plus, stephen welcomes tim mcgraw and jon meacham tessa thompson and musical guest jessie reyez featuringck. featuring jon batiste and stay human. and now, live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, it's stephen colbert! ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: come on! wooo! >> stephen: thanks, everybody! please have a seat. thank you very much. very kind of you. welcome to "the late show." i'm your host, stephen colbert. this was-- ( applause ) there's an excitement in the air today. you know, you can feel it. >> jon: yeah. >> stephen: because today is a big day for the 2020 election. donald trump and joe biden were both in iowa, either because it's the first primary state or because kevin costner needed more old guys to walk out of the cornfield. ( laughter ) biden's big speech-- is it tonight? the speech is not until tonight. but his campaign pre-released the transcript, and he's got some harsh words for trump, including, "donald, it's not about you. it's about america." yes, yes, see true. ( cheers and applause ) so true. >> jon: lay it on! >> stephen: biden's right, it's

and jon meacham back with me.starting with you, how exactly do you plan to eliminate coal? you're from west virginia. so many of those people who lost their jobs when those plants closed stood up politically and voted for president trump because they wanted those jobs again. >> well, this is not only the biggest ever philanthropic investment in climate change but it works regardless of who is in washington and so as a west virginian, on the one hand everyone's experiencing the affects of climate change and we have to make sure that no one is left behind making the transition of coal to clean energy and what we have been doing for a decade with bloomberg, with many partners at the sierra club. we have over half the coal plants in the country announced to retire and building on that infrastructure, on that success to meet what the climate science demands and make the transition to 100% clean energy and we have to make sure no one is left behind in the process. workers and communities. i think the candidates understa

jon meachum as i read about the atlantic charter and churchill i heard the meacham meter go off. what are you thoughts as you watch the pageantry of this visit and point back to that time in our history? >> harold mcmillen one of churchill's successors as prime minister once remarked we are the greeks in the new roman empire. the british people saw themselves, particularly the british ruling class, saw themselves as the wise mentors to this brash strong young republic as it came into global leadership. that's the image that popped into my mind when i was watching the queen yesterday. this voice of nine decades. her first prime minister was winston churchill. she's had more prime ministers for breakfast. it's just incredible when you think about her reign. she was speaking, i think, with some of the wisdom of the ages, which is these institutions matter, this relationship matters. it ebbs and flows, unquestionably. it ebbed and flowed in realtime. let's not be sentimental. one of the fascinating things about giving the atlantic charter is the atlantic charter is kind of a noble th

jon meacham and tim mcgraw, thank you guys so much. we real appreciate it. c.com for those >> please don't read those details. >> you cannot laugh during the reading. i asked for so little. >> i'm serious, this is amazing. >> seriously, though, the whitest guy in america after that discussion is going on tour. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." th more "morning joe." >> on second thought, i do like to brag, because i'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag. ♪ i want it that way... i can't believe it. that karl brought his karaoke machine? ♪ ain't nothing but a heartache... ♪ no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. ♪ i never wanna hear you say... ♪ no, kevin... no, kevin! believe it! geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. at their family reunion to show them the family of chevy suvs. this is the trax, the equinox and the traverse. which one is your favorite? the trax, actually. more compact. the equinox is jumping out at me. - the blue one. - the red one. and i would take

jon meacham has written a wonderful book about going back and looking at critics in the history.where a president was able to do brave things one man or one woman was able to make a difference and that is the history of the country. >> host: let's go back to your favorite books because we looked at three fm that you discussed debate could send us. we didn' didn't hook up a fourte and this is by john and a woman named lisa. >> guest: john, he's really a fascinating guy. he was a professional nfl football player, lineman for the baltimore ravens. he started mostly as a backup lineman but then had 13 games or something like that. at the same time, he's getting his phd in mathematics at mit. he is a math genius. he's written a book with my daughter into its two stories. it's his discovery of math in his place in football and there is a commonality. if the key was getting his doctorate. i don't know quite how she did, but it was a great start. we host: i'm going to ask the producer on this one as well. did he cover mind and matter in case people want to see it, because i can't remembe

