senators raphael warnock and james langford are still with me. let's talk about faith.ou 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 disagre

my guest this morning, republican senator james lankford of oklahoma, and democratic senator raphael warnock of georgia, the only two members of clergy serving in the u.s. senate, both baptist ministers, but from polar opposites in both theology and politics. plus, steve kornacki looks for cracks in the polarization to the things that bring americans together. it's all ahead. this sunday on a very special edition of meet the press, and you can watch meet the press right here on nbc bay area. that is this sunday, 8 a.m, right after today in the bay. the retail landscape of union square is changing and hopefully improving, too. the city's vacant to vibrant economic development program is filling large, vacant spaces around union square with smaer pop up shops and offering them a year to operate rent free. nbc bay area's emma gaugh takes us inside union square's newest business, working to help move the city forward. taylor j. an oakland based fashion brand has its grand opening in san francisco tomorrow. one of several new pop ups filling vacant storefronts around union square. ten years after

kristen welker was interviewing raphael warnock and james lankford together.sle but both came from baptist ministries. it was a fascinating conversation about faith and bipartisanship. watch the whole thing online if you have a chance. i wanted to leave you with what senator warnock had to say. >> what i encourage you to do, especially in this season, to look toward one another, rather than figure out -- rather than thinking how we can hurt one another. how we can pray with one another, rather than pray on one another. and you know, i still have great hope for this country. we approach this work with a degree of humility. the recognition we don't know everything. things we can't see based on where we're sitting right now in this room. things you're seeing where you're sitting that i don't see and vice versa. so we have to talk to one another. in this christmas season, i have to tell you, my favorite christmas hymn is "oh holy night." there's this line that says his law is love and his gospel is peace. i hope that as lawmakers, as citizens that we would be guid

my guest this morning, republican senator james lankford of oklahoma, and democratic senator raphael warnock of georgia, the only two members of clergy serving in the u.s. senate, both baptist ministers, but from polar opposites in both theology and politics. plus, steve kornacki looks for cracks in the polarization to the things that bring americans together. it's all ahead on a very today, the super bowl of surfing, the wororld's best big wave surfers are gathered on the hawaiian island of oahu for the eddie aikau big wave invitational, and a bay area athlete is going to be a part of it. in the 40 year history of the eddie, as it's known, this is only the 11th time it's happening. it's kind of like mavericks when the swell comes in. the contest is called. it's happening on the north shore of oahu at waimea bay. this is video from thursday evening as that swell started to move in. the surf contest is named in honor of eddie aikau. he was a legendary hawaiian waterman who was the first lifeguard on hawaii's on oahu's north shore. this year, san francisco native bianca valenti is hoping to et

we also heard from senator raphael warnock, who called carter one of his heroes. his leadership was driven by love. his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. and of course, president carter was admired and respected around the world. but nothing really compares to the love and pride many people here in georgia felt for the 39th president of the united states. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. >> despite carter's deep roots in the deep south and his evangelical christian faith, he proved to be a trailblazer and unifier on several divisive issues. >> one of jimmy carter's secrets to success was he was determined in 1976 to move the party away from what he thought he saw as pure liberalism toward a more centrist view of what the country really wanted. and we were still a much more moderate, even conservative country. in 1976, he won a close election against president gerald ford. if he hadn't done that, i don't think he would have won. but it's interesting because the very fact that he did it caused liberals to immediately mobilize against

we also heard from senator raphael warnock, who called carter one of his heroes. his leadership was driven by love. his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. and of course, president carter was admired and respected around the world, but nothing really compares to the love and pride many people here in georgia felt for the 39th president of the united states. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta max baucus is a former u.s. >> ambassador to china and a former senator for the state of montana. he joins us now from bozeman, montana. i want to thank you for being here. uh, in what really has been quite a celebration of this man's incredible life. knowing him, uh, as well as you have for the last few decades, what comes to mind, chiefly about the life that he led? >> i think he's unique. i doubt we'll ever see anybody quite like him. >> we will not see anyone with such dedication to the service, whether he or she is in the white house or state house or governor, or out of office, always working hard to help people and serve people, making good u

georgia democratic senator raphael warnock described as being dedicated to others. what an incredible person. >> and incredible. >> human being illinois democratic senator durbin says it's what carter did after he left the white house. that was the most impactful. he's done more good for the world to to serve president. >> any previous president in history. in 1982, carter and his wife, rosalynn open the carter center to promote democracy and human rights around the world. the carters also championed habitat for humanity. >> helping volunteers build renovate and repair more than 4,000 homes. he was put. how would describe has closest thing to a renaissance man. >> in the modern presidency, stewart eisenstadt was an adviser to carter in the white house. he's had a life. it's been full and complete. so varied that it's remarkable in his last public outing in november of 2023. >> the former president appeared at the funeral of his wife, rosalynn. we've been married to for 77 years. president carter's state funeral is set to happen here in washington at the national cat

