but cold case detectives following fresh leads still haven't developed enough evidence to bring charges. i did a good deed and i did a lot of good things. and that's where i feel the redemption comes in. i've done something good for the things that i did wrong. that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. . >> this sunday, finding common ground. >> something i hope we can do no matter who you voted for. to see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow americans. bring down the temperature. >> it's time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us. it's time to unite. >> in this deeply divided

nation, how do we talk to one another and bridge the divide? >> what i really want is all the vitriolicness, the ugliness, the threats, the violence, the pitting us against each other to please stop. >> we're in a time of very divided government and a very partisan atmosphere in washington. i wish it were not. >> what is the path forward? >> a scary time in america right now. >> things are just not going well. >> we are in a moral crisis right now, and it won't get better unless we act. >> my guests this morning, republican senator james lankford of oklahoma and democratic senator raphael warnock of georgia, the only two clergy members serving in the u.s. senate. joining me for insight and analysis are presidential historian doris kearns goodwin, russell moore, the editor-in-chief of christianity today, and nbc news correspondent antonia hylton. welcome to sunday and a special edition of "meet the press". [ music ]

>> from nbc news in washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is a special edition of "meet the press" with kristen welker. >> good sunday morning. we begin with the question, can americans keep talking to each other even when they disagree? with political polarization at an all-time high, is it even possible? a record-high 80% of u.s. adults believe that americans are greatly divided on the most important values. just 18% believe the country is united. americans today dislike and distrust those from opposing political parties more than they did in the past. growing shares in each party describe those in the other party as more close-minded, dishonest, immoral, and unintelligent than other americans. nearly two-thirds of americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. 55% feel angry. just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful. in his first inaugural address,

as civil war threatened to break the country apart, abraham lincoln famously said, "we are not enemies but friends. we must not be enemies. though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection." over the decades, american presidents facing a divided country have returned to lincoln and called for americans to talk to each other. >> we don't have to call each other names anymore. we have honest differences. we don't have to be mad. we don't have to be angry at each other on a human level. but we got honest differences. >> sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent but not a country. we do not accept this, and we will not allow it. >> it's one of the few regrets of my presidency that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. i have no doubt a president with the gifts of lincoln or roosevelt might

have better bridged the divide. and i guarantee i'll keep trying to be better so long as i hold this office. >> to take us through where we stand, i'm joined by my colleague, nbc news political correspondent steve kornacki. steve, break it down for us. >> yeah, kristen, i guess you could say there's consensus, but the consensus is on how fundamentally divided we are as a country. again, you showed this a minute ago. this isn't even about issues. this is just about the basic values we have as americans. do you think we're united or greatly divided on those values? eight out of ten saying we are greatly divided on values. and this cuts across party lines. you can see it right here. democrats, republicans, independents, very few of any of them say we are united on values. and just to put this in some context, it doesn't have to be this way. it wasn't always this way. this right here, you're looking at numbers right after 9-11. obviously, that's an extreme moment in our history. but again, look at the unity the country

was feeling at that moment. and two decades later, look how far those numbers have descended since 9-11. so some context, some perspective there. again, you get to the issue then of how each side of the divide looks at each other. and again, what you see here are numbers that tell you this goes beyond policy differences. this goes beyond just basic disagreements about issues. asking here, you're asking each party about what they think of the other party. so you're asking democrats, do you think that republicans respect democratic institutions? not many democrats say that about republicans. not many republicans say that about democrats. do you think the other party governs honestly? almost no democrats, almost no republicans say that about the other party. you see it here, too, on the question of tolerating different types of people. so the view that each side has of the other, it's deep, deep suspicion, hostility between the two parties, between the two sides of the divide. how does this play out in our elections? how did it play out in november? we talk about the different demographic divides that

