>>> WELCOME BACK.
JUST ONE WEEK FROM ELECTION DAY,
THE CANDIDATES ARE HITTING SWING
STATES TO MAKE THEIR CLOSING
ARGUMENTS.
>> IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC,
IT’S ALREADY AN UNPRECEDENTED
ELECTION THAT’S GOING DOWN IN
HISTORY.
WE HAPPEN TO HAVE AN EXPERT ON
THE SUBJECT.
>> PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
AUTHOR, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN
JOHN MEACHAM IS WITH US.
HE HAS A NEW DOCUMENTARY
PREMIERING ON HBO TONIGHT CALLED
"THE SOUL OF AMERICA."
IT’S BASED ON HIS 2018 BOOK OF
THE SAME NAME.
JOHN, YOU HAVE PUBLICLY ENDORSED
JOE BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT AND
WE’LL GET TO THE DOCUMENTARY IN
JUST A MOMENT BUT WE ARE SEVEN
DAYS OUT UNTIL ARGUABLY THE MOST
IMPORTANT ELECTION IN OUR
LIFETIMES.
JUST A FEW HOURS AGO, JUSTICE
AMY CONEY BARRETT WAS SWORN INTO
THE SUPREME COURT.
HOW PIVOTAL DO YOU THINK THIS
LAST SEVEN DAYS IS GOING TO BE
IN DETERMINING THE OUTCOME OF
THE ELECTION?
>> OH, I THINK IN A WORLD WHERE
WE’VE HAD SUCH A DISRUPTIVE
SERIES OF YEARS AND CYCLES IN
AMERICAN POLITICS, ANYTHING CAN
HAPPEN.
I REMEMBER PRESIDENT REAGAN USED
TO SAY ON ELECTION DAY, WHENEVER
SOMEONE ASKED HIM HOW HE FELT
ABOUT WINNING, HE’D SAY, WELL, I
ALWAYS ASK PRESIDENT DEWEY HOW
THAT WORKED OUT.
SO IF YOU’RE RUNNING, YOU RUN
SCARED.
I THINK THIS IS AN INFLECTION
ELECTION UNQUESTIONABLY.
ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT
SINCE 1864.
YOU CAN MAKE A CASE FOR 1932
BECAUSE OF THE AMBIENT
UNCERTAINTY, THE PANDEMIC, THE
RESULTING ECONOMIC ISSUES.
SO THIS IS A VITAL ELECTION.
NO MATTER WHICH SIDE YOU’RE
VOTING FOR, PLEASE, PLEASE,
PLEASE HONOR JOHN LEWIS AND GET
OUT THERE AND VOTE.
>> LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR
DOCUMENTARY, "THE SOUL OF
AMERICA."
YOU WROTE A BOOK IN 2018 WITH
THE SAME TITLE AFTER THE
VIOLENCE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE.
YOU JUST MENTIONED THIS, IT’S
BEEN AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR.
WE HAVE THE PANDEMIC, PROTESTS,
THE ELECTION.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU THINK
THE SOUL OF AMERICA REALLY IS?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
AND IT’S A FASCINATING QUESTION.
IT’S A TERM THAT GETS THROWN
AROUND A LOT.
BUT TO DEFINE IT, YOU KNOW, AND
THIS WAS THE VIEW IN ANTIQUITY,
IT WAS THE VIEW IN THE HEBREW
BIBLE, IT WAS THE VIEW IN THE
GREEK NEW TESTAMENT, SOUL CAN BE
TRANSLATED IN HEBREW AND GREEK
AS BREATH OR LIFE, THEY’RE THE
SAME THING.
AND SO WHEN GOD BREATHED LIFE
INTO MAN IN GENESIS IN THE
STORY, IT WAS THE WORD COULD BE
SOUL.
WHEN JESUS SAID GREATER LOVE HAS
NO MAN THAN THIS THAN TO LAY
DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.
LIFE CAN BE TRANSLATED TO SOUL.
IT’S THE ESSENCE OF WHO WE ARE.
IT’S THE COMBINATION AND
DISPOSITIONS OF HEART AND MIND,
OUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS.
MY VIEW IN TERMS OF THE COUNTRY
IS THAT IT’S NOT ALL GOOD AND
IT’S NOT ALL BAD.
