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wanda tucker of hamilton, virginia, wanda, are you there? there you are, wanda. god, love you. ou for being here. we are going to write history, not a race history. the tucker's learned their family history around the dinner table. that history led wanda here to angola a few years ago. she doesn't know how to speak the language, but that doesn't matter. wanda said she felt something profound, like she had come home. that was her comment to me. she called it a connection without words. >> when i heard about wanda tucker, from the president's speech, we invited wanda to join us on this program, which she is able to do tonight. our guest, especially new guests on the program, frequently have chats with producers earlier in the day about what they will talk about. i almost never see the notes of those conversations, or the emails. but, today, i read wanda tucker's email reply to our producer, leslie smith. and i would like to do something now that we have never done before, because i could never write in anything to introduce this discussion, that comes close to what wanda tucker wr

before today's speech, president biden met privately with wanda tucker, a descendant of william tucker roots in angola. our people, like the heart of a deep and profound connection that forever binds africa and the united states together. we remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty, here with us today are three americans who are direct descendants of anthony and isabella, those first enslaved americans -- africans in america. wanda tucker of hamilton, virginia. wanda, you there? there you are, wanda. god love you. her brother vincent. and carlita as well. thank you for being here. we're going to write history, not erase history. i've often said america's the only nation in the world founded on an idea. most countries are founded based on race, religion, geography, some other attribute, but the united states was founded on an idea, that is that all men and women are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. it's abundantly clear today that we have not lived up to that idea, bu

you spent some time with wanda tucker. what was that like?t how grateful i am and what an honor it was for president biden to invite me on that trip. this is the first really official thing that i've done as a senator-elect, which is to go to the continent of africa and specifically to go to angola and to be there with the tucker family. she was there with her brother and her cousin and wanda herself carries this -- you could feel the legacy and you could feel the embrace and the warmth of the angolan people when they saw the family, which was very, very special just to be a part of that, just to be in that space, you know. the president i felt did such a great job in not only talking about the economy, national security, the future, our mutual future together, but he also at the slavery museum talked about the legacy of slavery and the role of our country and that for us one of the lines that he said that really resonated was that we right history, not erase it. so it was very powerful to be there. i'm also representing this branch of govern

wanda tucker of virginia. there you are, god love you. her brother, vincent. and carly thea as well -- carlita as well. thank you for being here. we're going to write history, not erase history. the tuckers learned their family history around the dinner table. that history led wanda here to angola a few years ago. she didn't know how to speak the language but that didn't matter. when she arrived, she said she felt something profound, like she'd come home. that was her comment to me. she called it the connection without words. ladies and gentlemen, i'm here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generations of angolans and american families like the tuckers who have served in government for -- i've served in government for over 50 years. i know i only look like i'm 40 years old. but i've been around. i hate to admit it. for 50 years. but not 50 years -- in that 50 years i've learned a lot. perhaps most importantly i've learned that while history can be hidden, it cannot and should not be erased. it should be faced. it's our

wanda tucker gets tonight's last word. the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now. >>> tonight radio silence from mar-a-lago on hegseth's fight to be in the pentagon. >>> plus officials who could be targets of trump's doj. >>> and the doge roadshow, musk and ramaswamy pitch their plan to slash federal spending as the 11th hour gets underway on this thursday night. >> good evening. once again, i'm stephanie ruhle. >>> for the fourth day in a row pete hegseth spent his day on capitol hill trying to convince senators that he is the right person to lead the department of defense, which is the largest government agency with nearly 3 million employees and an $800 billion budget. that bid is clearly in trouble. senator joni ernst says she has no plans to meet with hegseth today or tomorrow after essentially confirming she is not a yes for his confirmation. earlier today my colleague garrett haake did catch up with him and here's what he said. >> reporter: are there any circumstances where you would withdraw from this process?

wanda tucker, hamilton, virginia. there you are, wanda. god love you. t. [ applause ] as well. thank you for being here. the tuckers learned about history around the dinner table that led wanda here to angola a few years ago. she didn't speak the language but that didn't matter. when she arrived she felt something profound like she had come home. she called it a connection without words. ladies and gentlemen, i'm here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generations of angol lanes and american families like the tuckers who have served in government d i've served in government over 50 years. looks like i'm 40 years old but i've been around the government for 50 years. but in that 50 years i've learned a lot. most importantly i've learned that history can be hidden. it cannot and should not be erased. it should be faced. it's our duty to face our history. the good, the bad, and the ugly, the whole truth. that's what great nations do. that's why i've chosen to speak here at the national flav slavery museum today just a

wanda tucker hamilton virginia. are you there? there you are wanda.ew years ago. she didn't speak the language but that didn't matter. when she arrived she felt something profound like she had come home and that was her comment. she called it the connection without words. ladies and a woman i'm here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generations of angolans in american families like the talkers who have served in government for over 50 years. i know i only look like i'm 40 years old. i've been around and i to admit it for 50 years. but in that 50 years i've learned a lot. most importantly have learned while history can be hidden in cannot and should not be erased. it should be faced. it's our duty to base our history the good, the bad and the the whole truth. that's what great nations do. that's why he chose to speak here at the national acm here today just as they toured it and that's why your presence visited the museum of african-american culture in washington d.c. the second most visited museum in the state