corey booker and tim scott. they are the only ones to serve simultaneously in the senate in the nation's history. glad you joined us for conversations with cory booker and tim scott, coming upright now. ♪ ♪

corey booker and tim scott. they are the only ones to serve simultaneously in the senate in the nation's history. glad you joined us for conversations with cory booker and tim scott, coming upright now. ♪ ♪ >>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >>> u.s. senator tim scott was appointed by governor nikki haley in 2013 to vacate the seat by jim demint. he won a special election to hold on to the seat. i started the conversation recorded live in washington and the pbs affiliate whut by asking governor scott what his agenda is for the congress which is now just convened. >> i would love to tell you why my agenda is what it is. growing up in a single parent household, i lost my way. i was a kid not doing well in high school. i flunked out of geography. they don't call you bilingual. the choice is education. i learned the wrong way how to find the right way. the wrong way was not paying attention and focusing. the right way was learning to focus my attention to my future. part

corey booker, lobbied to get help them get one and community members stepped in to help them. >> he withrubbed and paint and it's shocking and humping we couldn't have gotten here without volunteer help. >>> last night's meal for 100 customers sold out in hours. the restaurant and hotel will be 0 opened full time in the spring. >> time is 6:27 they are tuning up the banjos as we speak. the new year's day tradition is starting off in a new spot. >> wearing the christmas sweater could land a michigan man in jail it's a clue in the critical search for a vandal. hey, cal. snap out of it buddy. sorry. just day dreaming. about a classic truck with flames? yeah! custom chrome... right! and one more to complete the collection. (laughing) alright. how'd you know? you've got the new instant game from the pennsylvania lottery. yeah. $1,000,000 super cash, with top prizes of $1 million. (male announcer) want to see your dreams come to life? you could scratch your way to instant winning. the pennsylvania lottery. bring your dreams to life. >> one man is dead after gunfire eruptsny -- in the city of c

there is a redeem act that is rand paul and corey booker are seeking to pass in the congress that's verynd then there's certain things of this second chance act that deals with reform allow that the administration can change right now. in other words, people coming out of prison can have a whole year of halfway house opportunities, re-enter society. you know we feel, shannon, that we're dealing with is that some people are hopeless because either through reading or through youthful mistakes with the law or other achievement-oriented issues they find themselves hopeful -- or hopeless rather in black or brown ghettos in america. and that's why some of the rioters, looters, others are young people because they feel like they don't have a chance in our culture. so we want the president to speak out, lead the way in education and criminal justice reform and economic development bringing jobs and business back to the ghetto. >> and bishop before we lose you because we just have a short time, i want to ask you, are you hopeful at this point? do you think the two sides talking past each other ca

. >> that was the first group of senators, senators lamar alexander of tennessee, corey booker, bill cassidy of louisiana. he's going to be doing this throughout the next hour or so. groups of four senators being sworn into the 114th congress. we8 sta van, what do you think? you served in the obama administration. what's your expectation for cooperation or lack thereof over the next two years? >> first of all, i think that the republican party is now on trial for its ability to be a governing party. one of the things you saw, they said, look, we've got to be a good opposition party. we've got to show that obama is a horrible president. we've got to block him everywhere we can. and by doing so, we think we're going to be rewarded at the ballot box. that strategy paid off. they were able to run against obama and win. now is question is, is this party structurally capable of governing? are there so many extreme, wacky elements in this party that they can't even come together themselves to even put stuff on his desk that will force him to veto or not? the jury is still out. in some ways,

senator corey booker is here listening. i love that.lot about these issues on the floor of the senate. they are left-right issues. they are issues that i think go to the very heart of how to empower people, how to help people when they're in trouble. and everything we do on the economic issues, international issues and so on are important. but ultimately this is about the people we represent. i'm sure that they and their families have the ability to achieve their god-given abilities. so thank you all for being here adding a little hollywood flare to the whole thing, you know. my co-sponsor is an important piece of legislation. i'm going to talk about a great opportunity and a bipartisan basis to make in the next couple months. this is legislation that passed the house about ten years ago. i was in the author in the house but worked very closely with danny davis. and danny took over the bill when the majority shifted and actually got it done. and it's one that we kept bipartisan all through the process.(tñj that's sometimes tough. no rep

corey booker sitting with the republicans is sitting next to senator kelly a few away, the only democratic sitting outside of his party on the republican side. >> again i guess we want to think about what it's like for the president of the united states to sit in a house chamber that is solidly republican. >> since 1950, all of the presidents who have been sitting a second term is facing the other party giving the second state of the union address. going back to what david and mike were talking about, he was a senator and sat in that chamber and listened to the state of the union address and found himself as president. after talking so much about how a first term senator first junior senator should not move to quickly to the presidency are going to have a heck of a time appoint ago republican senator to be their nominee. it's going to be very tough following barack obama. >> what do you think republicans hope will happen the next two years? >> they have to send responsible legislation to the president. they have to show that they've made a good faith effort toward working with him and then

corey booker tim scott, never sat for a conversation together. i'm doing them together.bs program a week from now. >> host: tavis smiley for the last three hours. here are his books very quickly... thank u, peter. appreciate it.