have been driving elections. now, gender, one of them, this goes back decades. we've really had a gender gap since 1980. in this election, trump winning men by 12, harris winning women by 8, a gender gap of 20 points. third straight election, the gender gap was at least 20 points. we see it on marriage. married voters, heavily for trump, unmarried, heavily for harris. we see it among white voters, not so much yet with nonwhite voters. we're keeping an eye on that. college degree -- without a degree, trump wins by 34 points, white voters with a degree, harris by 8. an enormous gap right there. and then you could take a look right here as well in terms of how this would look on the map. these are all the counties in the country. this is over 3,100 counties, and you think of those demographic divides, trump cleaning up with blue-collar voters, white voters without college degrees. you see that in a lot of rural areas, a lot of small population counties all over the country. look at all of that red. meanwhile, democrats doing well

with voters with college degrees, suburbanites, city dwellers. so you see the democratic base is much more narrow geographically in sort of population-dense areas. that's what the divide looks like there. and you just see within this, look at this, the number of blowout counties, where there's at least a 50-point margin in the presidential race, a fourfold increase in the last generation. we can reduce this, though, to a very microscopic level, precinct level. these are areas within cities and towns. we might have found the two most polar opposite demographically precincts in the country. i just want to show you them here. one is hyde park, chicago. this is upscale. this is where barack obama's from. high median income. everyone has a high school degree. look at this. more than three-quarters have a postgraduate degree in this precinct. harris wins it overwhelmingly. other side of the divide here. take a look here. this is panther, west virginia, mcdowell colony, one of the poorest in the country. as you can see here, not even half the residents with a high school diploma, nobody with a college degree here. and donald trump wins this by 92 points.

totally, totally far apart. if there's one silver lining maybe we can see when it comes to polarization, though, just quickly, it is this. there is less overall racial polarization coming out of this election. go back to 2016. trump won white voters by 20. clinton back then won nonwhite by 53. that was a 73-point gap. this time, 15-31. the racial gap narrowed this election. donald trump did much better with latino voters, asian-american voters. we do have less racial polarization, but we still overall, kristen, obviously have a ton of polarization. >> yeah, the numbers really tell the tale of just how divided we are. steve kornacki, thank you so much. >> and joining me now are the only two ordained ministers in the senate, democratic senator raphael warnock of georgia and republican senator james lankford of oklahoma. welcome back to "meet the press" to both of you. >> thank you. good to be back again. >> great to be with you. >> thank you both for being here. it is so great to have you both here for this bipartisan conversation,

and we really want to focus on how we can restore bipartisanship in washington and also those conversations across america that just aren't happening. you are two senators who care deeply about bipartisanship, and it comes at a time when we are very fractured here in washington as a nation. i wonder if you can take me behind the scenes, and senator warnock, you can begin. do you all have conversations about how you can restore bipartisanship? are those conversations happening? >> absolutely, and i can tell you that for me, and i'm sure senator lankford would agree, bipartisan work is as basic as the american covenant, e pluribus unum, out of many, one. and so, you know, we have differences of opinion, but the issue is our humanity and trying to build and strengthen the american family. that's the spirit with which i come to this work. it's informed by my years as a pastor.

i still lead my church, and i'm deeply honored to work with senator lankford this week, and in recent days we've been trying to think about ways we can do more work together. >> senator lankford, tell me about some of those conversations. how do you start the conversation of how you can do more work together? >> so what's interesting is i really don't think of this as bipartisan work. this is just american work. most people don't think of themselves first as republican, democrat, independent. they think of them first as just human beings and neighbors and people that work and families. and so really what we're talking about is how do people who disagree sit down and figure it out? that's where we are. unfortunately, washington, d.c. is a mirror to the country that the country doesn't really like. everybody looks at washington, d.c. and says, "those people yell at each other and everything else." and i typically will smile at folks when they say, "those crazy people yell at each other." it's like, "what was thanksgiving like when your whole family got together last year?" what happens is family members get together that aren't together all the time. they see their differences, and they have arguments. i was like, "well, that's d.c."

