you told me a story about ken burns. i wonder if you could start with that. >> we have all seen the wonderful documentary's that ken burns does on pbs. after the conclusion of the one on jag, i had a conversation with the filmmaker. it was really a moving conversation for me because what he said was that he had grown up -- he and i are roughly the same age. he had grown up during the civil rights era of. -- era. i believe he lost his mother at that time when he was about 12 years old. so this was a very emotional time in his life and a time that had stuck in his memory. when he came up with the trilogy, the first was the civil war, the second was baseball, and the third was jazz. for him, each of those were metaphors about race in america. i found that very moving. if you think about it, it makes sense. but then again, it does not. my question to him was well is there and metaphor for race? is there a way for us to think about and talk about race that is not so male-dominated? if you think about the civil war, jazz, or m

joining us now is lisa ling along with documentary ken burns.terms of these stories? >> this is one of the most important shows that i've ever done because we're talking about hundreds and thousands of young men and women who have been deployed on multiple tours of duty coming back with ptsd. and i've never seen what it looked like or felt like manifested in these veterans. and they open their lives to us in such a pro found way and it was devastating. it was something that i've never seen before. we attended holistic retreats where they do yoga and meditation and what happened there was incredible. i saw these veterans call their spirits back in the most incredible way. there is no cure for ptsd but i think that they are learning these tools to better deal with what they've been fighting. >> and can you -- you'-- ken, ye a couple wars. >> the civil war and vietnam. >> and the war that we are in right now and the scars -- >> talking to lisa, this is huge. this has been going on for thousands of years. you can read the greek tragedies and men are

. >> we have dealt with similar themes in recent luncheons' including when ken burns was here to talk about his new three-part series," prohibition." he is that as a fulcrum to talk about the divisiveness in u.s. history. how would you place of this period in history we are experiencing right now relative to our other history? >> i don't think we know yet. indeed more perspective and more distance from what we are going to. it seems that the moment that this is a very difficult time in part because the old rules don't seem to apply. i was with a group of very sophisticated economists c andeo's in late 2009. they said the recovery would be well under way by the fourth quarter of 2010 because of the amount of stimulus the government would on lease. everybody underestimated the depth of the housing crisis and the systemic quality of unemployment in this country. it was about companies learned to do their job and make money with fewer workers. everybody also underestimated the kind of rootlessness and what turned out to be the inefficiency of wall street with its instruments in which they

you told me a story about ken burns. i wonder if you could start with that. >> we have all seen the wonderful documentary's that ken burns does on pbs. after the conclusion of the one on jag, i had a conversation with the filmmaker. it was really a moving conversation for me because what he said was that he had grown up -- he and i are roughly the same age. he had grown up during the civil rights era of. -- era. i believe he lost his mother at that te when he was about 12 years old. so this was a very emotional time in his life and a time that had stuck in his memory. when he came up with the trilogy, the first was the civil war, the second was baseball, and the third was jazz. for him, each of those were metaphors about race in america. i found that very moving. if you think about it, it makes sense. but then again, it does not. my question to him was well is there and metaphor for race? is there a way for us to think about and talk about race that is not so male-dominated? if you think about the civil war, jazz, or mus

it's, you know, boys caused the problems of the 20th century, and we're in the 21st century -- >> ken burns time and again. but i think the presidency of barack obama has produced a situation in which some dialogue, obviously, is awful and calls upon all sorts of terrible stereotypes, et cetera, but a lot gives us an opportunity to have conversations much more frankly, much less at the margin of taboo than we had before. and i think that's a great thing. kimberle crenshaw -- >> i'm sorry, i have to disagree. >> i'll let you disagree and then have i to go to break. >> well, all i'll say is that it's a complicated legacy because many people see barack obama as representing post-racialism. so, almost any conversation has to slide in by saying, well, i know we have a black president but having a black president really doesn't tell us much about the character of race in american society. >> oh, it tells us plenty. nobody claims we're racial. we're just less racialized than we used to be. that's significant. >> i would say we're ee quully racialized. you can have different racial orders. >> i'm g

