let's bring in historian jon meacham and former acting u.s. attorney general, neal katyal. ust and institutions has just become universal in a way that is the pretty much nightmare scenario if you believe in the ultimate efficacy of the constitutional order to produce a more union, to protect equality and the rule of law for all of its imperfections, the system has been worth defending for 250 years. right now if this draft decision, if the court were to go this far, you will have, as you were just saying, an extraordinary number of americans believing that the system, in fact, cannot and is not capable of delivering justice, is not capable of reflecting the popular will, even through the constitutional prism. i think that one of the great questions of the era, the great question of the era, is are you and i, are we in this decade, are we up to democracy? are we commensurate to the task? i worry we're entering the darkest period of that test. because if you have any reservations about the system's capacity to deliver justice, they have just been affirmed. >> neal katyal, aga

. >> joining me is jon meacham. jon, what is the long-term implication of this in terms of the court and in terms of the rule of law if five members now of the supreme court can overturn nearly a half century of constitutional precedent? >> andrea, we're entering an unfolding crisis of trust. it's unclear what the implications will be, but i think we can speculate with some safety that an extraordinary number of americans are going to see this as a startling and maybe they shouldn't be surprised but they will be, reversal of a half century of precedent. precedence should not stand just because they're precedents. as you just played, there has been an understanding in the country that the 1973 decision or at least the rights secured by it were secure. one of the things we're going to have to deal with here is, we're such a narrowly divided country. we only had three presidential elections since world war ii where a candidate got even as much as 60% of the vote. we have been in an era where we are much closer to have p

what is happening right now in america with presidential historian jon meacham. you joining us. thank you. i wish i could see you under better circumstances. this cycle of violence seems never ending. you hear the pain in the people's voices. so many parents sent their kids off to school and they are wondering if they are safe this morning, sending kids off to school. are we doomed for this to be america's new reality? >> we're not doomed, but we have to step up. we have to acknowledge reality. we cannot fall into the pattern of reflexively partisan views of this -- i don't want to call it unimagi unimaginable because it's all too imaginable. i don't want to call it unspeakable because we have to speak about it. because this should not stand. this should not be a normal thing in the united states of america or anywhere. and the fact that there is this relentless and unflinching view on the right that guns are somehow sacrosanct, that they are genuinely sacred, they are not part of a real world, they are holy objects, that's idolatry. and it is costing the lives o

you just heard from my friend, jon meacham. fritz was a master legislator who shone a light on those who needed it most. the desire to lift up others stemmed from his youth, from his service as a corporal in the u.s. army, and those early days organizing for hubert humphrey in parts of minnesota that democrats didn't win. fritz learned early the power of bringing people together. and i know that for fritz, no moment was brighter than when he joined forces. because i was with him. i was just a bit player, with an african american senator from massachusetts, senator edward brooke, and they passed the fair housing act. i was on the same side of the chamber in the back where fritz was. i remember the look on his face. opened up neighborhoods diminished by segregation for so long. when the act passed, fritz spoke on the senate floor. and he said that, quote, the words justice and fairness will will never mean more to our fellow americans than they do today. that was fritz spreading light, the light of our country, to families who ha

you just heard from my friend, jon meacham. fritz was a master legislator who shone a light on those who needed it most. the desire to lift up others stemmed from his youth, from his service as a corporal in the u.s. army, and those early days organizing for hubert humphrey in parts of minnesota that democrats didn't win. fritz learned early the power of bringing people together. and i know that for fritz, no moment was brighter than when he joined forces. because i was with him. i was just a bit player, with an african american senator from massachusetts, senator edward brooke, and they passed the fair housing act. i was on the same side of the chamber in the back where fritz was. i remember the look on his face. opened up neighborhoods diminished by segregation for so long. when the act passed, fritz spoke on the senate floor. and he said that, quote, the words justice and fairness will will never mean more to our fellow americans than they do today. that was fritz spreading light, the light of our country, to families who ha

at vanderbilt university, jon meacham. jon, in the past, we've had tragedies.ha reaction to it, the tragedy of the 16th street baptist church, those bombings actually helped drive the civil rights movement forward. it woke up a lot of, as martin luther king would call them, moderate white americans. i'm curious, it seems we have one shooting after another, whether it's the targeting of jews at a synagogue in pittsburgh, the targeting of hispanics at a walmart in el paso, the targeting of black americans at a supermarket in buffalo. i'm not really seeing any sort of positive reaction against that hatred. what i'm seeing are republican leaders and talk show hosts on other networks actually dive into it even deeper. where are we as a nation? >> you know, i think it's fascinating to me you'd use the civil rights movement as an example. i was thinking all weekend -- you know, i wasn't around in 1961 when there were pictures of the freedom riders bus. went around the world. they'd been firebombed. i wasn't around for the death of the four young women at the 16th stre

jon meacham, thank you, as well.rspective this morning. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," republican congressman adam kinzinger tweeted this yesterday. quote, after the shooting in vegas, i came out for raising the age of gun purchase, banning high capacity magazines and bump stocks, universal background checks and red flag laws. as a result, the nra turned on me. best decision i made. he joins us to talk about what congress and, specifically, members of the republican party can do to address gun violence. >>> also ahead, president biden marked the second anniversary of the murder of george floyd yesterday with a signing of an executive order on police reform. the reverend al sharpton was there, and he joins the table next. >>> you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions ca

