FACT THAT MARTIN
00:26:49LUTHER KING DID NOT COME UP THERE AND SAY, I HAVE A 15 POINT
00:26:53POLICY PLAN. NO, NO.
00:26:57HE DIDN'T COME AND SAY I HAVE A
00:26:59BUNCH OF HATE FOR BULL CONNOR OR
00:27:01NO, HE CAME AND CALLED PEOPLE WITH A VISION THAT WAS
00:27:06IRRESISTIBLE ALL TO THE IMAGINATION OF OUR NATION.
00:27:08AND SO MY TEAM AND I ARE STARTING TO SAY, FORGET THE
00:27:12DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR A MOMENT. YOU'RE IN THE ARENA.
00:27:16YOU'VE GOT TO START TALKING ABOUT A VISION FOR OUR COUNTRY.
00:27:18THAT'S WHY THE LAST CHAPTER
00:27:20TALKS ALL ABOUT VISION AND
00:27:22DOESN'T JUST SAY WHAT MY VISION IS. AND MY TEAM AND I ARE NOW
00:27:26ROLLING OUT WHAT WE THINK THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SHOULD STAND FOR. BIG IDEAS.
00:27:29THE FIRST ONE WE ROLLED OUT WAS
00:27:32THAT THE THE THE COUNTRY HAS A
00:27:34TAX SYSTEM THAT IS SO RIGGED
00:27:36AGAINST WORKING AMERICANS.
00:27:38AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS THAT
00:27:40IF YOU ARE VERY WEALTHY, SUPER WEALTHY, AND BY THE WAY, I'M NOT
00:27:44A DEMOCRAT, THAT HATES WEALTH, I WANT YOU IF YOU INVENT SOMETHING, IF YOU RISK YOUR
00:27:47CAPITAL AND START A BUSINESS, IF YOU'RE MADAM C.J. WALKER, I WANT
00:27:50YOU TO BE A MULTI MULTIPLE MILLIONAIRE. BUT I DON'T WANT YOU TO HAVE A
00:27:54TAX SYSTEM WHERE YOU PAY AN EFFECTIVE TAX RATE LOWER THAN
00:27:57THE NURSE THAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT
00:27:59OR THE FIREFIGHTER.
00:28:03SO WE WE HAVE A VERY SIMPLE THING.
00:28:05LET'S UN RIG THE SYSTEM, STOP ALL THAT TAX AVOIDANCE, TAKE ALL
00:28:08THAT SAVINGS AND SIMPLY LIFT THE STANDARD DEDUCTION SO THAT
00:28:12NOBODY IN AMERICA PAYS SEVEN
00:28:14MORE MORE THAN TAXES ON YOUR
00:28:17FIRST $75,000 OF FAMILY EARNINGS, IT WOULD GIVE CLOSE TO
00:28:2090% OF AMERICANS ALLOW THEM KEEP MORE OF THEIR TAX DOLLARS, WOULD
00:28:23CUT THE OUR PLAN WOULD CUT THE CHILD POVERTY RATE IN HALF JUST
00:28:27BY MAKING WORK PAY.
00:28:29AND I'VE SAT WITH TABLE FALLS OF OF NEW JERSEYANS.
00:28:32WE HAVE A LITTLE TAX CALCULATOR AND YOU SHOULD SEE PEOPLE'S EYES
00:28:36POP. YOU KNOW THAT SINGLE MOM MAKING
00:28:38$60,000 A YEAR WITH IT WITH A
00:28:40SMALL CHILD WILL GET $6,000 MORE. AND THEN I ASK THEM, WHAT WOULD
00:28:43YOU DO WITH THAT? OR A FAMILY? MAKE A $150,000 A YEAR.
00:28:46BUT THEY HAVE TWO YOUNG KIDS IN NEW JERSEY.
00:28:50YOU ALL DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PENNSYLVANIA, BUT IT
00:28:52IT'S HARD TO STAY AFLOAT WITH INCOME LIKE THAT.
00:28:55AND THE COST OF KIDS, YOU'LL GIVE THEM 10,000 MORE DOLLARS
00:28:57AND IT WOULDN'T COST IT WOULDN'T RAISE THE DEFICIT AT ALL BECAUSE
00:29:01WE'RE PAYING FOR IT BY GETTING RID OF THOSE ARE THE BIG IDEAS. LET ME GIVE YOU ONE MORE REAL QUICK.
00:29:05YEAH. WE'RE ABOUT TO ROLL OUT A VERY
00:29:08BIG ON THE BUS BILL. MY CHIEF OF STAFF IS SHE'S GOING
00:29:11TO NOW HECKLE ME BECAUSE SHE SAYS, DON'T CALL THE OMNIBUS BILL.
00:29:14BUT THIS WAS MY GREAT IDEA.
00:29:16THE THE ANTI CORRUPT BUS, ONE OF
00:29:21THE BIGGEST THREATS TO OUR DEMOCRACY RIGHT NOW.
00:29:24AND I, I, I CANNOT I CANNOT
00:29:29EMPHASIZE THIS IS PERHAPS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO OUR DEMOCRACY
00:29:33IS THE CORRUPT ACTING POWER OF
00:29:37MONEY IN OUR POLITICS. AND.
00:29:43AT EVERY BILL THAT I SEE, THERE
00:29:47ARE WEALTHY INTERESTS THAT HAVE A SCALE OF WEALTH THAT WAS EVEN
00:29:51IMAGINED. 20 YEARS AGO. REMEMBER ALL THE MONEY SPENT ON
00:29:55DONALD TRUMP? IT WASN'T ALL OUT OF HIS CAMPAIGN.
00:29:57DARK MONEY PAC AFTER DARK MONEY
00:30:01PAC TEN PEOPLE, TEN PEOPLE WHO
00:30:04SPENT WHAT WERE 44% OF THE SPEND
00:30:07ON DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN WERE JUST TEN PEOPLE.
00:30:10AND I PROMISE YOU, THOSE TEN
00:30:12PEOPLE GOT A GREAT RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT.
00:30:16AND I SEE THIS WITH BILLS. I'M NEGOTIATING A BILL RIGHT NOW
00:30:18IN CRYPTO CURRENCY. I THINK THAT WE'VE GOT TO REGULATE IT AND CREATE
00:30:22PROTECTIONS FOR CONSUMERS.
00:30:25BUT AS VERONICA AND I ARE NEGOTIATING THIS BILL, THE
00:30:28CRYPTO INDUSTRY ROLLS OUT A A
00:30:35ALMOST $200 MILLION PACK. FOR TEN YEARS AGO, THERE WAS NOT
00:30:40A $200 MILLION PACK BILLIONAIRES DON'T EVEN NEED TO SPEND THE MONEY ANYMORE.
00:30:44THIS IS A CORRUPT OUR SYSTEM'S GOT NOW THEY CAN JUST SAY, HEY,
00:30:47IF YOU DON'T DO WHAT I WANT YOU
00:30:49TO DO, I WILL PUT $20 MILLION IN
00:30:53A PRIME AGAINST YOU AND PEOPLE
00:30:57CAPITULATE TO THAT. YEAH. AND SO WE WANT TO DO A BIG BILL
00:31:01TO FINALLY, ONCE AND FOR ALL, GET RID OF ALL THE CORRUPTION,
00:31:03ALL THE MONEY, UNDO CITIZENS
00:31:06UNITED, AND THEN PUT THE LEADERS LIKE ME. YEAH.
00:31:10ON A SHORT LEASH. SENATORS SHOULD NOT TRADE
00:31:13STOCKS.