we also heard from senator raphael warnock, who called carter one of his heroes.rship was driven by love. his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. and, of course, president carter was admired and respected around the world. but nothing really compares to the love and pride many people here in georgia felt for the 39th president of the united states. rafael romo cnn atlanta. >> now, some of president jimmy carter's most visible and enduring work happened whilst volunteering with the group habitat for humanity. the international nonprofit provides affordable housing for families in need. president carter and his wife spent some four decades volunteering with that group. they led thousands of volunteers in the annual jimmy and rosalynn carter work project and habitat for humanity says it joins the world in mourning. the organization's ceo described president carter's outsized impact. >> if you say habitat for humanity in word association, the first thing most people would say is jimmy carter. so they were so connected. and i think

we also heard from senator raphael warnock, who called carter one of his heroes.is leadership was driven by love, his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. and of course, president carter was admired and respected around the world, but nothing really compares to the love and pride many people here in georgia felt for the 39th president of the united states. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta adriana bosch is the writer and director of the pbs american experience documentary on jimmy carter. >> and she joins us now from miami, florida. and really good to have you here with your specific insights given this man's incredible life, which is hard to fathom given all the stages that he went through in terms of his own personal and political growth. i do want to start with what it's like to distill that kind of life. i mean, this documentary was more than two decades ago, and yet even then, his accomplishments, his accomplishments both before and after the presidency, not to mention during his presidency, just extraordinary. >> well, thank you f

senator raphael warnock called carter one of his heroes, while he says his leadership was driven by love. his life's project, grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. before i finish, wolf, let me also tell you that we saw in the last few minutes a man who dropped by and he wanted to place a bouquet of flowers at the sign here at the carter center, just to honor the memory of the former president. earlier, somebody left a couple of candles that they lit. and so that gives you an idea of what i was telling you at the beginning, that deep love and pride that people here in georgia felt towards the former president, wolf. >> very important and very beautiful words. thank you very, very much. rafael romo over at the carter presidential center in georgia. raphael, thank you very, very much. and we're going to continue our the death of the late president of the united states, jimmy carter, dead and 100 years old. >> erin burnett out front, weeknights at 7:00 on cnn. >> when you're the leader of a disaster cleanup and restoration, how do you make like it never even happen? >> h

statements of condolences and praise from the political leadership here in georgia, including senator raphael warnock, who said that jimmy carter was one of his heroes. brianna, back to you. >> raphael, thank you for that report. let's go now to ryan young, who is there in plains, georgia, and carter's hometown. what are people there saying? and how is the town preparing? ryan? >> well, it seems like a world of difference between here in atlanta, because as i drove here last night, you can see it's almost like a time capsule. the downtown is pretty much just a block. they've been preparing for this for quite some time, and every time you start talking to someone, the outpouring of emotion about the former president just gleams through them. it's mostly joy. they talk about a man with a giant heart, someone who is still doing sunday school, teaching sunday school in his late 80s. and you think about the fact that he worked all around the world to make this a better place. but let's not forget this man went to the naval academy. he then went on to be governor before becoming president. there is so much

let me read to you, bernice, a statement we just got from the georgia senator, raphael warnock. and here it is. and i'll read it directly. president carter was one of my heroes. his leadership was driven by love. his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. for those of us who have the privilege of representing our communities in elected office, jimmy carter is a shining example of what it means to make your faith come alive through the noble work of public service. end quote. bernice, what role did faith you think play in his presidency? a few years ago, i was down in plains, georgia with him, and he invited me to go to his church on a sunday morning. and you could see how deeply religious and how important faith was. but give me your thoughts on how faith played a role in his presidency. >> yeah. i mean, it's. it's it's apparent to me that, uh, he was someone who. prayed, um, and sought to align his decisions with the teachings of the bible. um, and the fact that as he served as president, he continued to rely upon that, uh, is very critical. um

some of those members include senator dick durbin, senator cory booker, senator raphael warnock, congressman jim clyburn and congressman steve steven horsford, who's a chairman of the congressional black caucus. they're asking biden to consider granting clemency to those who receive stacked sentences before the first step act went into effect during the trump administration. the first step act eliminated the practice of stacking sentences to give the harshest penalties possible. if somebody has a firearm. one one example of someone who fell into stacked sentences is weldon angelos. he was sentenced to 55 years in prison for three small marijuana sales as a first time nonviolent offender, 55 years because he possessed a gun. so his sentences were stacked. weldon angelos is out of prison now. he was pardoned by trump. republican senator mike lee of utah was the one who brought a lot of attention to mr. angelos. and the practice of stacking another category of individuals. democratic lawmakers want considered pardoned are those who are serving out the remainder of their sentences in home confin