jackson and jon meacham in one day. >> all before nine in the morning.oment. ♪ first, a check of your local news and weather there it is. >> never gets old. >>> i'm kris sanchez a. lajcak look in walnut creek where the temperatures are set to soar today. meteorologist kari hall tells us pafrs of contra costa county could sail past triple digits. the bay area today is under a heat advisory along with a spare the air alert and fire danger is still high. firefighters are still putting out grass fires that started up over the weekend. the malech fire started yesterday afternoon near morgan hill. about one hour ago firefighters told us it is now 85% contained, more than 200 acres burned before that. >>> shifting toward the lighter summertime morning flow, chris, so we're seeing a pleasant drive as we look toward the earlier jam, south 880, recovers toward industrial. san leandro to hayward, a smooth drive across san mateo. we still have a good volume heading west on 92 from this live shot here. over there opt bay area toll plaza, we see the fast track lanes m

with us this evening, pulitzer prize winning author, presidential historian, jon meacham. his latest work is out next week. co-authored with tim mcgraw. it's called "songs of america: patriotism, protest and the music that made a nation." jon, i've been trying to come up with a question to stump the band and it's not easy and here it is. explain an institution, the u.s. presidency, with the elasticity and forgiveness to have as part of the same club, the same lineage, fdr, eisenhower and donald trump? >> it's the genius of america. it's the remarkable resilience of we, the people, ourselves. i really do believe that. you know, when you write history as when you're doing minute-to-minute journalism, you're always seeking continuities and contrasts, right? and what you -- when you think about something like the d-day commemoration, you go back to 1964 when former president eisenhower went with walter cronkite, walked on the beaches and warned about the wages -- the costs of war, the importance of peace. very much in 1964, the same year as the daisy ad that lyndon johnson aire

but jon meacham and country music legend tim mcgraw did just that in their book "songs of america: patriotismusic that made a nation." i sat down with jon and tim earlier this week and asked them how exactly they decided to take on this project together. >> well, we've known each other for seven years and it started with me hanging around jon's neighborhood and walking around in his backyard peeking in windows and trying to get a chance to be invited over -- >> to be cool. >> i'm a nerd who wants to hang out with a cool guy. >> reversal. >> yeah. >> sorry. >> after faking i got an invitation from keith to have dinner, and we were jumping for joy and excited for five days to go to jon meacham's home. had a great time. the night ended with a great time sitting around talking about history and politics and jon talking about the vast amount of knowledge he has about all of these things. >> that he can recall. >> that he can recall. like when we do our show and even today, i'm the one with notes. jon doesn't have any notes anywhere. half the time i think he's making it up but i don't know that. >>

hugh hewitt, carol lee, jon meacham, author of the book "songs of america" written with tim mcgraw. you've always got something really cool you're up to. >> i've got my tam bah reen. >> this is what life is like in nashville. kristen wilker, let's talk about what you took away from the mulvaney interview specifically and we'll get to the mccain stuff later. specifically what you learned about impeachment and russia. >> well, i thought it took him a long time to answer your question about whether or not the president actually thinks that russia meddled in the election and helped him get elected. you pressed him on what steps are taken by this administration to prevent it from happening again, and he was able to name some of the steps they've taken trying to shore up state and local agencies. but he couldn't point to what the president has done, what the president has said. and time and time again when president trump has been pressed on this -- i pressed him on the oval office -- did you tell putin not to meddle again, he said it didn't come up. >> not only the president is interferi