00:31:15WE A SENATOR OR PRESIDENT SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FORM A
00:31:18CRYPTO COIN AND HAVE FOREIGN
00:31:21NATIONS PUT LITERALLY OVER $100 MILLION BRIBING YOU WHEN YOU'RE
00:31:25MAKING DECISIONS THAT AFFECT THAT FOREIGN COUNTRY. SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, THE
00:31:29HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND, SHOULD NOT HAVE THE LOWEST
00:31:32ETHICS LAWS IN THE LAND.
00:31:38IF WE GOT RID OF THAT, IT WOULD
00:31:40BRING SO MUCH MORE SENSE AND SENSIBILITY BACK TO OUR POLITICS. SO I'M GOING TO END BY QUOTING
00:31:46JEFFERSON. HE SAID IT VERY SIMPLY. HE SAID, IF THE PEOPLE ARE
00:31:51AFRAID OF THEIR GOVERNMENT, THERE IS TYRANNY.
00:31:54IF THE GOVERNMENT IS AFRAID OF THEIR PEOPLE, THERE IS LIBERTY.
00:31:58THERE ARE POLITICIANS RIGHT NOW IN THE SENATE THAT ARE MORE
00:32:01AFRAID OF DONALD TRUMP THAN THEY ARE OF THE PEOPLE THAT THEY
00:32:05REPRESENT. AND UNTIL WE CHANGE THAT, WE'RE GOING TO DEAL WITH THE
00:32:09DEMAGOGUERY THAT'S FUELED BY BY
00:32:12UNGODLY AMOUNTS OF MONEY IN OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM. YEAH.
00:32:20AND THAT IS A VISION THAT I
00:32:23THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN GET BEHIND. SENATOR.
00:32:26BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE CALLED FOR MORE COURAGE IN THIS MOMENT. YES.
00:32:29THAT VISION CANNOT BE EXECUTED WITHOUT COURAGE.
00:32:33SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE INSIDE OF CONGRESS, ESPECIALLY
00:32:36WHEN A LOT OF US HAVE BEEN SORT OF SITTING BACK. YES.
00:32:40LOOKING AND WE'RE THINKING, OH, WOW, CONGRESS IS NOT DOING THE
00:32:44JOB THAT THEIR CONSTITUTION ONLY TOLD TO DO.
00:32:49SO WHAT DOES COURAGE LOOK LIKE FOR CONGRESS SO THAT THAT VISION
00:32:52THAT YOU HAVE. YES. COULD BECOME REALITY? SO I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
00:32:56BUT THEN YOU GOING TO LET ME I WANT TO TURN IT BACK ON THE FOLKS HERE, BECAUSE THERE IS
00:32:59THIS IDEA SOMETIMES THAT DEMOCRACY IS A SPECTATOR SPORT.
00:33:03AND IF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THAT CONGRESSIONAL ARENA AREN'T
00:33:06DOING THEIR JOB, WE COULD YELL BOO, WE COULD CHEER WHEN THEY DO.
00:33:10BUT AS I MAKE IN THAT CHAPTER VISION, I TURN IT BACK ON.
00:33:12WHAT IS YOUR VISION?
00:33:14AND SO FIRST FOR US, LIKE WE ARE
00:33:17IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MOMENT, MOMENT IN AMERICA, 250 YEARS.
00:33:20WE'VE NEVER HAD A MOMENT LIKE THIS. AND I CAN'T BLAME IT ALL ON
00:33:24DONALD TRUMP BECAUSE IT BEGAN IN MY LIFETIME WITH THE BUSH
00:33:28ADMINISTRATION. AND WHEN WE STARTED TO GO TO WAR
00:33:31AND NOT UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES.
00:33:34NOW, BUSH DID IT. WHAT MANY OF YOU DON'T KNOW
00:33:36THIS, BUT WHAT GEORGE BUSH WAS THE FIRST TIME EVER WHEN WE WENT
00:33:39TO WAR AND TRIED TO MAKE IT NOT
00:33:43TRY TO SAY THAT AMERICA, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SACRIFICE ANYTHING
00:33:46FOR THIS WAR. IT'S ONLY GONNA BE A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN FACT,
00:33:50WE'RE GOING TO GIVE YOU A TAX CUT AS WE GO TO WAR. THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME WE EVER
00:33:54WENT TO WAR WHERE WE SAID TO AMERICANS, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PAY FOR IT.
00:33:58WE'RE GOING TO RUN UP TRILLIONS
00:34:00OF DOLLARS OF DEBT AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU
00:34:03PLEASE GO OUT AND SHOP. MORE WITH WHAT BUSH SAID.
00:34:06BUT WAR IS IS IS EVIL.
00:34:11AS ONE GREAT GENERAL ONCE SAID, SOMETIMES IT'S A NECESSARY EVIL.
00:34:13BUT DON'T FORGET, IT IS STILL EVIL.
00:34:18AND YOU'VE SEEN SINCE THAT BUSH
00:34:20ERA OF OF. 911, CONGRESS IS BEGINNING TO
00:34:26SAY, I'M NOT GOING TO DO OUR JOB BECAUSE EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE
00:34:30BUSH HAS USED THESE AUTHORIZED ACTIONS TO SAY, I'M JUST GOING
00:34:34AFTER TERRORISTS, DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THAT OFFICE HAVE
00:34:39BOMBED OTHER COUNTRIES AND DONE A LOT. AND THE CONGRESS HAS NOT CLAWED
00:34:42BACK ITS POWER. AND WHEN YOU SET UP A MOVEMENT
00:34:46LIKE THAT, YOU ARE ASKING A
00:34:48DEMAGOGUE PRESIDENT WHO SEEKS
00:34:50AUTHORITARIAN POWER TO COME IN
00:34:52AND WAY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT.
00:34:55SO UNLIKE OBAMA OR OR TRUMP IN
00:35:00HIS FIRST TERM, WHAT DONALD TRUMP HAS DONE RIGHT NOW IS SUCH
00:35:03AN A VISCERAL VERSION OF THE
00:35:06CONSTITUTION, BECAUSE NOW WE'RE IN THE BIGGEST MILITARY CAMPAIGN
00:35:09SINCE THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. IT IS AFFECTING 15 DIFFERENT
00:35:13COUNTRIES NOW, HAVE EITHER BEEN DIRECTLY ATTACKED OR HAD THEIR
00:35:17BASES IN THE REGION ATTACKED. IT HAS SENT THE BIGGEST OIL
00:35:20SHOCK TO OUR COUNTRY MORE THAN TWICE THE 1973 OIL SHOCK.
00:35:24IN TERMS OF THE EFFECT ON AMERICANS AND THE REST OF THE
00:35:27WORLD, HE HAS LITERALLY RELEASED
00:35:32SANCTIONS ON OUR SOME OF OUR BIGGEST GLOBAL ADVERSARIES.
00:35:35HE'S GIVING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO RUSSIA.
00:35:37AND I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS. YOU'RE AT WAR WITH A COUNTRY AND
00:35:41THEN YOU GIVE THEM BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN OIL SALES AT THE SAME TIME.
00:35:45IT HAS COST US ALL MONEY AT A
00:35:48TIME THAT WE'VE TAKEN AWAY OUR HEALTH CARE COSTS AND MORE.
00:35:51BUT I'M NOT DONE YET.
00:35:55200 AMERICAN SOLDIERS.
00:35:59MORE THAN 200 SOLDIERS HAVE PHYSICAL INJURIES NOW, SEVERE
00:36:01ONES, MANY OF THEM. AND THOSE INVISIBLE INJURIES THAT HAUNT YOU.