s and i think if you talk to historians like jon meacham, they'll tell you, we've had extensive threatse birth of the republic, when washington was in real trouble, he lost the first six out of eight battles, you can skip over to the great depression or world war ii, we did well in all of those. the one we screwed up was the civil war, obviously. there i think -- but overall, that should give us encouragement. we have been to pull together and live together and listen to each other in new ways. i think we can pull the country out of this mess. >> we'll end on that note. the book is "hearts touched with fire: how great leaders are made." it is out there. david gergen, it's great to see you. >> you're very kind. >>> up next, primary races in west virginia and nebraska, both testing g the grip of president trump on the republican party. we'll be rigight back. if you have advanced non-small cell lung cancer, your first treatment could be a chemo-free combination of two immunotherapies that works differently. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagn

. >> and i am honored to speak with you tonight, jon meacham, thank you for joining us. >> thank you.coming up, the inspiring and remarkable commencement speach, from a valedictorian that might change the way you think tonight, when the 11th hour continues. hou continues. being connected. it's vital for every student. so for superintendent of public instruction, tony thurmond, it's a top priority. closing the digital divide, expanding internet access for low-income students and in rural areas. it's why thurmond helped deliver more than a million devices and connected 900,000 students to broadband over the last two years - to enable online learning. more than 45,000 laptops went to low-income students. re-elect tony thurmond. he's making our public schools the last thing before we go tonight, life is for service. it's graduation season, which means lots of speakers are going to inspire and motivate students, one last time. but today, one speaker, a graduate from rollins college, inspired us in a big, big way. elizabeth bonker, the 2022 valedictorian in rollins college in florida. she h

the conversation this evening with valerie will be jon meacham, a biographer of several individuals and someone that joe biden has been known to consult with. and vanderbilt, a tv commentator and editor and senior publishing executive. so fortunate to have him moderating. so, valerie and jon, the screen is yours. >> thank you, personally i have to say get well soon to valerie. and we're supposed to be together. valerie was looking forward to being a real author at that time politics and pros, but i would argue you're a real author here. >> i hope so. i was looking for the-- i mean, politics and prose, nothing like it. and covid, who would have thought it. >> who would have thought, but we're in good shape. delighted to be here. what did you learn doing this? when you're in politics often you are moving from crisis to crisis, moment to moment, and solving problems and making concessions, you're in a kind of maelstrom of the president. a book forces you, doesn't it, to really take stock in the way the day-to-day doesn't allow you to do. what did you learn as you put the book together? >>

conversation this evening with valerie will be jon meacham, accomplished biographer of several american presidents and other prominent individualsen ad some of who joe biden has been known to read and consult with. and also professor at vanderbilt and a tv commentator, not to mention a former top magazine editor and senior publishing executive. where' so 42 have been moderating. so valerie and john, the screen is yours. >> i got it. >> thank you, bradley. for santos a get well soon to valerie. we are supposed to be together. valerie was looking forward to being a real offer a politics and prose, but i would argue you are a real offer here so it -- w >> i hope so. >> it's all good. >> politics and prose, there's it, so -- covid, who would've thought? >> who would've thought? we're in good shape, delighted to be here. what did you learn doing this? when you are in politics, often you are moving from crisis to crisis, , moment to moment, solving problems, making concessions, in a kind of maelstrom. a book forces you doesn't it to really take stock in a way that dated it does allow you to d

you just heard from my friend jon meacham. others. from his youth, from his service as a corporal in the u.s. army for hubert humphrey in parts of minnesota the democrats didn't win. fritz learned the power of bringing people together, and i know for fritz no moment was brighter than when he joined forces because i was with him. i was just a bit player with an african american senator from massachusetts and i passed the fair housing act. i was in the same side of the chamber in the back where fritz was. i remember looking at his face, literally, remember the look on his face, opened up neighborhoods diminished by segregation for so long. when the act passed, fritz spoke on the senate floor and he said that, quote, the words justice and fairness will mean more to millions of our fellow americans and they do, will never have meant more to our fellow americans than they do today. that was fritz in light of our country to families who had never truly known its warmth. at every stage of our lives, at every inflection point, fritz a

jon meacham's thomas jefferson, the art of power. a very good book to use the medium of his age to effectively communicate ideas. ideals to effect change. i think that is true. calum newport's deep work, i feel overwhelmed by emails and -- i refuse to let the i. t. people. for a long time i wouldn't put microsoft on my computer. i didn't want that blank chat function working. how to create space to think. i think it's a real challenge for all of us. i found this book, i don't know if i were the practice it enough to preach it but i found it inspirational. >> so you lined up for questions but mine i'm gonna say if you haven't done wine in the white house with fred ryan, you've got to do it! it's fun. he might even do a fireside chat with a group of people if you can get together. all right, let's take some q&a! who can have questions for us? >> hi my name is chrissy weininger, i am from the russell b, hayes presidential library museum from fremont, a higher. thank you very much for all of your commentary. i just wanted to quickly ment