>> Stephen: WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY!
THANK YOU, LOUIS!
>> STEPHEN.
>> Stephen: HOW YOU DOING?
DOING ALL RIGHT, MAN.
DOING GOOD.
>> Stephen: MY NEXT GUEST IS A PASTOR,
POLITICIAN, AND AUTHOR, WHO CURRENTLY SERVES AS A UNITED
STATES SENATOR FROM GEORGIA.
PLEASE WELCOME SENATOR RAPHAEL WARNOCK!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )
>> WHOA!
>> Stephen: SENATOR, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
>> SOUNDS LIKE MY CHURCH ON A SUNDAY MORNING.
>> Stephen: YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A SENATOR -- NOT AS
A SENATOR WHO USED TO BE A PASTOR, BUT A PASTOR IN THE
SENATE.
ARE YOU STILL PASTOR AT EBENEZER BAPTIST?
>> YES, I PREACH EVERY SUNDAY.
>> Stephen: OKAY.
YOU'RE A SENATOR AND YOU GO HOME AND PREACH.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: THIS IS THE CHURCH WHERE MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS
CO-PASTOR.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO GO BACK AND PREACH
FROM THE PULPIT EVERY SUNDAY?
>> I WANTED TO GO BACK TO DR. KING'S SCHOOL.
I DIDN'T KNOW I WOULD BE A PASTOR OF HIS CHURCH.
IT'S AN HONOR TO BE THERE EVERY SUNDAY AND IT KEEPS ME GROUNDED
IN THE SENATE.
THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO IS TALK TO POLITICIANS ALL THE
TIME.
I'M AFRAID I MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY BECOME ONE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) I WAS IN THE AIRPORT THE OTHER
DAY, AND THIS WOMAN, SHE RECOGNIZED ME BUT SHE DIDN'T
KNOW WHY, AND FINALLY SHE SAID, ARE YOU A POLITICIAN?
I SAID, I SURE HOPE NOT.
I'M IN ELECTED OFFICE, BUT I WANT TO REMAIN A PUBLIC SERVANT
WHO SERVES IN THE OFFICE AND, WHEN I'M ON THE FLOOR OF THE
SENATE TRYING TO REDUCE THE COST OF INSULIN -- I HAVE AN INSULIN
BILL WHICH WOULD REDUCE PEOPLE'S OUT OF POCKET COST TO $35 PER
MONTH PER INDIVIDUAL -- I'M THINKING OF THE FAMILIES I'VE
SAT WITH WHO STRUGGLE WITH DIABETES WHEN THEY'VE GOTTEN THE
NEWS THEY HAVE TO HAVE AN AMPUTATION, OR WILL HAVE TO GO
ON DIALYSIS.
ONE IN FOUR DOLLARS IN OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS SPENT ON
SOMEBODY WITH DIABETES.
SO IF WE CAP THE COSTS, NOT ONLY DO WE HELP THOSE INDIVIDUALS, I
THINK WE DO A LOT IN ADDRESSING OUR OVERALL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
SO THE WORK THAT I DO AS A PASTOR AND SHOWING UP AND MOVING
IN THE COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO SEE ME IN THE
GROCERY STORE, ONE OF THE THINGS I'VE LEARNED AS A PASTOR IS YOU
CAN'T SERVE THE PEOPLE IF YOU DON'T SPEND TIME WITH THE
PEOPLE, IF YOU DON'T LOVE THE PEOPLE.
AND THAT'S THE WORK THAT I'M TRYING TO DO.
I THINK THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF TRANSACTIONAL POLITICIANS IN
WASHINGTON WHO ARE SO FOCUSED ON THE NEXT ELECTION THAT THEY'RE
NOT THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION.
THAT IS WHAT CAUSES YOU TO BE UNABLE TO DO THING AFTER
COLUMBINE, AFTER SANDY HOOK.
IT'S POLITICIANS THINKING ABOUT THEMSELVES.
SO, YEAH, I'VE GOT AN ELECTION, BUT I'M GOING TO STAY FOCUSED ON
THE PEOPLE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: YOU HAVE A NEW
BOOK, "A WAY OUT OF NO WAY."
I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT THAT TITLE IN JUST ONE MOMENT.
BUT YOU TALK ABOUT GOING BACK AND PREACHING ON SUNDAYS -- IS
THERE A PARTICULAR VERSE OF SCRIPTURE THAT GIVES YOU SOLACE,
THAT KEEPS YOU GOING IN HARD TIMES, WHEN THINGS SEEM HOPELESS
TO YOU?
>> YOU SHOULDN'T ASK ME ABOUT A SINGLE VERSE OF SCRIPTURE.