00:36:06AND THEN 13 OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS HAVE DIED. AS WE ARE MOVING MORE SOLDIERS
00:36:09INTO THE REGION.
00:36:11NOW, THE CONGRESS HAS A JOB IN ARTICLE ONE, SECTION EIGHT, A
00:36:16JOB ONLY WE CAN DECLARE WAR.
00:36:19THE PRESIDENT'S OPENLY CALLING THIS A WAR, BUT HE HAS NOT COME TO CONGRESS.
00:36:23HE'S LIED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE JUST IN THESE CONTRADICTIONS
00:36:25ABOUT WHAT THE PROVOCATION FOR WAR WAS. HIS STORY HAS CHANGED MULTIPLE
00:36:29TIMES, AND HE HASN'T TOLD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OR PEOPLE IN CONGRESS.
00:36:33AS NOW, REPUBLICANS ARE STARTING TO SAY, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE OFF RAMP IS.
00:36:36THERE'S NO CLEAR OBJECTIVE HERE.
00:36:39AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE? WE ALL HAVE SWORN AN OATH TO
00:36:43UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION.
00:36:46WE SEE A PRESIDENT VIOLATING IT.
00:36:48IF YOU READ OUR FOUNDERS ON THIS 250TH ANNIVERSARY, MAYBE I'M
00:36:51SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME LOOKING AT THE FEDERALIST PAPERS.
00:36:53BUT FEDERALIST 47, SAYS CLEARLY ONE OF THE JOBS OF THE UNITED
00:36:57STATES SENATE IS TO CHECK THE ABUSES OF AN EXECUTIVE THAT IS
00:37:02OVERSTEPPING THEIR AUTHORITY. AND WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
00:37:05NOT ONE PUBLIC HEARING.
00:37:07NO OVERSIGHT, NO CHECKS AND
00:37:09BALANCES, NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
00:37:11WE ARE FAILING THE VERY CONSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND
00:37:16VIOLATING THAT WAS SET UP AND VIOLATING OUR OATH. AND SO WHAT I'VE DONE NOW WITH
00:37:20FIVE SENATORS, WE JUST VERONICA, ARE TALKING TODAY, A NUMBER OF
00:37:23OTHER SENATORS HAVE JOINED US TO SAY WE CANNOT LET THIS BODY
00:37:26CONTINUE AS BUSINESS AS USUAL. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO GUM THIS
00:37:30UP WITH THE PROCEDURAL LEVERS WE HAVE, WHICH IS TO FORCE OVER AND
00:37:33OVER AGAIN. REPUBLICANS HAVE TO COME TO THE
00:37:36SENATE AND VOTE IN FAVOR OF CONTINUING DONALD TRUMP'S WAR
00:37:39THAT'S LOSING POPULARITY. AND WE'RE GOING TO KEEP DOING
00:37:43IT. AND I TOLD PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, LIKE LIKE LIKE MOTHER TERESA,
00:37:47SHE'S THEY ASKED HER, HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS? AND SHE SAID, I WAS NOT CALLED
00:37:50TO BE SUCCESSFUL. ALL I WAS CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL.
00:37:54WE WERE GOING TO CONTINUE TO FAITHFUL FIGHT FOR OUR CONSTITUTION.
00:37:57AND I BELIEVE IF YOU HAVE STRONG
00:38:00SENATORS LIKE THE SIX OF US, SOON TO BE 8 OR 9 STANDING UP
00:38:03AND TRYING TO FORCE THE SENATE TO HAVE DEBATE, HAVE HEARINGS
00:38:07AND MORE COMBINED WITH MOBILIZE
00:38:09THESE PEOPLE DEMANDING THAT
00:38:12THEIR GOVERNMENT DO ITS JOB,
00:38:16DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY, THE POWER, THE PEOPLE IS GREATER THAN THESE PEOPLE IN POWER THAT
00:38:20THAT TOGETHER CAN ACTUALLY BRING THIS WAR TO AN END.
00:38:24BUT I WANT TO SHIFT THIS TO YOU BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE ARE.
00:38:28YOU CAN'T JUST SIT BACK AND BE OUTRAGED.
00:38:31YOU HAVE TO GET OUT WORKING. YOU CAN'T JUST BE ANGRY.
00:38:35YOU'VE GOT TO BE USING THAT AS A FUEL TO MAKE YOU A MORE
00:38:38EFFECTIVE ACTIVIST.
00:38:40I ADMIT A LOT OF MY MISTAKES. IT'S A LOT OF STORIES FROM
00:38:44HISTORY, AND THAT'S WHY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR DORIS KEARNS
00:38:47GOODWIN, JON MEACHAM, HENRY LOUIS GATES FOR WRITING PRAISE FOR THE BOOK BECAUSE OF ITS
00:38:51HISTORY. BUT I PUT IN A LOT OF THESE
00:38:53CHAPTERS MY OWN FAILINGS,
00:38:55BECAUSE EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIFE WE HAVE TO HAVE A BOLDER VISION
00:38:58FOR OURSELVES AND OUR COUNTRY. BUT IT ALWAYS COMES BACK TO WHAT WE ARE DOING.
00:39:02AND SO LET ME JUST SHARE WITH
00:39:04YOU ONE OF MY FAILINGS.
00:39:06AND IT MAY SOUND SMALL, BUT THIS
00:39:08IS WHAT IT TAKES TO HIT THAT
00:39:11LATTICE AND HAVE IT REVERBERATE OUT.
00:39:13AND IT'S A SHAMEFUL MOMENT FOR
00:39:15ME BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF YOU
00:39:17ALL HAVE THESE IN PENNSYLVANIA. WE HAVE THEM IN NEW JERSEY.
00:39:20I WAS DRIVING PAST ONE. WHEN I SAY I'M DRIVING, THAT'S
00:39:23WHAT SENATORS SAY WHEN SOMEBODY
00:39:24WAS DRIVING THEM AND I WAS BEING
00:39:29DRIVEN BY THIS PLACE.
00:39:34I DON'T KNOW IF YOU GUYS HAVE IN HERE. IT'S CALLED MCDONALD'S.
00:39:36AND AND THE GUY THAT'S DRIVING
00:39:38ME IS GUY NAMED KEVIN BATTS.
00:39:40WHO WHO'S BEEN WITH ME IN THIS
00:39:43IS A DETECTIVE IN THE NEWARK POLICE DEPARTMENT.
00:39:45AND NOW HE'S ON MY SENATE STAFF. WE'VE BEEN IN THE CAR TOGETHER
00:39:49FOR GOD 20 YEARS AND WE DON'T HAVE TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER.
00:39:53HE CAN JUST LOOK IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR AND SENSE THAT I'M IN ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS WHERE I'VE GOT
00:39:57TO DO WORK. I GOT TO READ DOCUMENTS, WHATEVER. AND SO HE AS WE GET READY TO
00:40:00PASS THIS MCDONALD'S, HE LOOKS IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR AND
00:40:04IMMEDIATELY, QUICKLY LURCHES INTO THE DRIVE THROUGH BECAUSE
00:40:08HE, USING HIS TELEPATHIC POWERS, LOOKED IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR
00:40:12AND SAW THE LOOK OF SHAME ON MY FACE.
00:40:14AND HE KNEW THAT I NEEDED A PHYSICAL ADDICTION HERE.
00:40:19I NEEDED SOME MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES, OF COURSE.