that's what's happening, people that disagree. but the difference is we're not supposed to just come here and just figure out how to be bipartisan. we're supposed to figure out how to solve problems. and two people that disagree or 100 people that disagree or 435 in the house that disagree have got to be able to sit down and be grownups and say, "let's talk this out. let's figure it out." >> do you feel like you're in a minority of people who care about figuring it out right now in washington? because certainly across the country, as we're saying, relationships, conversations are fractured. >> yeah, conversations are fractured. i don't think i'm in a minority that want to figure it out. i think i'm in a minority that has hope we will figure it out. i think a lot of people just lost hope this gets better. and i think that's the emotion of the country is they want it to be fixed, but they can't figure out how it's going to actually happen. the latest poll i saw was over 70% of the people in the country don't like the direction of the country. that's not a political statement. it's an emotional statement. like what's happening to us as americans? and my basic statement is, well, americans are all made up of individual americans. when each person decides they're

going to do a different, america decides they're going to do a different. >> let me give you some more polls, because you're absolutely right. almost two-thirds of people say they feel exhausted when they think about politics. fifty-five percent say they feel angry. more than 60% say having political conversations with people they disagree with is stressful and frustrating. senator warnock, how did we get here? >> well, you know, as a pastor, i've sat in my study many times with families that are struggling. an i have said in my study many times about families are struggling. i think that what we are dealing with is the fundamental assault on the basic understanding that we are the american family. and all families have a complicated story. we sort of gloss over things. but just beneath the surface their stories, the parts of our family life that we may not

necessarily want to talk about, but it's all there. and the issue is remembering that you are still family. we have differences publicity of and work it out. a lot of these differences are structural. i do agree that washington, in many ways, is a reflection of the country. but there are some structural issues. like gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering that fractures the country. the ways in which people's voices have been squeezed out of their democracy. i will pick one front issue. click on violence. there is a fox news poll that said 86% of americans believe that we ought to have just basic background checks when it comes to gun violence. and yet we can't seem to get legislation that reflects anything near that level of agreement between the left and the right among ordinary citizens. we have to fix it. >> what you make of an issue like gun violence, like we are seeing over and over again, the school shootings that ripped

schools, rip community support? do you think there will be a time, and there has been, there has been moments of bipartisanship on this issue. but few and far between. do you think there's space for something larger? >> so i will go back to the most basic issue. gun violence issues breakdown with family issues. very often, we have someone ends up being a violent attack or somewhere you go and say, what's happening in the schools, what's happening in the environment? so we want to say to just pass a law and fix it. but you can't just pass law and fix. it's a heart issue. racism is our issue before it's a legislative issue. there are legislative issues where you have to make sure everything is fair, balanced, opportunity for everybody. i started several years ago, does have asking people similar question. has your family ever invited another family of another is to your home for dinner. in your home as a family of

another race ever been your home and shared a meal? most people have talked to of every race of americans said that's ever happened. well, that's a barrier. literally at our front door. our kids are growing up seeing families of other races around the kitchen table and just having conversations. that's a heart issue and a family issue that we have to work through. something with gun violence and other things. >> this is an happen in other countries. there are family issues, there are heart issues. this is kind of a bipartisan conversation that happens between two christian brothers who have deep love and respect for one another. we need more honest conversations like this.

>> speaking of more work that needs to be done, i want to talk about another big issue. certainly that you've been very involved in, senator langford. immigration. you are very close to getting a bipartisan immigration deal and i know you are working hours, nonstop to try to get this done. it fell apart in the end. we will get to all the reasons why. but you are actually censored by republicans in your home state. what does that say? and what messages sent to people who say there is no hope for the bipartisan deals? big bipartisan deals. >> again, we breakdown the issue on it. it's not necessarily bipartisan. it's how do we solve the problem. there is a problem, how to get together with people that we deserve and be able to solve it? it feels an issue. in the focus a lot of times here in washington, d.c. is how to do bipartisan when you go. again, the conversation is not that way. it's how you actually to solve the problem on it. and we talk a lot about bipartisan disagreements on it. but quite frankly, democrats