>> Stephen: I KNOW YOU'RE A PASTOR.
BUT GIVE ME YOUR TOP THREE.
>> I GREW UP IN A HOUSEHOLD WHERE EVEN WHEN WE WE WEREN'T
QUOTING SCRIPTURE, MY PARENTS SOUNDED LIKE THEY WERE QUOTING
SCRIPTURE.
ALWAYS IN THE KING JAMES ENGLISE DISHES.
LEST I SMITE THEE WITH MY ROD AND STAFF.
( LAUGHTER ) I GREW UP IN THE SOUTH.
YOU KNOW, IN THESE TOUGH TIMES, I HAVE BEEN GOING BACK AGAIN AND
AGAIN TO THAT VERSE IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTER 1 WHERE
IT SAYS THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS
OVERCOMETH IT NOT.
IT'S THE RECOGNITION THAT THE DAYS ARE DIFFICULT, THAT THE
TIMES ARE DARK, AND, YET, THERE'S A LIGHT THAT PIERCES
THROUGH, THAT BREAKS THROUGH, AND I THINK ALL OF US OUGHT TO
TRY TO BE PART OF THAT LIGHT.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: SO WHERE DOES THE
TITLE COME FROM, "A WAY OUT OF NO WAY."
>> IT'S DEEP IN THE CULTURE OF THE BLACK CHURCH.
YOU'RE NOT IN A BLACK CHURCH FOR LONG BEFORE YOU HEAR SOMEBODY
SAY EITHER FROM THE PULPIT OR A SONG OR A TESTIMONY THAT GOD
MAKES A WAY OUT OF NO WAY.
THAT IS A KIND OF FAITH BORN OF STRUGGLE, OF OPPRESSION, AND YET
KEEPING THE FAITH AND HOPING AGAINST HOPE, AND GETTING UP AND
PUTTING ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER AND PRESSING ON EVEN WHEN
YOU'RE NOT EXACTLY SURE WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO GET THERE.
IT'S A SENSE AS, WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR WAY, GOD MAKES A WAY OUT OF
NO WAY.
WE WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD AND OTHERS TO DO THE GOOD WORK.
>> Stephen: YOUR DEAR FRIEND JOHN LEWIS WAS ALSO ONE TO HAVE
THE PARISHIONERS THERE.
WHAT DID HIS EXAMPLE MEAN TO YOU?
>> JOHN LEWIS IS AN ENDURING INSPIRATION FOR ME.
I MET HIM WHEN I WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT.
WE HAD AN EVENT AT THE SCHOOL AND HE SHOWED UP, AND I DON'T
REMEMBER WHAT HE SAID, BUT IT WAS JUST HIS PRESENCE THAT MEANT
SO MUCH.
AND THEN LATER I BECAME HIS PASTOR.
HE REMINDS ME IN TIMES LIKE THESE THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP THE
FAITH, THAT WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO GET IN WHAT HE CALLED "GOOD
TROUBLE," AND, YOU KNOW, I HAD THE HONOR OF PRESIDING OVER HIS
FUNERAL.
AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT A YOUNG JOHN LEWIS CROSSING THE EDMUND
PETTUS BRIDGE WEARING A TRENCH COAT, BACKPACK, HE DIDN'T HAVE
ANY REASON TO BELIEVE HE COULD WIN.
I SOMETIMES WONDER WHAT WAS HE THINKING?
HERE'S WHAT I KNOW -- HE WAS NOT THINKING THAT, ONE DAY, AT HIS
FUNERAL, THREE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS WOULD SHOW UP AT
EBENEZER CHURCH ON BOTH SIDES TO HAVE THE AISLES.
HE WASN'T THINKING HE WOULD BE THE RECIPIENT OF THE
PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM.
I THINK HE WAS JUST TRYING TO STAY ALIVE THAT DAY SO HE COULD
FIGHT THE NEXT DAY.
BUT, SOMEHOW, THROUGH SOME STROKE OF DESTINY MINGLED WITH
HUMAN DETERMINATION, HE MANAGED TO BEND THAT ARC A LITTLE BIT
CLOSER TOWARD JUSTICE.
THAT'S OUR JOB TO KEEP BENDING THAT ARC.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT HIM EVEN IN TIMES LIKE THIS, WHO AM I TO
GIVE UP?
WHO AM I TO BE CYNICAL IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS?
I TAKE THE LONG VIEW, AND KEEP DOING THE WORK.
>> Stephen: SENATOR, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) NICE TO MEET YOU.
HIS MEMOIR, "A WAY OUT OF NO WAY," IS AVAILABLE TOMORROW.
SENATOR RAPHAEL WARNOCK, EVERYBODY!
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )