SPOKE TO ME, TOO. I WAS JUST REALLY PROUD IN THAT
I WAS JUST REALLY PROUD IN THAT
MOMENT THAT THINGS GO ON.
DORIS CONCERNS, PERFECT DAY TO
BRING HER IN.
CAN WE HAVE YOUR INITIAL
REACTION.
YOU STUDIED SO MANY PRESIDENTS,
SO MUCH HISTORY, WHERE DOES THIS
FALL?
>> I CAN HEAR THE EMOTION IN
BOTH YOUR VOICES AND IT IS FELT
IN MY HEART AS WELL.
I THINK IT IS GOING TO FALL AS A
DAY THAT WILL REMEMBERED FOR A
LONG PERIOD OF TIME, ONE OF THE
DAYS WE LIVED THROUGH, WE KNOW
PEOPLE WILL BE READING ABOUT IT
100 YEARS FROM NOW, NOT ONLY
BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE
CAPITOL BUT THAT IT HAPPENED AT
A TIME WHEN THE SOLEMN CEREMONY
THAT WAS GOING TO COUNT THE
VOTES THAT HAPPENS EVERY FOUR
YEARS IN THAT CAPITOL, ONE OF
THOSE IMPORTANT RITUALS OF
PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER WAS
TAKING PLACE AND IT DISRUPTED IT
FOR A TIME, BUT I’M SO GLAD YOU
SAID THEY BROUGHT THEMSELVES
BACK, THEY FINISHED THE JOB, AND
SOME OF THE REPUBLICANS WHO ARE
GOING TO ISSUE OBJECTIONS
DECIDED NOT TO DO SO TO HURRY IT
UP, SO THE DAY ENDED ON A BETTER
NOTE THAN IT STARTED AND I THINK
LET’S HOPE THAT SOMEHOW HAVING
BEEN THROUGH THIS TOGETHER AS A
NATION IT WILL MAKE US SAY
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, JUST LIKE
PEOPLE SAID AFTER THE SELMA
DEMONSTRATIONS AFTER THE FOOT
SOLDIERS WERE BLUDGEONED BY ALL
SORTS OF WEAPONS ON THE PART OF
ALABAMA STATE POLICE, THIS IS
ENOUGH, WE NEED A VOTING RIGHTS
ACT.
SOMETIMES THESE EPISODES LEAD TO
UNITY AND WE NEED THAT SO BADLY
IN THE COUNTRY.
LET’S HOPE THAT WILL HAPPEN.
>> I WONDER IF YOU THINK IT
WILL.
WE ARE TWO WEEKS AWAY FROM
INAUGURATION DAY, MAYBE A LITTLE
LESS.
DO YOU SEE THIS CHANGING
DISCOURSE IN OUR COUNTRY?
>> I THINK IT ALREADY CHANGED
PART OF IT LAST NIGHT WHEN YOU
HEARD THE REPUBLICAN SENATORS
SPEAK AND DECIDE NOT TO GO
FORWARD WITH THE OBJECTIONS,
WHEN YOU HEARD THE PASSION EVEN
IN McCONNELL’S VOICE AND
ROMNEY’S VOICE, YOU HEARD THE
DEMOCRATS SAYING WE HAVE TO COME
TOGETHER ON THIS.
WORDS BEGIN THIS, WORDS STARTED
THIS, WORDS INCITED THIS, GIVEN
BY THE PRESIDENT INCITED THIS,
AND WE HAD ALL SORTS OF TRIBAL
POLITICS THE LAST YEARS.
EVERYBODY IS SAYING MAYBE THE
FEVER IS BROKEN.
IT MAY TAKE A LONG PERIOD OF
TIME BUT IT’S HAPPENED.
WHEN PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS
CHANGES, WHEN THE PUBLIC SAYS TO
CONGRESSMEN WE CAN’T DEAL WITH
THIS, LINCOLN SAID WE OF THIS
CONGRESS WILL BE REMEMBERED
EITHER IN HONOR OR DISHONOR BY
WHAT WE DO TODAY AND THAT’S OUR
CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW.
WILL IT BE HONOR OR WILL IT BE
DISHONOR IN WHAT HAPPENS IN
WEEKS AND MONTHS AHEAD.
>> DO YOU THINK, I ALWAYS THINK
WE CAN LEARN FROM HISTORY.
I WONDER AS WE LOOK BACK, THEY
TALKED ABOUT BACK IN 1812, THAT
WAS THE ONLY OTHER TIME THE
CAPITOL HAD EVER BEEN OVERRUN.
IS THERE ANYTHING COMPARABLE IN
HISTORY THAT WE CAN LEARN, TAKE
A COUPLE OF LESSONS FROM?
>> YOU KNOW, I THINK WHAT IS
COMPARABLE IS THAT IN 1856 A
SOUTHERN CONGRESSMAN CAME INTO
THE SENATE CHAMBER, THIS IS
DIFFERENT, THIS IS WITHIN
CONGRESS RATHER THAN OUTSIDE,
AND HE HIT THE MASSACHUSETTS
ABOLITIONIST OVER THE HEAD WITH
A CANE SO MANY TIMES THAT HE
FELL UNCONSCIOUS, HAD TO BE
CARRIED OUT BLOODY FROM THE
FLOOR, WAS NOT ABLE TO RETURN
FOR THREE YEARS.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT’S WHAT
MOBILIZED IN MANY WAYS EARLY
DAYS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY,
THE PARTY OF LINCOLN.