have fight with democrats, republicans have fight with republicans. most of the heated battles that i have faced her with other republicans on it. and then we'll sit down and talk about something and say, where do we find common ground on things? but that's just the nature of where our politics are. and i think it goes back to this court issue. americans feeling things are broken. when you begin to lose hope in you feeling things are broken you get angrier. >> speaking of the anger. senator, do you feel like there is public anger and almost mistrust of people working together reaching across the aisle to find that, go? >> i think the whole country has what i call a low-grade fever. you know someone is you wake up and you just don't feel really well. you can't put your finger on it. we have been through four years of hope. the early months of that, having to shelter in all of the trauma around that. 20 years of what felt like an endless war. and then demagogues who exploit this moment through

exacerbating the faultlines, the cultural fault lines of division in our country. and i think people just feel the full weight and the trauma of all that. and what i would encourage us to do, especially in the season, is to look toward one another rather than to figure out how we can hurt one another. how we can pray with one another rather than pray on one another. i still have a great hope for this country. our ideals of unity, of inclusion, of the quality. and the american stories about pushing us closer towards those ideals. and there have been moments where the democracy has expanded, that the moments have contracted. but any woman will tell you that even contractions are necessary for birth. so i remain hopeful leading this moment. but it's going to be hard work pick >> senator langford, talk to members of the republican

party. what is your message to them this holiday season as we prepare to begin a new chapter here in washington as a country , together. what you think republicans can do better to try to bring about the type of bipartisanship, the work, the spirit that you have been -- two? >> try to figure out how to solve it. we find great differences across the country and in different regions. republican in oklahoma is different than a republican in new york, maine or washington state. they think differently even though they are on the same party. even within parties there are differences of opinion. and there's differences of opinion between the public and antidemocrat. we live next door to each other. we figure out how to work it out his neighbors. we've got to be able to figure out how to work out as well. it doesn't mean that we give away our values. we don't to give away values. i'm always looking for where we have common ground. compromise is a word that a lot of people throw around.

i understand what you're trying to say but i think what people here though, especially republicans, is compromise needs to give up your valleys. i don't think you should give up your valleys, i don't think i should give up my values, but there are areas where we have 80% or 70% that we do agree on. at the common ground as america's. let's do that. and as americans, think and pray about the next big problem. we will find the area of common ground again and keep moving. the worst thing that we can do is do nothing. if i can make the civil statement, every signal issue that we face we can either do nothing, something, or everything. problems are so bad, do is so big, we are so out of control. immigration is so out of control. everybody in my places, let's do every thing. we have to fix all and fix it all right now. washington is terrible at doing everything. we are terrible at it. trying to get everything done on it. but we can't just do nothing. we have to find the something that can get done so we can at least make progress. >> politicians center themselves rather than the

people. if you sent to the people you have a shot at getting the policy right pick >> what's your message to democrats? what do democrats need to do better moving forward? >> look, you've got to listen to the people. we just had an election and i think we have to take some time to listen to what the folks are saying, what the people are saying. what everyday people are saying. continue to build on our values. look, i've had success doing bipartisan work, working with people like ted cruz. we did legislation together. i worked with republican senators in alabama to defend and support farmers. a lot more bipartisan work happens more often than you think. sometimes it's not talked about. >> is on his pick >> i'm trying to be kind. >> one person doing this and one person doing this. >> we do more work than people see. >> wonderful point there.

today this bipartisan conversation is news. thank you so much for being here. but stay with us. when we come back more of our conversation with senators langford and warnock. the only two members of clergy serving in the u.s. senate. we will talk about how they find common ground

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get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities™. . >> welcome back. and senators raphael warnock and james lankford are still with me. let's talk about faith. you both came to politics welcome back. senators raphael warnock and james langford are still with me. let's talk about faith. you both came to politics from baptist ministries. and i wonder how that background has shaped your work now in congress. what would people learn if they got to sit in church with you all on sundays? how does that inform the type of politician you are, senator langford? >> have to tell you, when i accepted christ it was a simple thing for me to understand. i did make the universe, i'm not god, and i know i have seen in my life and i'm separated from god. so when i had christ in my life it was revolutionary event. that affects how i treat other