00:40:21WELL, NOW I AM THE LEADER IN THE
00:40:25SENATE FOR SCHEDULING MARIJUANA,
00:40:27BUT WE SHOULD SCHEDULE ALL MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES.
00:40:31I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY PUT ON THEM. I THINK IT IS AN ILLEGAL
00:40:35SUBSTANCE. I'M SAYING IT'S A IT'S IN THE SALT.
00:40:38IT'S IT'S IT'S. SO WE GO THROUGH THIS AND I
00:40:41ORDER MY TWO FRIES WITH SHAME IN MY VOICE. I GET THESE TWO FRIES AND I'M
00:40:45HOLDING THEM LIKE I'M FROM THAT MOVIE LORD OF THE RINGS, MY
00:40:50PRECIOUS. AND. AND AND. AND THEN I LOOK AT HIM.
00:40:54HE DOESN'T NEED ANY COMMUNICATION. HE STARTS DRIVING OUT OF THE
00:40:57DRIVE THROUGH AND I'M HAPPY. AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE PUTS ON THE BRAKES.
00:41:01HE KNOWS THIS BECAUSE I SEE A
00:41:03GUY DIGGING IN A TRASH CAN AND I
00:41:05AND I ROLLED OUT MY WINDOW AND I GO, HEY, MAN, WHAT'S UP?
00:41:09AND HE WAKES ME AWAY AND I REALIZE IMMEDIATELY THE TONE IN
00:41:12MY VOICE DID NOT RECOGNIZE OUR
00:41:16EQUAL DIGNITY AND SO I SOFTENED MY VOICE A LITTLE BIT.
00:41:19I GO CIRCLES. SCUSE ME. I'M SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, BUT DO YOU NEED ANYTHING?
00:41:23IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO FOR YOU? AND HE TURNS AROUND AND HE SAYS,
00:41:27I'M HUNGRY NOW.
00:41:29I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR FAITHS ARE. WE HAVE LOTS OF DIFFERENT FAITHS, I'M SURE REPRESENT IN
00:41:33THE ROOM. BUT IN MY FAITH, I KNOW JESUS SAID SOMETHING LIKE, IF YOUR
00:41:35NEIGHBOR HAS NO MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES AND YOU HAVE AND
00:41:39YOU HAVE TWO MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES, I THINK IT WAS THE SERMON
00:41:42ON THE MOUNT I'M SORRY LAST THAT
00:41:45JOE HAD PROMISED. AND AND SO I KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO DO.
00:41:50I KNOW MY FAITH. I REACH IN THE BAG AND I PULL
00:41:53OUT ONE OF MY TWO MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES, AND I HAND IT TO
00:41:56HIM AND HE RECEIVES IT WITH JOY.
00:41:59HE SMILES AT ME AND MY KNEES THANKS ME.
00:42:03HE STEPS AWAY FROM THE CAR, BUT THEN HE LEANS BACK IN.
00:42:05HE GOES, HEY, MAN, YOU WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO HAVE AN EXTRA PAIR OF
00:42:09SOCKS THAT I COULD HAVE. WOW.
00:42:11AND I KNEW IMMEDIATELY THAT HE
00:42:14WAS ASKING BECAUSE HE HAD A REAL
00:42:17NEED AND ANYBODY WHO'S WORKED WITH FOLKS WHO ARE UNHOUSED THAT
00:42:21THAT'S A POPULAR REQUEST.
00:42:23AND I, I KNEW I DON'T CARE EXTRA SOCKS BY CAR BUT I VAINLY LOOKED
00:42:26LEFT AND RIGHT AND I GO, MAN, I'M SO SORRY.
00:42:29I DON'T HAVE ANY SOCKS. AND SO HE STEPS BACK AND SORT OF
00:42:32GIVES ME A CHEERS WITH THE FRIES. I TURN TO KEVIN, LET'S DRIVE
00:42:36BECAUSE I LOVE MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES, BUT NOT COLD MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES.
00:42:40I NEED TO GET HOME. AND KEVIN, THOUGH, DOESN'T
00:42:43TELEPATHY SINCE BROKEN, HE DOESN'T MOVE.
00:42:47AND I'M STARING IN THE REARVIEW
00:42:50MIRROR LIKE, DUDE, BRITISH BAKING SHOW. I NEED A BUCKLE.
00:42:54MY PANTS SIT ON MY COUCH AND EAT THESE FRIES. BUT HE DOES NOT. HE DOES NOT HERE.
00:42:57AND THEN HE DOES SOMETHING TO ME THAT INSPIRES ME TO THIS DAY.
00:43:03HE PUT THE CAR IN PARK, REACHES
00:43:05BETWEEN THE STEERING WHEEL AND
00:43:07THE SEAT KICKS OFF HIS SHOES,
00:43:10TAKES OFF THE SOCKS HE'S WEARING, FOLDS THEM SO
00:43:14RESPECTFULLY AND HANDSOME OUT THE DOOR WITH THE SORT OF NOD
00:43:17LOWERING OF HIS HEAD. THE MAN RECEIVES THEM LIKE
00:43:20RECEIVING A BAR GOLD BEAMS A
00:43:23SMILE, AND WE DRIVE OFF. THAT IS VISION.
00:43:27YEAH. IN THAT MORAL MOMENT, I MY VISION WAS NOT BROAD ENOUGH TO
00:43:31KNOW HOW I COULD HELP ANOTHER, HOW I CAN SUPPORT ANOTHER.
00:43:34AND AS I SHOW IN THIS BOOK, YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE WHAT THAT
00:43:38ONE ACT OF KINDNESS DOES, BUT I
00:43:41PROMISE YOU IS INFECTIOUS. AND AT THIS TIME, WHEN THERE'S
00:43:44SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE FEELING FEAR AND YOU MAY BE ONE OF THEM
00:43:47OR FEELING HURT AND YOU MAY BE
00:43:50ONE OF THEM, I'VE LEARNED IN MY LIFE YOU ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO
00:43:54ADDRESS MY INJURY, MY HURT, MY
00:43:56FEAR IS TO TENDING TO ANOTHER.
00:43:59AND PERHAPS THAT KIND OF VISION ULTIMATELY COULD PREVAIL IN OUR
00:44:03COUNTRY. AND IF IT DOES, WE ARE GOING TO
00:44:05LIVE UP TO THE HOPES AND DREAMS
00:44:07OF OUR ANCESTORS.
00:44:16SO.
00:44:20WE HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS FROM PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE. I LOVE THAT.
00:44:23AND SO LET'S GET THESE IN.
00:44:26EMILY COHEN ASK, IS EMILY COHEN
00:44:28HERE STILL HERE WHERE SHE. HI, EMILY. HOW ARE YOU?
00:44:32EMILY, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO NEW
00:44:38JERSEY. OH, 25 YEARS. SO YOU COULD NO LONGER VOTE FOR
00:44:43ME. NEXT QUESTION. OH, NO, I'M SORRY. GO AHEAD.
00:44:46THIS MAY HELP SOME. THIS MAY HELP. OKAY. SEE, EMILY ASKED.
00:44:50SHE SAYS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, DESPITE ALL ITS
00:44:54EVILNESS, SHE IS GREAT AT NAMING EVERYTHING THEY DO.
00:44:57WE AS DEMOCRATS DO A REALLY POOR JOB OF THIS.
00:45:00AND ONE EXAMPLE IS DEFUND THE POLICE.
00:45:03HOW DO WE AS A PARTY BETTER
00:45:07POSITION WHAT WE BELIEVE TO THE MEDIA AND PUBLIC? THEY ALWAYS USE OUR WORDS
00:45:10AGAINST US AND WE NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB OF MESSAGING.