. >> we dealt with similar things in recent luncheons including one where ken burns is here to talk about his new three-part series prohibition and he uses that as sort of a program to talk about divisiveness in u.s. history. how would you place this. witnessing right now relative to such other. throughout her entire american history? >> well, i think we don't know yet. you would see more perspective and distance from what we're going through. it does seem at the moment and we know this for a fact, this is a very difficult time in part because the old rules don't seem to apply. i was with a group of very sophisticated economists and ceos in late 09, almost to a man they said the recovery would be well underway by the fourth quarter of 10 because of the amount of stimulus the government was going to unleash. everybody underestimated the depth of the housing crisis and the systemic quality of unemployment in this country, about companies learning how to do their job and make money with fewer workers. moreover, everybody also underestimated the kind of ruthlessness and what turned out to be

elementary kids sang a song that i had never heard before but i heard the melody and i remember the ken burnsovie from world war ii, and it was a song from that movie, and this is what the lyrics are. they said -- "all we have been given by those who came before, the dream of a nation where freedom would endure. the work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day. what shall be our legacy, what will our children say? let them say of me i was one who believed in sharing the blessings that i received. let me know in my heart when my days are through, america, america, i gave my best to you." and that's what those elementary kids sang after their whole school had been torn apart with those veterans at their side. america, america, i gave my best to you. so i think that's what we have to remember as we approach this vote on this vow act, this vote that to me is so simple, that we simply give a tax credit so that more employers will hire those who sacrificed for our country who gave their best for our country. that's what this vote is about. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. m

the other news tonight from my colleagues ken vogel, alex burns, described more in depth what happened with mr. cain and one of these women at a hotel room at a convention put on my by the organization in the late '90s where mr. cain made a sexual overwhich you are to the woman and the woman sought out a board member of the organization just hours after the encounter. >> i mean, herman cain repeatedly changed his story over this and doesn't help him. having said that, the argument it happened a long time does hold some water. where do you think the depth charge will come in the scandal if at all? >> well, that's the big question that we're all waiting for. you know, the ap yesterday reported that there was a third woman involved, piers. so we are obviously still reporting, talking to sources. you know, mr. cain has been defiant ever since we broke the story on sunday night. and has said that, yes, there was an accusation of one woman and he's not talking about the other one. nor the third one that the ap broke. tomorrow, though, piers, could be interesting. tomorrow friday one of the w

ken burns was here to talk about his three part series on prohibition. he uses that as a fulcrum to talk about the business in u.s. history. how would you do this? >> you always end of the more distance. this is a very difficult time. the old world and not seem to apply. i was with a group of very latesticated ceo's in 2009. if they said the recovery would be well under way by the fourth quarter of 2010 because of the amount of stimulus. everybody underestimated the depth of the housing crisis and the quality of unemployment. they make money with fewer workers. a under estimated the kind of ruthlessness and the inefficiency of wall street. it does not make anything. everyone under estimated be connectivity in global economy. who ever thought that when it greece got a cold we could get the flu? erases around the world. >> on the political climate, it seems to have now been garnered a response from the occupied wall street's people. in terms of the political environment, became of your age during watergate. how does it feel to you now? >> 1960 a was a very

. >> we have dealt with similar themes in recent luncheons' including when ken burns was here to talkabout his new three-part series," prohibition." he is that as a fulcrum to talk about the divisiveness in u.s. history. how would you place of this period in history we are experiencing right now relative to our other history? >> i don't think we know yet. indeed more perspective and more distance from what we are going to. it seems that the moment that this is a very difficult time in part because the old rules don't seem to apply. i was with a group of very sophisticated economists c andeo's in late 2009. in late 2009. they said the recovery would be well under way by the fourth quarter of 2010 because of the amount of stimulus the government would on lease. everybody underestimated the depth of the housing crisis and the systemic quality of unemployment in this country. it was about companies learned to do their job and make money with fewer workers. everybody also underestimated the kind of rootlessness and what turned out to be the inefficiency of wall street with its instruments

kens tv cameraman david villareal. >> i got my -- >> you okay? >> yeah. >> the heat radiated very intensely. i got second and third degree burns can think of was to grab my camera and cover my face. >> the super-heated vapor cloud scorches everyone nearby. >> the fire and the cloud was just like a mushroom cloud, just like one of the atomic explosions you would see on tv. >> people down there going to be burnt bad. >> lisa helps treat several badly burned firefighters. >> i remember we started taking off people's shirts and just pouring some of the water, the drinking water, on them or soaking their teeshirts in ice water, putting them back on there. >> give me that glass of water. my arm's burning. >> we had to triage and get the worst ones we thought needed to get to the hospital, of course the ones that skin was coming off and couldn't walk or burned, you know, more than 25%, 30% of their body. >> the oil tank catches fire hours earlier. lisa stewart is one of the first responders. >> the flames were shooting up hundreds of yards and black smoke was just everywhere. >> when cameraman david villareal gets to the scene, he mo