people, that affects how i treat my life, my children, people i disagree with, my staff, it affects how i drive. i say to people a lot, on the faith issues, if you're faithfully affects what you do on sunday mornings, things really doing a we can, that's called a hobby. a faith is something that permeates every part of what you do. and so my faith affects me. i see people as created in the image of god is. they have value and worth. we may disagree on an issue but that person is created in the image of god. they have value and worth the same i do. so i'm going to treat them different, i want to have strong debate on issues because clearly i'm right, clearly wrong. all those issues, i want to talk about the issues and what i believe in in a respectful way to say, i want to also listen. because i'm a person that should learn as well because god has affected me. and i would love to have that for other people as well. >> senator warnock, how is your faith impact the work you do everyday here in washington? >> while i often say to folks

that i'm not a senator who used to be a pastor., pastor in the senate. i don't know if you've ever been to a baptist service. he took great risk in inviting to baptists. there is a limit to this. >> we were worried about the time cues. >> you know, look, every sunday at my church after a sermon i say the doors of the church are open. it's our invitation. and it's open. you really mean it. whosoever will, let them come. i have brought that same spirit my work and d.c. i literally mean it. whoever i can work with to get good things done for the people of georgia, i will do that. in my work as a pastor, walking with people, even as you work for the people. very often in d.c. you can get things done at the rate you want to get them done. i think people need leaders that they feel welcome behind them in some sense. i have spent years in hospital

rooms. i've seen up close what happens when the diabetes, for example, gets out of control. i've been there when families have had to face the terrible news of someone getting an amputation. so it was those folks that i had in mind when i wrote my bill to cap insulin to $35 per month. so i try to bring that spirit of centering people, the openness to work with anybody to get things done. >> do you worry that politics is impacting people's religious faith, senator? >> i think that we should turn the politics into a god. one central tenet of our faith is that you have no other gods before me. look, i don't want to turn politics into a god. i don't want to practice my faith in such a way that i'm not open to others. i'm a pastor. but i believe firmly in the separation of church and state.

it is the values that come for my faith that inform my work every day in d.c. and not the doctrine. it's important that the table is broad enough to embrace people with moral courage. >> you think, senator langford, that faith can still bridge the divide in politics? >> absolutely. a little bit of baptist history. baptists were kicked out of all the colonies. originally, when we reduce colonies, every colony had its own religion. there was a time in america we had to be a certain denomination to be a leader in the area. we didn't all end up in providence, rhode island. the thought became providence, rhode island. because it was open to all faiths and backgrounds. this basic tenet of politics affecting your faith or faith affecting politics, i believe the whole bible. it is due. and i believe that's truth on it. one of those trees that are in there is to love your neighbor as yourself. and in politics right now it

seems to be most interesting when you hate your neighbor, attack your neighbor, and you go online and go on social media and say something snarky about your neighbor. i get that's politically interesting and it gets you like some social media. but it violates a basic biblical principle of loving my neighbor as myself. and i've got to decide, as a person of faith, am i going to try to be the most aggressive, angry politician? or am i going to be a jesus follower who also serves in this role? >> and that's my next question for both of you. a lot of people are about to be with family for the holidays to celebrate a range of different holidays. and there are a lot of divisions right now in our politics and within people's families, within their friendships. so talk to people, senator langford, when we start us off all around the country this holiday season? what would your message be about ? how they can restart some of those conversations that they may have lost.

>> well, it's the most basic thing to have a little bit of humility in relationships and be able to sit down with people and get their story. especially with family. hey, were family, we have to figure this out. for the sake of our children, our cousins, our parents, let's sit down and try to figure out ways to be able to solve this. i've never met a person that regretted solving issues in their own family. i've met a lot of people that regretted broken relationships in the family. so the relationship is broken your family that affects your whole family. so do the hard work, sit down with people you disagree with and say, let's figure this out. because it would be good for us for decades to be able to do that. just a basic gift to your family and your kids, quite friendly. >> senator warnock, final thought? >> our face should not become one more tool in the arsenal of these culture wars. my faith is not a weapon, it's a bridge. and there are certain people that you want to be able to bridge relationships within one's own family. so we approach this work with the degree of humility. the recognition that we don't know anything.

there are things that we can see quite frankly based on where we are sitting right now in this room. utterly, things you are saying because we were sitting and vice versa. so we have to talk to one another. can this christmas season i have to tell you, my favorite christmas him is, "o holy night. and in that there's a great line that says, his law is love and his gospel is peace. i would hope that is lawmakers and citizens that we will be guided by the law of love, the gospel of peace, regardless of faith and tradition, and that we will see each other through that. >> senators warnock and langford, such an important and informative conversation merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> thank you for being here. we really appreciate it. and when we come back we continue with a special panel conversation on how our divided nation can find a path forward.

. >> welcome back. the panel is here. pulitzer prize-winning presidential historian doris kearns goodwin, author of "an unfinished love story: welcome back. the panel is here. pulitzer prize winning doris kearns goodwin, author of an unfinished love story, a personal history of the 1960s. nbc news correspondent antonio hamilton, cohost of the

podcast, grapevine, and southlake command author of madness, race and insanity in a jim crow asylum. and dr. russell moore, editor and chief of christianity today and author of losing our religion, an altar call for evangelical america. thanks to all of you for being here for a very special "meet the press." we appreciate it, doris. i want to start with you. we are talking about how divided we are as a country. what does history tell us about these moments? what can we learn about the moments in which we've been most divided in the past? >> this is where history can come to the rescue because we have been really divided. i think way, way back to the election of 1800 between federalist john adams and republican john thomas jefferson. it was so much more vitriolic than the one we just went through. each one said the other one was an enemies to the constitution. each one said the other one was an ex-essential threat even martha washington on the federal side saying that jefferson was despicable, the

most despicable man of all. they called each other atheists, they called each other monarchists. and the extraordinary thing was they actually jailed people who were saying things about about adams. adams had a 1798 law. for some he had called him a bad name, they put him in jail. so this was really, really tough. so what does jefferson do? there is an answer to this. he comes to his inauguration and he starts off saying, we are all federalist, we are all republicans. we must approach each other with civility and magnanimity. we must unite for the common good. and that somehow set a tone. then you let that locks by that allows you to jail journalists and he brought the journalists who had been put in jail out on a pardon. and he followed through on the his idea they would reach across the aisle and become the president to set a tone. there's answers to these problems, as history shows. >> and the lesson there, that words and actions indeed do matter.

dr., let me turn to you. because you are talking about how to emerge from an election cycle that is so divisive in a stronger way. anything people can -- their relationships in the wake of this past election? >> that's the number one question that i get from people and families, people and churches, in their communities. especially as we are going into the holidays. a lot of people say, what we do with this tense sort of sitting down at the table? and some people think, i don't want to avoid the topic because if i do that is somehow giving up. i don't think it is. i think we do this all the time. we don't bring up onto mildred's ex-husband. uncle ronnie can't handle eggnog. don't bring any to the table. there are all kinds of things that we don't talk about because we want to remain connected with one another. so i'll often quote a bible verse that says, so far as it's possible with you, live peaceably with all people. it's not always possible. there are going to be people who will insist on being divided and target. but i found that most people,

if you say, look, we disagree. i'm not going to convince you of my views on politics, you are not going to convince me. but i really need you as mom, as brother, his friend. can we just avoid the? most people are willing to do that. now you sleep, you slide into fall. there is not one line reciting luke to speech and everything is warm again. but it does mean that you are working together toward the point of connection. and i think that's important. >> the importance of putting the relationship, the person in the connection above all else. you've been traveling all around this country talking to people in communities, places of worship, and schools. what have been your biggest takeaways about this moment of division that this country is facing? >> i think the major takeaways, for me, they kind of break down into two things. the first is that i think our

national political politics, the polarization that we see on the national stage is seeping into and fraying local relationships. and this one may be a more obvious one. i think we are living in a time where people have retreated into silos and they are in very different information and fact ecosystems. but what's interesting is that people are responding to this dysfunction, the fear that they have about cultural or technological changes, often with actually the same strategy. even though it may look a little different because they come from different committees. so i spent time in texas and oklahoma with evangelical families and they are concerned about what's happening in the public school system so the pull their kids out. they put them into a christian academy because that's where their faith is affirmed. and that's where they think that the books will be the most appropriate for their children or they are concerned about the story of american history that their children will be exposed to. and so the retreat there. and then i spent time with, for example, a black family north carolina had the election.