IT’S LIKE ALL OF US.
I’M SURE -- EXCEPT FOR CRAIG,
YOU ALL ARE MUCH BETTER PEOPLE
THAN I AM.
SO TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD.
BUT THE SOUL IS, FOR ME ANYWAY,
IS A CONSTANT DAILY STRUGGLE
BETWEEN MY BETTER ANGELS AND MY
WORST INSTINCTS, RIGHT?
WE ALL CONFRONT THAT EVERY DAY.
AND SO IN A REPUBLIC, IN A
DEMOCRACY THAT’S THE FULLEST
MANIFESTATION OF ALL OF US, WE
ARE IN FACT THE SUM OF OUR
PARTS.
THEN THE COUNTRY HAS TO DECIDE
AT EVERY POINT DO WE WANT TO
REACH OUT, DO WE WANT TO EXPAND
THE DEFINITION OF LIBERTY, DO WE
WANT TO INCREASE THE MAINSTREAM,
OR DO WE WANT TO BUILD BRIDGES
OR DO WE WANT TO BUILD WALLS?
AND THAT BECOMES, I THINK,
QUESTIONS FOR THE SOUL ITSELF.
>> SO, JOHN, THE DOCUMENTARY
TAKES US THROUGH TROUBLED TIMES
LIKE CIVIL RIGHTS, McCARTHYISM.
WE ALL THINK THE TIME WE’RE
LIVING IN IS THE MOST DIFFICULT.
HOW DOES THIS STACK UP AGAINST
ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS?
>> IT’S RIGHT UP THERE, AL.
IT SURELY IS, BECAUSE WE HAVE
THIS CONFLUENCE OF CRISES.
THAT’S WHAT’S UNFOLDING RIGHT
NOW.
AND THERE ARE TWO THINGS WORTH
AVOIDING, TO GO TO YOUR
QUESTION.
NOSTALGIA, ALWAYS THINKING THE
GOOD OLE DAYS WERE BETTER.
WELL, YOU KNOW, THEY WEREN’T SO
GREAT IF YOU WERE A WOMAN WHO
COULDN’T VOTE OR A BLACK MAN WHO
COULDN’T PARTICIPATE IN THE FULL
LIFE OF THE NATION OR AN
IMMIGRANT WHOSE THE KU KLUX KLAN
CHASING AFTER YOU.
THAT WASN’T SO GREAT.
THERE’S ALSO A PROBLEM WITH
NARCISSISM.
THE IDEA THAT SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER
OUR PROBLEMS ARE SO UNIQUE WE
CAN’T LEARN FROM THE PAST.
SO WE SHOULD AVOID BOTH THOSE
THINGS.
AND THE CONFLUENCE OF CRISES,
AND IN OUR TIME, THIS IS WHAT’S
ON THE BALLOT, YOU HAVE A DEADLY
PANDEMIC, YOU HAVE GRAVE
ECONOMIC TROUBLE AND SHIFTS,
WHICH SOME PEOPLE FEEL MORE THAN
OTHERS, RIGHT?
IT HURTS THE LEAST OF THESE MORE
THAN FOLKS WHO ARE ALREADY
COMFORTABLE.
YOU HAVE THE CLIMATE, YOU HAVE
THE -- GOD WILLING, THE
RECKONING ON RACIAL JUSTICE.
ALL THESE TRIBUTARIES COMING
TOGETHER TO FORM A REALLY BIG
RIVER.
I THINK THE TASK OF THE ELECTION
AND THE TASK OF CITIZENSHIP IS
TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT RIVER
DOESN’T OVERFLOW THE BANKS.
>> IT REALLY IS A FANTASTIC
DOCUMENTARY, JOHN.
IT’S MY FAVORITE BOOK IN 2018.
I’M GLAD THAT YOU AND THE FOLKS
AT HBO BROUGHT IT TO LIFE ON THE
SMALL SCREEN.
"THE SOUL OF AMERICA" PREMIERES
TONIGHT ON HBO AND HBOMAX.
ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS, BY THE
WAY, IS JOHN MEACHAM’S WIFE
TALKING ABOUT HER HUBBY AND THE
DOC.