MASS MEETINGS OUTSIDE.
THIS IS TOO MUCH, THEY SAID, AND
MODERATES AND CONSERVATIVES
JOINED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
SO MAYBE THE WEIRD THING THAT
MAY HAPPEN FROM THIS IS THAT
WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING HAPPENING
IN THE CAPITOL AS WE DID THIS
TIME, AS THEY DID THEN, IT
SHOULDN’T TAKE THAT TO MAKE THIS
UNDERSTANDABLE.
THERE WERE ALL SORTS OF ACTS OF
VIOLENCE BEFORE THAT.
WE HAVE SEEN PROBLEMS IN THIS
COUNTRY BEFORE THIS DAY OF
YESTERDAY, BUT SOMETIMES THE
IMAGES SEER IN THE HEARTS AND
MAYBE IT WILL MAKE A DAWNING OF
A DIFFERENT REPUBLICAN PARTY,
SEPARATING FROM THE TRUMP PARTY,
AND LOOK FORWARD TO SOME MORE
UNITY BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND
DEMOCRATS IN YEARS TO COME.
GOT TO BELIEVE IN IT.
>> WE JUST SHOWED A BEAUTIFUL
IMAGE OF THE SUNRISING OVER THE
CAPITOL WHICH GIVES US ALL HOPE
THAT THERE’S LOVE.
I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN
GOODNESS IN THIS COUNTRY.
FOR THOSE OF US THAT HAVE LITTLE
KIDS, WE’RE SCARED TO EVEN TURN
ON THE NEWS YESTERDAY OR HAD TO
STAY AT WORK, FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE
HODA BECAUSE SHE COULDN’T BEAR
FOR HER CHILDREN TO SEE THE
IMAGES, WILL YOU LEAVE US WITH A
LITTLE HOPE?
>> WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH TOUGH
TIMES BEFORE.
THAT HOPE SHOWS US FROM HISTORY,
IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE
IN EARLY DAYS OF THE CIVIL WAR,
EARLY DAYS OF WORLD WAR II,
IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE
IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
SOMEHOW WE NOT ONLY CAME THROUGH
THE MOMENTS, BUT WE EMERGED
STRONGER, WE ENDED THE CIVIL WAR
WITH EMANCIPATION, ENDED ALLIED
WAR WITH A VICTORY IN WORLD WAR
II AND WITH THE END OF HITLER.
THIS COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES
TOGETHER CAN DO ANYTHING.
HISTORY SHOWED US THE LESSONS,
PERSPECTIVES, ALSO SHOULD MAKE
US KNOW, WE’RE AT ONE OF THOSE
TURNING POINTS AND WE BETTER
START MAKING THAT TURN PRETTY
QUICKLY.
>> THAT’S BEAUTIFUL ADVICE.
DORIS, CAN I ASK ONE MORE
FOLLOW-UP.
I WAS LOOKING AT THE FACES OF
THE PEOPLE THAT WERE RUSHING
INTO THE CAPITOL AND LISTENING
TO SOME OF THE INTERVIEWS,
COUPLE REPORTERS GOT IN,
SCREAMING I WANT TO TAKE BACK MY
COUNTRY, YOU ROBBED US, ET
CETERA.
I WAS THINKING HOW DO YOU UNRING
THAT BELL?
HOW CAN YOU CONVINCE PEOPLE WHO
ARE BELIEVING SOMETHING THAT
THEY’RE BEING TOLD.
I WAS WONDERING HOW DO YOU COME
BACK OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT
SPLINLTERS
SPLINLT
SPLINTERS OFF AND BECOMES ITS
OWN THING.
>> SENATOR ROMNEY SAID YOU START
BY TELLING THE TRUTH, TELLING
THE TRUTH THAT THE ELECTION WAS
LOST, IT WASN’T STOLEN, THAT
THERE WERE ALL SORTS OF COURT
CASES, 62, THEY WERE ALL
RESOLVED IN FAVOR OF BIDEN, BUT
THERE’S A DEEPER PROBLEM.
THE PROBLEM TEDDY ROOSEVELT
OUTLINED, IF PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT
SECTIONS AND PARTIES AND PARTS
OF THE COUNTRY BEGIN TO SEE EACH
OTHER AS THE OTHER RATHER THAN
AS COMMON AMERICAN CITIZENS,
THAT’S THE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.
THERE IS A SPLIT BETWEEN PEOPLE
IN THE COUNTRY AND THE CITY AND
YOU HAVE TO REACH OUT,
UNDERSTAND WHY THE OTHER PEOPLE
ARE FEELING DISCONNECTED FROM
THE GOVERNMENT AND BEGIN TO
REACH ACROSS THOSE LINES AND
FIGURE OUT WHERE THE DISCONTENT
IS COMING FROM.
THAT’S WHAT LEADERSHIP CAN DO.
THAT’S THE MAIN ROLE OF
LEADERSHIP IS TO USE THE
PRESIDENCY AND THE BULLY PULPIT
TO TRY.
TEDDY ROOSEVELT WENT ON A TRIP
BY TRAIN, WENT TO EVERY STATE HE
LOST AND THOSE HE WON, TALK
ABOUT COMMON AMERICAN
CITIZENSHIP, WHAT WE SHARE, NOT
WHAT IS DIVIDING US.
THAT’S THE LEADERSHIP WE NEED TO
START HEALING THE PROCESS TODAY.
>> DORIS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.