and they fell like the democrats had come back, time and time again and made promises to them that were not fulfilled. and so they were describing, basically a lifestyle that was no hyper local. i'm going to depend on my neighbor, care for my kids, going to worry about my job and my salary. and i don't think i'm going to participate. i need to retreat. so very different committees and people. but they are actually doing the same thing. >> all retreating. it's so fascinating to hear you map it out like that. and doris, you actually participated in a time in history where people, instead of retreating, were coming together. the march on washington in 1963. you are there at the height of the civil rights movement. and here we have some footage of dr. martin luther king jr.. what are the lessons for you at that moment and that time? >> it was an extraordinary moment, really. it was that feeling, for the first time in my life, when i was part of something larger than myself. there were 250,000 of the people there at that time. and he felt a sense of joyous, complete, peaceful discipline

march. and when i was carrying a sign, catholics, , protestants unite for civil rights. in a really change the direction of my life because we ended up singing, we shall overcome. i felt the sense of fulfillment that many people in the 60s meant, that we are making the country a better place. i went back to college. i was going to be in international relations. i could go to paris and brussels. i said, no, i want to live in america and be a part of this. i think if we can only restore, i think what you said about silos is so important. if i had one thing i can do as an older person now, i would have a national service program. kids come out of high school. they have a year where the city could goes to the country, these 10% goes to the heart lands. and they have a service. so they feel that sense of fulfillment we felt in the 60s. we can do that. it's a hard thing to do. it's the only way you're going to break down the silos, by having them work together on a common mission. we do in the military, let's do it domestically at home. i'm really, really for that. >> what a fantastic ending

point for the segment. stay with us. there's a lot more to get to when we come back. we look back on those we lost in 2024. ng checkout on the planet. like the just one-tapping, ridiculously fast-acting, sky-high sales stacking champion of checkouts. that's the good stuff right there. so if your business is in it to win it, win with shopify. when a tough cough finds you on the go, a syrup would be... silly! woo! hey! try new robitussin soft chews. packed with the power of robitussin... in every bite. easy to take cough relief, anywhere. chew on relief, chew on a ♪ robitussin ♪

. >> welcome back. as we do every year, we want to take a moment to remember some of the iconic people in politics, culture and the media welcome back. as we do every year, we want to take a moment to remember some of the iconic people in politics, culture, and the media. we've lost in the past 12 months.

>> this is a day for every american, including those that are politicians, to drop the labels. we are not republicans, we are not democrats, we are americans. democrats, we are americans. >> the overwhelming evidence in the case that we tried is that sexual orientation is something

that's an immutable characteristic of an individual. [ music ] >> we sought justice because equal pay for equal work is an american value. [ music ]

>> you cannot be afraid and you cannot be worried about who does and who doesn't like what you do, because there's always somebody is not going to like it. if nobody doesn't like it, >> we cannot be afraid, and we cannot be worried about who does and doesn't like what you do. because always somebody is not going to like it. if nobody doesn't like it somethings wrong with it. . >> i am your father.

[ music ] >> it's truly been 41 marvelous years. >> do you have one memory of "meet the press" that you're going to take with you? >> i think it's >> is truly inlybeen 41 marvelo years. >> you have one memory of meet the press that you will take it with you? >> i think it's mainly the people that i worked with behind the scenes, as well as on the front. the people are what count always. . in your tracks. bye, grandma. ♪♪

