Robin Roberts, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
(laughs)
It's... it's a... it's a pleasure to be here.
Um, many people know you as the face of Good Morning America.
You have been the face of America's institution
for an extremely long time.
But a lot of people may not know that you were the face
of Sportscenter for 15 years, and you covered the NFL
for an extremely long time, so I would like to know
from you the most important question
that is plaguing America right now.
-Yes. -Is Tom Brady the greatest of all time?
Oh! Oh, come on.
Give me something hard!
That's a softball you're starting with me.
-That's a softball? -He's the GOAT! He...
Okay. Okay, no, no, no, fine.
I'll give you a harder one, Robin.
Is Tom Brady the greatest athlete of all time?
See, now, that's... Okay, that's harder.
Is he the greatest athlete of all time?
You know what? That's debatable.
Uh, I love me some Serena Williams.
You know, 23 Grand Slam titles, one when she was pregnant.
Try that, Tom brady, okay?
(both laughing)
Right? You-you win a Super Bowl while pregnant,
uh, maybe-maybe we'll talk.
But, you know, but it's fun to have this argument.
And I'm just glad to, in my lifetime, to have seen...
-to be seeing someone like that. -Right, right.
To have seen Michael Jordan, to be seeing Serena Williams.
I mean, we've had some great, great athletes during our time.
But he is... he is special.
You've always shown love to the team that you work with
on camera every single morning.
We wake up with you, we enjoy watching you.
What has been it like doing the show from home now?
Because a lot of your show is
about that chemistry that you share in person.
It really is, and I got to tell you, I've got
some great teammates at GMA.
Uh, Michael Strahan, who's at home now because
-he was diagnosed with COVID-19. -Yeah, yeah.
Fine, fine, thank goodness, but now,
he's broadcasting from home.
For a time, George had to do the same.
I did it for the longest. I was at home seven months.
-Had my paw-ducer, my doggie. -Wow.
My girlfriend Amber helping out.
That was really difficult.
It was really challenging to keep that-that chemistry
when you have, like, a two-second delay, you know?
But more than that, it's just... But I have to say, Trevor,
when I came back into the studio in September,
man, it is like...
I can't describe the feeling.
And I know it's a feeling
that a lot of people are going to have
once they can get back to their workplace.
-Right. -We've never been better.
We've never been more in sync.
You've been the face that has guided America through crises.
You've been there to share some of the most fun stories.
Um, but this new project that you're embarking on
might be my favorite Robin Roberts project yet.
It's about the Tuskegee Airmen,
and it's entitled Legacy of Coverage.
And what I love about it is, not just
that you're telling the story,
but your connection to the story.
Tell me how this all came to be, please.
Their-their legacy is so broad.
You know, fighting fascism abroad
and then, racism back here at home.
My father, Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts,
was a Tuskegee Airmen. At the age of 19,
he got on a segregated train, trained to be a pilot.
What they did in World War II, what the Tuskegee Airmen,
AKA, the Red Tails, because they had to paint their tails
so they would know, 'cause they escorted bombers,
and they needed to know that they were friendlies
-and not the enemy... -Right.
that was escorting them like that...
Exemplary flying record that they had,
and that they had to fight for that right and...
Thank Eleanor Roosevelt who was the First Lady at the time.
Went down to Tuskegee. Can you imagine this?
Went down to Tuskegee in the '40s,
got in a plane with a black man.
Flew with them and said, "They're all right. Let 'em go."
And so, then they were able to go and actually be in combat.
Before, they could just train, but they couldn't fight.
And all they wanted to do was fight for their country,
like everybody else at that time.
I've often seen... I've often seen the story
of-of the Tuskegee Airmen as-as-as myth.
It's African American myth, and it's beautiful.
It's, like, these legends and these heroes.
But this story takes us through a different journey
about how they were fighting just to get the military
to accept Black service members,
just to get the American public to accept Black service members.
It was a challenge that we really take for granted
when you are just seeing the accolades
that they achieve, now.
And that's why it's so important that people watch this film
because we take you there.
All they wanted to do was fight for this country.
They wanted to fly.
And when they came back from the war, it wasn't as heroes.
They came back, and after all they had done,
they were told "Back of the bus. You're a second-class citizen."
And they fought to... integrate the military,
and also, many of them became very, very much a part
-of the civil rights movement at the time. -Right.
And it really gave us as-as, um... as... as a public,
um, a framework to go like, "Oh, my gosh.
"You know, they were challenged
that they didn't have the intellect to fly."
But, you know what, they showed that excellence
and, yes, Black excellence can beat adversity of all types.
And that's the kind of message that they sent
to-to so many people back here in the U.S.
There's no denying that in America,
there is the dichotomy that many Black people face
where they say, "I love this country,
"and yet it feels like this country
does not love me in return."
From your father's perspective and being his daughter
and seeing how he navigated this paradox,
what do you think we can learn from that journey
and-and how to, I think, have the conversations
in and around patriotism and still challenging America
to be better to its citizens?
Thank you for using the word "patriotism."
My father was a patriot, a true patriot,
and that's all he ever said.
He would talk about how he felt freer
in the air than on the land as a Black man in this country.
And I think it's very timely
given what we went through in 2020:
the racial reckoning,
seeing young, old, black, white,
taking to the streets and saying, "No more. No more."
Um, it was really...
And I think this is why this film is so timely,
because, yes, we go back, and we show their legacy,
but we also bring it to today.
You see how they impacted...
Barack Obama himself said
they were an example to him
that propelled him into public service.
So, I think when we watch a film like this,
we're reminded of our history,
and it lets us know, "Why am I taking to the streets?"
And, yeah, some things, we're still fighting for.
-Right. -Some things are very similar
that we're fighting for that they did, as well.
It's heartfelt, it's wonderful,
and I can see why because of the story
and the... and the history that you share
with one of those airmen and, I guess,
the story of all of them combined.
Robin Roberts, thank you so much for joining me on the show.
Next time, I'm gonna wear a hoodie.
Gonna bring me back on the show,
-I'm gonna bring... -Don't do that to America, Robin.
You don't do that to America. Please, I beg you.
Do not do that to America.
-Thank you, Trevor. -Take care.