00:45:13HOW WOULD YOU SUGGEST WE UNIFY
00:45:16THE DEMOCRATS IN THIS MISSION
00:45:18THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
00:45:22SO I HAVE ONE OF MY FRUSTRATIONS WITH THE DEMOCRATS IS
00:45:27COMMUNICATIONS AND I THINK WE
00:45:29ARE WE'VE DONE A REALLY BAD JOB COMMUNICATING AND MY PARENTS
00:45:33WOULD TELL ME, DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING UNLESS YOU'RE WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT
00:45:37IT. SO I COMPLAINED TO CHUCK SCHUMER
00:45:39ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS AND IT WAS
00:45:41IT WAS LIKE TWO CYCLES AGO NOW.
00:45:45BUT BEFORE DONALD TRUMP WAS ELECTED AND I SAID TO HIM THAT
00:45:49THERE'S THREE THINGS ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS IS IMPORTANT. IT'S THE MESSENGER.
00:45:52THE MESSAGE AND THE MEDIUM. AND I WAS JUST UPSET WITH HIM
00:45:57THAT MY COLLEAGUES, I'M THE ONLY
00:46:00I MEAN, THE ONLY JOB THAT YOU COULD BE IN YOUR 50S AND BE
00:46:03CONSIDERED VERY, VERY YOUNG. THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
00:46:07AND I SAID THE PROBLEM WITH OUR
00:46:09COLLEAGUES IS I THINK THEY HAVE A REALLY GREAT THINGS TO SAY,
00:46:12BUT THEY ARE NOT USING THE FORMS
00:46:15OF COMMUNICATION THAT MOST
00:46:17PEOPLE ARE USING TO GET THEIR NEWS AND INFORMATION.
00:46:20SO WE WERE NOT USING DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS AT ALL REALLY AS
00:46:24A SENATE. AND I SHOWED HIM THE NUMBERS. YOU CAN NOW MEASURE THIS.
00:46:27MOST AMERICANS NOW GET THEIR NEWS FROM THEIR HANDHELD DEVICES ON THEIR OWN.
00:46:31AND SO I TOOK ON THE JOB FOR MY
00:46:34CAUCUS AFTER I SHOWED THE REPUBLICANS WERE OUT COMMUNICATING.
00:46:38A SENATOR, POUND FOR POUND, COMPARING THEIR AVERAGE REACH IN OURS.
00:46:43BUT WHAT WAS WORSE THAN THAT IN
00:46:45THE 20 THE LAST PRESIDENTIAL
00:46:50ELECTION FOR EVERY TEN PODCAST ON LOADS THAT DONALD TRUMP HAD,
00:46:55KAMALA HAD WON. WE WERE NOT SHOWING UP WHERE
00:46:57YOUNG MEN WERE ON THINGS LIKE DISCORD AND STITCH.
00:47:01THESE ARE GAMING PLATFORMS AND SPORTS.
00:47:04THEY WERE PAYING INFLUENCERS AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS AND OTHER
00:47:08THINGS. AND SO HOW DO YOU CHANGE THAT? BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN WORKING
00:47:11OUTSIDE THE REPUBLICAN CAUSE, HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS, THIS
00:47:15CREATING THIS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A LONG TIME. AND DEMOCRATS ARE BEHIND.
00:47:17SO WE WERE WAY BUT WE WERE WAY BEHIND THE SENATORS. BUT I BASICALLY STARTED TEACHING
00:47:22MY COLLEAGUES HOW TO USE THESE
00:47:25PLATFORMS, BRINGING IN INFLUENCERS THAT THEY HAD NEVER
00:47:28HEARD OF, LIKE AARON PARNAS, WHO EARLIER LAST.
00:47:32SOME OF YOU KNOW WHO HE IS. HE'S A GUY THAT GOT MORE ENGAGEMENT ON HIS ONLINE
00:47:36PLATFORMS THAN DONALD TRUMP DID BACK IN JUNE AND JULY.
00:47:38A GUY NAMED JUAN CARLOS OSPINA,
00:47:42WHO IS WHO IS THE OPRAH OF I
00:47:44SHOULD SAY THAT BECAUSE HE GETS
00:47:47MILLIONS OF MORE VIEWS AND OPRAH DOES. BUT HE'S ONE OF THE TOP ENGAGED
00:47:52INFLUENCERS IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE. AND I BROUGHT THESE PEOPLE IN.
00:47:55I BROUGHT PLATFORMS IN, AND SLOWLY WE INCREASED OUR REACH.
00:47:59IN FACT, WE HAVE NOW SO SURPASSED THE REPUBLICANS.
00:48:03IF YOU IF YOU TAKE OUT TWITTER, WHICH IS A DYING PLATFORM,
00:48:06FRANKLY, BUT YOUTUBE IS EXPLODING, TIKTOK IS EXPLODING,
00:48:11INSTAGRAM IS EXPLODING. WE SEVEN EIGHT ARE SEVEN TIMES
00:48:13MORE ENGAGEMENT OF MY SENATE.
00:48:17AND SOME OF THEM SOME OF YOU REMEMBER THIS OTHER BOLD NEW
00:48:19JERSEY AND NAMED MARK KELLY.
00:48:21HE'S FROM JERSEY, BUT HE'S ARIZONA SENATOR.
00:48:25HE'S IN THE NEW JERSEY HALL OF FAME.
00:48:27I AM NOT.
00:48:29HE'S AN ASTRONAUT OUT OF THIS WORLD.
00:48:32I GO HOME TO NEWARK. AND BUT MARK KELLY, MOST OF
00:48:36AMERICA KNOWS THAT HE SOLD HIS HIS TESLA.
00:48:40IT WAS AMAZING. VIRAL VIDEO. THE FIRST IN HIS FIRST WEEK, HE
00:48:43EARNED MILLIONS OF VIEWS ON TIKTOK.
00:48:45SO THE SENATE CAUCUS NOW GETS
00:48:48MORE ENGAGEMENT THAN DONALD
00:48:50TRUMP DOES ON HIS PLATFORMS. AND SO WHAT I'M SAYING, THERE'S
00:48:54ALWAYS A STRATEGY OF COMMUNICATIONS.
00:48:56I AM UPSET ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. BUT BEFORE I GET UPSET AT THEM,
00:49:00WHAT AM I DOING TO CHANGE IT? I'VE TAKEN ON THE CHALLENGE OF
00:49:04MY 47 DEMOCRATS, BUT I'M ALSO TRYING TO TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE
00:49:07OF WHERE OUR PARTY IS GOING TO GO IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
00:49:10AND SO YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR A
00:49:12LOT MORE CREATIVE COMMUNICATE FOR ME AND WHAT IS I HOPE
00:49:16HAPPENS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS
00:49:17IS THAT THERE IS A MARKET PLACE
00:49:21OF IDEAS AND COMMUNICATION.
00:49:23AND WHEN THIS NEXT GENERATION, THE FIRST NON BABY BOOMER
00:49:27PRESIDENT WE'VE HAD IN A LONG TIME, THE FIRST NON BABY BOOMER HEADS OF THE SENATE, I HOPE THEY
00:49:31ARE MASTER COMMUNICATOR BECAUSE
00:49:33I'M WITH YOU IN POLITICS IS
00:49:38PROSE. I'M A NERD. I CAN TELL YOU MORE ABOUT HOUSING POLICY THAN YOU MAY WANT
00:49:43TO KNOW, BUT IT'S ALSO THE
00:49:45POETRY ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY
00:49:48CAN DO FOR YOU. WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR
00:49:51ITSELF WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE,
00:49:54WITH CHARITY, TOWARDS ALL. WHEN I BECAME MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEWARK.