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through our website. >> welcome back. the panel is still here. antonia, i want to start this part of the conversation with you. we are about to start a new administration, a new chapter really welcome back, the panelist are here. i want to start this conversation with you. we are about to start a new administration, a new chapter, really, for the entire country. as you talk to folks in your travels, what are they telling you about their hopes, their expectations for this next stage in the country? >> i think the one thing everyone can agree on is that they are either hopeful for, or bracing for immense change right now. and i come back again to some of the conversations that i had during the election cycle. late october, as i was on the road mostly north carolina. and i would talk to families that describe to me feeling like year after year, or cycle after

cycle, whether they are in urban parts of the state or rural ones, like their lives were not changing. like they were seeing this dysfunction on our national political stage and they want to change. i think one of the reasons we are in the moment that we are in, and we are fueling a comeback for president-elect trump, is that in a way that represented a type of change. a release from the status quo. it seems large number of americans, no matter what side of the divide they are on, they want it broken in some sense. that's the thing i think we need to recognize. but the pieces that i see on the ground at the local level that seem to respond to or heal from that our local community groups and organizations that are starting to bring people together across those differences and have them spend that quality time. i did a story about a pickup basketball league in new york city the other day, where investment bankers, artists, people between employment were all on a team together. never

talking about politics, never talking about the difference between staten island and the bronx. were just talking about the love of katelyn clark and the wnba, and their place in the world. and i think people want more of that. >> we will pick up on that point. and also the responsibility that you, as a faith leader, you think you should have whether they are in the white house, halls of congress or at the community level. >> well what i worry about right now is cynicism. people that have given up and the assumption that my enemies are as corrupt as they can possibly be, therefore a need to be just as corrupt in order to fight them. i think there is a sense of exhaustion and cynicism that we have to combat. and i think in terms of moral leadership in office, a lot of that has to do with imaginatively giving people a picture of what is possible. growing up in mississippi. when i see elderly white people that had resisted the pole to

jim crow segregation ideology, it was almost always for one reason. they were in the air force, they were in the army, they had seen a different picture of reality and were able to bring them back home. i think our leaders can't underestimate how many children are watching and saying, what does this really mean? and can rhetoric, can language even mean anything at all? or is it simply this constant upping of the stakes? and as a christian i think of jesus saying, those that live by the sword can die by the sword. the cycle of violence, whether rhetorical or actual, leads to nowhere. >> and you take me to my question beautifully. which is we are going to hear from president-elect trump at his inauguration, his inaugural address. and you talk about the importance of language and rhetoric in these moments where everyone is watching. what does history tell us about this moment? >> i think history would point

out exactly what you said. imagine giving people a different way of thinking. fdr's first inaugural was the most impactful. he was told, right before he went there, that if your program works you will be one of the great presidents in history. if it fails you will be one of the worst. he said no, i will be the last american president. one out of four people out of work, people feeling paralyzed, no safety net. he comes on and he says hello with his contagious optimism, only a foolish optimist would deny the brutal realities of the moment. there is nothing to fear but fear itself. most portly, he said it's fall, people. it was the failure of leadership. and i'm here to provide that leadership. he promised action. i will bring an emergency session of congress. i will get these laws passed. by the end of that talk people fell change. they felt they had a leader. we have a leader. the government still lives. hundreds of thousands of letters went in. one person wrote, my roof fell off, while wife is mad at me,

i've lost my job. everything is bad except you are there. now every thing is all right. it's the mystery of leadership. we have to believe, as you say, we cannot have cynicism. all the big changes that have happened in america come from the ground up. when lincoln was told you are a liberator, it was the antislavery movement that did it all. it was the civil rights movement. if we are not able to have a leader out of it, we have to believe in ourselves as citizens. >> we we have 30 seconds left. will the younger generation be listening? >> i think we have to meet them where they are. they want to learn, they want to listen. i started asking them on the road, what can i do to better serve you? and they tell me, start from the beginning. you need to explain to me the terms of the debate. because i feel like it's

running away from you. come to the platforms where we live in the neighborhoods where we are. and that's going to be the beginning of change. >> dr., we have about 20 seconds left. your final thought? >> i think politics makes a good way to run a country together. it makes a terrible god. we have to have things more important than our political struggles. >> thank you for this really incredible panel discussion. i appreciate it. that is all for today. thank you for watching and have a merry christmas and a very happy holiday. we will be back next week. because if it is sunday it is meet the press. . we are grateful that everyone stood together to do the right thing. and this is the last order of business for the year. we are set up for a big and important new start in january.

>> congre