i am not going to get out ahead of him. >> jon meacham, last week, when we remember in normandy and ihe hyde amendment, which would ban taxpayer funding for abortions, i thought i saw the visage of al fromme and the dlc rise from the mist in the distance. but that's probably not the case, we're not going to see that, especially on the topic of abortion, when it seems that roe is so under siege right now. not only from donald trump, but also from governors across the country. >> yeah, it's the ever-expanding polarization, right? issues that at least had maybe a 60/40 consensus, which in america is pretty strong, when you think about it. we're really a 51% country on a lot of issues. but, you know, this was sort of a 60/40, conservatives could say it's established law. you know, there was something there. that seems to be hurtling toward the arena where we can't talk to each other about it. and i know just talking to younger women in tennessee, there's a lot of concern about what's going on in alabama and the other states. it's -- and i think it's actually, i don't want to say a sleeper

tune in tomorrow when my guests will be tim mcgraw and jon meacham, tessa thompson and musical guest,ady y'all to have some fun ♪ feel the love tonight don't you worry 'bout ♪ where it is you come from it'll be all right ♪ it's the late, late show

with us, presidential historian jon meacham, co-author of the recent book "impeachment and american history" and "songs of america." jon, we try to talk to you once a week. i've been thinking about you a lot this week because it strikes me that robert mueller is the kind of person historians love. this guy of probity and rectitude. the bearing of a sphinx. calvin coolidge talked more than this guy. historians might have to record he might have been bested by a guy, a president, by the way, who adheres to no such rules of behavior? >> it's funny, basically, our public life has become a bar fight, and who knew it would be the "star wars" cantina bar fight. it's unquestionably mueller comes from an entirely different ethos than the incumbent president. he comes from the world of george h.w. bush from dean acheson, sort of the, as you say, figures you can absolutely imagine having two martinis at lunch then deciding to project power across the world. and that world had its limitations, but it had a compelling sense of public duty. and essentially what we saw this week was the former director of

historian jon meacham asked if that means he thinks the trump presidency is "illegitimate." >> there's no doubt that the russians did interfere in our elections.an i think the interference, though not yet quantified, if fully investigated, would show that trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. he lost the election, and he was put into office cause the russians interfered. en woodruff: in a 2017 report, u.s. intelligence es concluded that russia did interfere in the 2016 election help mr. trump. they did not assess whether those actions affected theom ou a scorching heat wave reached its peak today across parts of europe, sending temperatures in france to an all-time high of 114 degrees. heat alerts were posted across italy, and in spain, man 700 firefighters battled a wildfire in catalonia, for a third straight day. we will get more of the details, after the news summary. republican state senators innd oregon areg a week-plus walkout against climate legislation. the bill called for cutting carbon emissns, but the absence of 11 republicans denied the senate a quorum to act. maj

jon meacham and i were talking earlier about what history reminds us.d 1970s. there have been harder times in america. we need political leadership to rise up but we have to take on the citizenship. one thing joe knows more than any of us, the political system is responsive to the people. one person acting alone can't do much. but a lot of people acting together create a political culture and a civic culture. i will say very quickly the fact that donald trump is as low in the polls as he is given the economic conditions is a sign that people are pushing back, and i see a lot of signs of people trying to take back the country they love. >> you know, there are so many things, pete, just the constitution is such a remarkable document and has grown into such a remarkable document, even more so over the past 240, 250 years after we got past many of our original sins, but, you know, ruth, one thing pete just said that was so moving is that we do self-correct. the viruses do create their own antibodies. anybody who has listened to this show more than one day g

carter: this president or -- jon: a new president. [laughter] mr. meachamd if you want to make any predictions on that, i think we are here. mr. carter: i go with what the recent participants in the democratic debates have said. almost all of them say -- all the orders president has issued considering the border affairs, but also to announce we will reenter the paris accords as full participants in preventing global warming becoming a crisis. and also that we are going to participate with other countries in other aspects of human rights. i would say those would be the first things that you can do with executive order. a lot of what trump has done, it has damaged our country's reputation. just by executive order, of which he is very proud. mr. meacham: oh, yes. he does that signature. dr. ryan, i'm going to stick with that. it is very tom clancy. i don't know why you are upset. [laughter] mr. meacham: what you consider the most significant u.s. federal human rights achievement in the past 30 years? >> you mean within the u.s. or globally? mr. meacham: this i