00:49:57YEAH, I KNEW IT WOULD TAKE ME
00:50:00YEARS TO BEND THE CURVE OF CRIME.
00:50:03NOT WHERE I WANTED TO GO. MONTHS BEFORE I COULD DROP THE
00:50:06MURDER RATE AS I JUST CAME IN IN JULY.
00:50:08BUT I KNEW MY MY RESIDENT AS WE ALL HAD.
00:50:11I NEEDED EVERYBODY'S HELP ON CRIME. AND SO WHAT DID I DO?
00:50:17POETRY? I SAID, I'M GOING TO SHOW FIRST.
00:50:18AND SO I HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE
00:50:21IN THE MOST DANGEROUS SECTOR OF
00:50:23THE CITY WHERE MY NEW POLICE
00:50:25FORCE SAID TO ME, THIS IS WHERE THE MOST SHOOTINGS ARE.
00:50:28CORY IN NEWARK, I HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE THERE AND I SAID,
00:50:31EVERYBODY, WE ARE IN THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE.
00:50:35ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
00:50:38AND I'M YOUR MAYOR.
00:50:39AND I POINTED TO A A APARTMENT
00:50:42AND I SAID, I'M MOVING INTO THIS APARTMENT.
00:50:46AND THEN I SAID, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, IT'S LIKE 15 POLICE
00:50:50OFFICERS TO PROTECT THEM. DO YOU HAVE 15 POLICE OFFICERS
00:50:53PROTECTING YOU? YEAH. AND I GO, THAT'S THAT'S THAT'S
00:50:57UNFORTUNATE. SO I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS COMMITMENT TO YOU UNTIL WE CAN
00:51:01BEND THE COST CURVE. I'M GOING TO WORK MY FULL DAY IN
00:51:03CITY HALL, GO HOME AND HAVE A
00:51:05LITTLE BIT OF DINNER, MAYBE HANG OUT WITH BEN AND JERRY.
00:51:09YEAH, BUT THEN I'M GOING TO GO PATROL THE STREETS WITH MY
00:51:13SECURITY DETAIL UNTIL 3 OR 4 IN THE MORNING.
00:51:17AND MY RESIDENTS SAW ME CHASED DOWN A BANK ROBBER THAT WE
00:51:21CAUGHT SHOWING UP WHEN PEOPLE CALLED THE POLICE.
00:51:24BY THE TIME WE GOT TO THREE
00:51:27MONTHS IN OUR MY APPROVAL RATING. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT'S IMPORTANT.
00:51:30THAT JUMPED TO ABOUT 80% BECAUSE OF PEOPLE REALLY BELIEVE BUT I
00:51:34WAS GETTING NEWARKERS TO DO
00:51:36THINGS THAT THEY HADN'T DONE BEFORE.
00:51:39I WAS GETTING MORE ORGANIZED HOUSING, MORE VOLUNTEERING, MORE
00:51:43PEOPLE WILLING TO BE A PART OF THE EFFORT. I SHOWED PEOPLE THAT IF THERE'S
00:51:47LESS TRASH ON THE STREETS, I SHOWED PEOPLE THAT IF YOU REPORT
00:51:51THINGS LIKE LIGHTING OUT AND HELP ME IMPROVE THE
00:51:55NEIGHBORHOOD, THIS COUNTRY, WE
00:51:57ALL ARE BENEFITING FROM THE VISION OF OUR ANCESTORS.
00:52:01WE ARE WE INHERITED SO MUCH.
00:52:04BUT NOW IT'S OUR TIME. YEAH.
00:52:07SO I HOPE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FINDS ITSELF. IT'S LOST ITSELF.
00:52:11AND THE ONLY WAY THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, NOT WITH ONE SENATOR,
00:52:13BUT WITH ALL OF US BEING VISIONARIES FOR A PARTY THAT
00:52:17HELPS TO CHANGE IT AND BRING IT INTO WHAT I THINK IS THIS NEXT
00:52:20GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP. SO NEW SET OF LEADERS.
00:52:22THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO WRAPPING
00:52:26UP TONY COFFEE, AS DO YOU FIND
00:52:30BEING A SENATOR IS MORE OR LESS FULFILLING THAN BEING A MAYOR
00:52:33AND YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT DID ALL THE THINGS YOU WERE ABLE TO
00:52:37DO AS MAYOR, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE YOU'RE ABLE TO TO ROUSE
00:52:41PEOPLE IN THE SAME WAY AS A CENTER? WELL, THE MOST FULFILLING
00:52:45DECISION I'VE MADE IN IN MY LIFE OF RECENT WAS TO MARRY ALEXIS
00:52:49LEWIS, WHO'S HERE IN THE AUDIENCE.
00:52:55AND. I TO EVERYTHING.
00:52:57THERE'S A SEASON I LOVED MY JOB
00:52:59AS MAYOR.
00:53:01IT I LOVE WHERE NEWARK IS GOING. THEY'VE GOT A GREAT MAYOR THERE NOW.
00:53:05I LOVE THAT. I WAS PART OF A OF OF A CITY
00:53:08THAT REVERSED ALL OF THESE TRENDS.
00:53:11BUT I FEEL RIGHT NOW THE PLACE I'M MOST CALLED TO BE IS IN THE
00:53:15UNITED STATES SENATE BECAUSE I
00:53:18IT'S OFTEN HARDER TO MAKE CHANGE.
00:53:21BUT WHEN YOU DO ON A MUCH BIGGER SCALE, LIKE WHEN DONALD TRUMP'S
00:53:25FIRST TERM, I HELPED THE AUTHOR
00:53:27THIS BIG BILL TO TRANSFORM OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
00:53:30THAT IMMEDIATE LEAD LIBERATED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM UNJUST
00:53:34INCARCERATION, NOT JUST IN NEWARK, BUT ALL OVER MY STATE AND ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
00:53:37AND I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE
00:53:40MOMENTS WHERE I WANT TO BE A
00:53:42PART OF A NATIONAL CONVERSATION THAT GETS OUT OF THIS LEFT,
00:53:45RIGHT DIVIDE AND BEGINS TO BEGIN IN A DIFFERENT TYPE OF DIVIDE.
00:53:49THE PAST AND THE FUTURE AND AND
00:53:52I THINK THAT WE NEED LEADERS ON
00:53:55THE NATIONAL SCENE THAT THAT WORK FOR THAT. YEAH. YEAH.
00:53:59AND LAST QUESTION AS WE WRAP UP. I KNOW THAT YOU'VE SAID, YOU
00:54:03KNOW, THAT YOU ARE NOT THINKING
00:54:05ABOUT YOU NOT SURE YET.
00:54:09YOU HAVEN'T MADE THE DECISION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU'LL RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2028.
00:54:12BUT YOU'VE ALSO SAID YOU'RE A LOT ANGRIER NOW. AND I WONDERED LIKE, WHAT ARE
00:54:16YOU THINKING ABOUT AS YOU GO FORWARD AND YOU START THINKING
00:54:20ABOUT THE FUTURE AND DECIDING.
00:54:27WE HAVE SUCH A SHORT TIME, LIKE
00:54:31THE ONE THING AGAIN, THAT THE PERSPECTIVE OF BEING MIDDLE AGED
00:54:34SCUSE ME NOW IS HOW QUICKLY IT ALL MOVES.