on sunday, raphael warnock, democrat of georgia and james lankford, republican of oklahoma, were on thegram talking about their efforts to reduce political polarization in the chamber. [video clip] >> to you all have conversations on how to restore bipartisanship on both conversations happening? >> absolutely. i can tell you that for me and senator lankford would agree, he has pulled us out of many waters. we have differences of opinion, but the issue is our humanity and trying to build and strengthen the humanities. that is the spirit which i come to this work. i still lead my church, and i'm deeply honored to work with senator lankford. >> senator lankford, tell me about those conversations. how do you start the conversation of how to do more work together. >> i don't think of this as bipartisan work. this is american work. a lot of people just think of themselves first as human beings and neighbors, so what we are talking about is how to people who disagree sit down and figure it out? unfortunately, washington, d.c., is a mirror to the country. and typically -- what happens is, membe

on sunday, raphael warnock, democrat of georgia and james lankford, republican of oklahoma, were on therogram talking about their efforts to reduce political polarization in the chamber. [video clip] >> to you all have conversations on how to restore bipartisanship on both conversations happening? >> absolutely. i can tell you that for me and senator lankford would agree, he has pulled us out of many waters. we have differences of opinion, but the issue is our humanity and trying to build and strengthen the humanities. that is the spirit which i come to this work. i still lead my church, and i'm deeply honored to work with senator lankford. >> senator lankford, tell me about those conversations. how do you start the conversation of how to do more work together. >> i don't think of this as bipartisan work. this is american work. a lot of people just think of themselves first as human beings and neighbors, so what we are talking about is how to people who disagree sit down and figure it out? unfortunately, washington, d.c., is a mirror to the country. and typically -- what happens is, mem

raphael warnock of georgia and james lankford of oklahoma compared u.s.olitical polarization to family dynamics in an interview with meet the press. the comments from the only two ordained ministers in the senate, the nation grapples with a divisive post election ideological divide. let's look at some clips from that conversation on nbc's meet the press last sunday. [video] >> do you have conversations about how you can restore bipartisanship? >> absolutely. i can tell you me and i'm sure senator lankford would degree it's as basic as the american public. e pluribus unum. we have differences of opinion. the issue is our humanity and trying to build and strengthen the american family. that is the spirit i come to this work. it was informed by my years as a pastor. i am deeply honored to work with senator lankford in this weekend recent days to think about how to do more work together. >> senator lankford told me about the conversations. how do you start the conversation? >> i don't think of this as a partisan work. it's american work. most people don't thi

raphael warnock of georgia and james lankford of oklahoma compared u.s.olitical polarization to family dynamics in an interview with meet the press. the comments from the only two ordained ministers in the senate, the nation grapples with a divisive post election ideological divide. let's look at some clips from that conversation on nbc's meet the press last sunday. [video] >> do you have conversations about how you can restore bipartisanship? >> absolutely. i can tell you me and i'm sure senator lankford would degree it's as basic as the american public. e pluribus unum. we have differences of opinion. the issue is our humanity and trying to build and strengthen the american family. that is the spirit i come to this work. it was informed by my years as a pastor. i am deeply honored to work with senator lankford in this weekend recent days to think about how to do more work together. >> senator lankford told me about the conversations. how do you start the conversation? >> i don't think of this as a partisan work. it's american work. most people don't thi

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael g. warnock a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, national labor relations board. pharynpharynof the district of columbia to be a member of the -- lauren mcgarity mcferran of the district of columbia to be a member of the national be a member of the national before we get to transition your take with president trump's "meet the press" interview yesterday. what stood out to you? >> guest: not a lot of surprises. of surprised some news media that he from the commentariat is planning to be serious about mass deportations. as the caller seemed surprised now, that that could include families of legal immigrants i don't think the united states

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael g. warnocksenator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, tiffany rene johnson of georgia to be united states district judge for the northern district of georgia. we must also talk about the epidemic of obesity in our country. 90% of people with type two diabetes are overweight or obese. . the time is long overdue for us to pose some very simple questions, that is what this hearing is about today. how did it happen that according to the cdc the rate of childhood obesity in america has tripled since the 1970s and has gotten so bad that one out of every five children in our country is now obese? how has it happened that over 40% of adul