00:54:39AND I HAD THIS MOTHER THAT THE
00:54:45OLDER YOU GET, THE LESS YOU THINK YOUR MOM KNOWS UNTIL YOU
00:54:47HIT ABOUT YOUR MID TO LATE 20S. THEN SUDDENLY YOU REALIZE HOW
00:54:51BRILLIANT THEY ARE AND I WAS.
00:54:53I'VE HAD A LOT OF PERIODS IN MY LIFE WHERE I WAS REALLY STUCK
00:54:57AND I MET THE RIGHT PERSON AT
00:55:02THE RIGHT TIME. AND I THINK ONE OF THE TIMES I WAS MOST STRUCK WAS I WAS COMING OUT OF LAW SCHOOL.
00:55:06I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE.
00:55:08AND MY MOM ASKED ME PERHAPS THE
00:55:10BEST QUESTION THAT'S EVER BEEN ASKED FOR ME IN MY LIFE.
00:55:13SHE SAID TO ME, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR ONE LIFE?
00:55:17WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULDN'T FAIL?
00:55:20I WANT YOU TO DO THAT.
00:55:24AND SHE GAVE ME LATITUDE TO TAKE RISK AND I DIDN'T KNOW EXACTLY
00:55:28WHAT I WANTED TO DO, BUT I DECIDED TO MAKE A LIST OF ALL
00:55:30THE PEOPLE I LOVED AND ADMIRED IN AMERICA, AND THAT INSPIRED ME MOST.
00:55:34NONE OF THEM WERE IN ELECTED OFFICE. THERE WERE PEOPLE LIKE MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN, PEOPLE LIKE
00:55:38BRIAN STEED EVENSON.
00:55:40BUT THE GUY THAT AFTER FOLLOWING
00:55:43A LOT OF THESE FOLKS AROUND THE GUY THAT I DECIDED I WANTED TO
00:55:46PATTERN MY LIFE ON WAS A GUY NAMED GEOFFREY CANADA, WHO STARTED SOMETHING CALLED THE
00:55:50HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE. AND I WAS GOING TO BE NEW
00:55:53JERSEY'S GEOFFREY CANADA AND THE
00:55:55BEST WAY TO BE GOD LAUGH REALLY.
00:55:59OH, WOW. YEAH. WELL, WELL, THERE ISN'T A NEW
00:56:05JERSEY ONE BECAUSE I. I THE BEST WAY TO MAKE A LAUGH
00:56:08SOMETIMES IS TO MAKE PLANS FOR YOURSELF. YEAH. AND AND SO I WANT TO END BY
00:56:12TELLING YOU LIKE, LOOK, I COULD
00:56:15LAY THE BEST LAID PLANS FOR 28
00:56:19OR WHAT HAVE YOU, BUT THIS
00:56:22UNIVERSE HAS A WAY OF KNOCKING YOU ON YOUR --. IT HAS A WAY OF FLIPPING YOU ALL
00:56:27AROUND. MY MOM HAS THIS SAYING ABOUT ME. SHE GOES BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL
00:56:31CHILD IS AN ASTONISHED PARENT.
00:56:38SO LET ME, LET ME END WITH THIS
00:56:41LAST STORY AND JUST TELL YOU WHAT MY HOPE IS FOR MYSELF.
00:56:45AND MY HOPE IS FOR YOU.
00:56:47AND IT'S IT IS ACTUALLY ONE OF
00:56:51THOSE TIMES THAT THE UNIVERSE BEAT ME DOWN SO LOW THAT I
00:56:55THOUGHT IT WAS OVER AND IT WAS IN THIS SPACE. AND I WROTE ABOUT SOME OF MY OWN
00:57:00MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES AFTER I
00:57:02HAD LOST THAT ELECTION AND THEN
00:57:04LOST THE DOCUMENTARY TO PENGUINS.
00:57:09AND IT WAS A FOUR YEAR PERIOD WHERE I DID SOME DUMB THINGS,
00:57:13BUT I HAD A REALLY HARD THING THAT HAPPENED TO ME WHEN I WAS
00:57:16IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, AND THERE WAS A SHOOTING RANG OUT AND
00:57:22TRIED DESPERATELY TO STOP A TEENAGER FROM DYING FROM GUNSHOT
00:57:27WOUNDS. AND IT WAS VERY TRAUMATIC.
00:57:29AND THE HEAD OF THE POLICE, WHICH WAS MY OPPONENT'S POLICE
00:57:33CHIEF, POLICE DIRECTOR, HE STILL TELLS ME THIS DAY, HE GOES, YOU
00:57:37LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE SHELL SHOCKED. AND I'M COVERED IN THIS KID'S
00:57:41BLOOD AFTER HAVING TRIED TO STOP HIM, THE BLEEDING TO DEATH.
00:57:43AND I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER HOW I GOT BACK TO WHERE I WAS LIVING,
00:57:46BUT I MOVED INTO SOME HIGH RISE
00:57:48PROJECTS IN THE CITY AND I REMEMBER GETTING INTO THE
00:57:53BATHROOM AND TRYING TO SCRUB
00:57:57THIS BOY'S BLOOD OFF MY HANDS. AND THEN SOMETHING INSIDE OF ME
00:58:01RUPTURED THAT NEVER HAD BEFORE.
00:58:05I JUST FELT SUCH OUT OF CONTROL
00:58:09RAGE AND HURT AND ANGER AND
00:58:14HELPLESSNESS. I HAD TRIED SO HARD TO LEAVE THIS CITY AND I FAILED.
00:58:16I DIDN'T EVEN GET ELECTED.
00:58:18AND NOW I JUST FELT ANGER AT AMERICA.
00:58:22WE SWEAR AN OATH. WE DO IT SO ROUTINELY WE FORGET
00:58:27EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE DOING. BUT WE'RE MAKING THIS PLEDGE THAT THIS COUNTRY WILL BE ONE OF
00:58:32LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. BUT AT THAT POINT, ALL I SAW
00:58:35WITH THE INJUSTICES THAT WERE
00:58:37CHOKING MY COMMUNITY, STEALING
00:58:39MY CHILDREN, POISONING MY
00:58:43PEOPLE, AND I JUST FELT SUCH ANGER.
00:58:45AND I REMEMBER GETTING IN THE SHOWER AND TURNING ON THE WATER
00:58:49AND PRAYING THAT MAYBE THE THE
00:58:52THE HURT OF THE SCOLDING WATER WOULD MAKE THE INSIDES OF ME STOP HURTING.
00:58:56AND I AND I WENT TO BED FITFULLY.
00:58:58IF AT ALL, AND JUST GOT UP THE
00:59:02NEXT MORNING. I JUST HAD TO GET OUT. I WANTED TO RUN.
00:59:06I WANTED TO GIVE UP ON IT ALL.
00:59:08I WAS DONE AND I AND I IN THESE
00:59:11PROJECTS HAD THESE RICKETY ELEVATORS. AND EARLY IN THE MORNING, AS THE
00:59:15SUN'S COMING UP, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING. I JUST WANT TO RUN.
00:59:18I COME DOWN ON THESE ELEVATORS AND I START TO WALK THROUGH THE
00:59:21LOBBY OF THESE PROJECTS, AND THEN IN THE BACK OF MY MIND,
00:59:25BARELY EVEN A MEMORY. IT WAS THIS UNDERSTANDING OF ANOTHER KID IN THE 80S.
00:59:29IT WAS SHOT HERE. IT WAS THE SON OF THE TENANT PRESIDENT.
00:59:33SHE WAS A TENANT PRESIDENT IN THE 80S. HER SON WAS MURDERED.
00:59:36SHE WAS DRAGGED DOWN INTO THAT LOBBY WATCHING HER SON, JUST
00:59:40LIKE I DID WATCHING A YOUNG MAN
00:59:42BLEED OUT AND SHE NEVER LEFT.
00:59:49SHE STAYED. TENANT PRESIDENT. WE'RE HER WORST TRAUMA, HER
00:59:53WORST LOSS. AND I REMEMBER ASKING HER ONCE, WHY DID YOU STAY IN THE 80S AFTER THAT HAPPENED?
00:59:57AND SHE LOOKED AT ME WITH A WRY SMILE AND SHE GOES, BECAUSE I'M IN CHARGE OF HOMELAND SECURITY.
01:00:02ONE AMERICA DIDN'T NEED A PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT.
01:00:05YOU NEED A CABINET POSITION. SHE STAYED. AND AS I WALKED THROUGH THAT
01:00:08LOBBY, LOST FEELING LIKE I'M DROWNING UNDER 100FT IN WATER.
01:00:12I GET INTO THE COURTYARD AND AS IF GOD HAD A PLAN, THE ONLY
01:00:15OTHER PERSON IN THAT COURTYARD UP THAT EARLY IN THE MORNING WAS
01:00:19THAT TENANT PRESIDENT, MISS VIRGINIA JONES.
01:00:21AND HER BACK WAS TO ME.
01:00:23AND I STOOD THERE LOOKING AT HER
01:00:26AND AS IF SHE HEARD ME SCREAMING
01:00:27UNDER THAT HUNDRED FEET OF WATER, SHE TURNED AROUND.
01:00:30NOW THIS WOMAN IS FIVE FEET TALL.
01:00:34ELDER WOMAN, AND SHE LOOKS AT ME ACROSS THIS COURTYARD AND DID
01:00:38EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED. SHE SAID NOTHING.
01:00:40ALL SHE DID WAS OPEN HER ARMS
01:00:43AND I RAN ACROSS THAT LIKE A LITTLE BOY TO HIS MOTHER.
01:00:47AND WHEN I GOT TO HER, SHE
01:00:48HUGGED ME AND HELD ME AND SORT
01:00:52OF RUBBING MY BACK AND SAYING
01:00:54SOMETHING OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO
01:00:57COMFORT ME, TO WORDS THAT I THAT
01:00:59WERE LIKE A LIFELINE TO WORDS
01:01:03THAT I WOULD LATER USE AS MAYOR
01:01:05DURING MY TOUGHEST DAYS. AND SEE THEM. I SEE THEM NOW ON THE SENATE
01:01:09FLOOR WHEN I FEEL LIKE I'M BANGING MY HEAD AGAINST
01:01:13IMPLACABLE WALLS OF RESISTANCE
01:01:14IN THE SENATE, THAT WOMAN HELD
01:01:17ME, RUBBING MY BACK AND SHE
01:01:20SAID, STAY FAITHFUL, STAY
01:01:24FAITHFUL, STAY FAITHFUL.
01:01:30250 YEARS HURT AND PAIN,
01:01:34WRETCHEDNESS AND DARKNESS. BUT WE'RE HERE BECAUSE OF THOSE
01:01:38WHO DID NOT GIVE UP, WHO DID NOT FALTER.
01:01:42EVEN WHEN THEY FELL ILL, THEY GOT BACK UP AGAIN AND STOOD UP
01:01:48FOR THIS COUNTRY. THEIR FAITH IS HOW WE GOT HERE,
01:01:52AND NOW IT'S OUR TURN.
01:02:02THANK. ALL RIGHT, SENATOR CORY BOOKER,
01:02:07THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK SHERRY FOR THIS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
01:02:14YES. HERE'S A PORTION OF A RECENT PROGRAM ON BOOK TV.
01:02:19YOU WROTE A BOOK CALLED NICE. I DID.
01:02:22THAT IS A PART FROM A 30 PAGE
01:02:28INTERLUDE THAT'S IMAGINED, WHICH
01:02:30IS A CONVERSATION BETWEEN YOU
01:02:32AND YOUR ATTACKER.
01:02:34OH, IT IS. SO FACTUAL.
01:02:38OR AT LEAST SO REAL SEEMING THAT
01:02:42IT WAS ALMOST UNBEARABLE FOR ME TO READ IN PARTS.
01:02:46WAS IT ALMOST UNBEARABLE TO WRITE?
01:02:49IT WAS FIRST OF WAS FIRST OF ALMOST UNBEARABLE TO WRITE AND
01:02:52THEN IT WAS ALMOST UNBEARABLE. NOT TO WRITE. WHAT HAPPENED IS AFTER THE
01:02:58ATTACK, YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS GOING TO HOSPITAL, THE LAST
01:03:02THING ON EARTH I WANTED TO DO WAS TO WRITE ABOUT IT.
01:03:04AND I REMEMBER MY AGENT, ANDREW,
01:03:06COMING TO SEE ME AND HE SAID, OF COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO WRITE A
01:03:10BOOK ABOUT THIS. AND I SAID, YOU KNOW, ANDREW, I THINK I'M NOT GOING TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THIS.
01:03:14HE SAID, NO, YOU'RE GOING TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THIS. AND HE WAS RIGHT.
01:03:18I WAS WRONG. BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENED IS, DID HE
01:03:22FEEL YOU NEEDED TO HE UNDERSTOOD
01:03:24WHICH I WHICH I TOOK TIME TO
01:03:28UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO DEAL WITH
01:03:30ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL I DEALT WITH
01:03:32THIS, THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN I
01:03:35FELT BETTER AND I WAS HOME AND BEGAN TO THINK MAYBE I'M A
01:03:39WRITER AND I SHOULD WRITE.
01:03:42THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE THAT MADE ANY SENSE TO THINK ABOUT.
01:03:46I HAD, YOU KNOW, I AFRICA THE
01:03:48FILE OF LATER THINGS WHERE I WRITE DOWN LITTLE SCRAPS OF
01:03:52IDEAS AND THINGS AND NONE OF IT
01:03:56SEEN IT ALL SEEMED RIDICULOUS. KNOW YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH THIS
01:04:00HALF OF THE ONLY WAY OF GETTING
01:04:01PAST THIS IS TO GO THROUGH IT.
01:04:04AND AND THE VOICE IN THAT BOOK
01:04:06IS STRIKINGLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY
01:04:08OF THE NARRATORS OF ANY OF YOUR
01:04:11FICTION THAT I AM. YEAH, IT'S VERY STRICT. IT'S VERY STRIPPED BACK,
01:04:15STRIPPED DOWN, STARK,
01:04:20RELENTLESSLY FOCUSED ON THE THING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. YEAH.
01:04:23I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING AS DRAMATIC AS
01:04:28THAT TO WRITE ABOUT, YOU DON'T
01:04:31NEED TO MAKE IT DRAMATIC. IT JUST ENDS.
01:04:34ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TELL IT. AND YOU KNOW, THINK ABOUT IT.
01:04:39BECAUSE THE BOOK IS I MEAN, ACTUALLY ONLY THE FIRST CHAPTER
01:04:42IS A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENED.
01:04:45THE REST OF IT IS A KIND OF THINKING ABOUT IT.
01:04:49IT'S A LOVE STORY. IT'S A STORY OF RECOVERY.
01:04:52IT'S A STORY ABOUT, I THINK WHAT
01:04:59USE ART HAS IN THE