obvious, and problems mandatory figures to write about in terms of influencing bob dylan were woody guthrie and pete seeger and others in that circle of left wing folk singers of the 1940s, the almanac singers and others. the first problem was how to do that or write about that period given the fact that so many others have written about woody guthrie and bob dylan. i had nothing particularly new to say. i had no new thoughts or inspiration. what could i say about this? it's been done. same with pete seeger. i mean, it's been done. i took a real gamble, and i decided i'm going to write about someone who has nothing to do with any of this, but was connected to that world, and so i wrote about aaron copeland and bob dylan. already there are murmurs. how can they be related? beside the fact aaron used folk songs in his music in the 40s. well, two things happened in the research. one, i remembered after the terrorist attacks in 9/11, he started playing again and played snatches out of rodeo, this was his response to 9/11. he played copeland music. that's interesting. then i ran across in a book

i grew up -- >> you can't hear a song by woody guthrie or pete seeger to be brought in with the defensenseless and taking a stand for a community. that's a very engaging and powerful moving. tavis: what is it like? let me preface this by saying, aye said many times on this program that ier. ly regard dr. king as the greatest american we produced. that's my own assessment. do you agree? we in agreement? >> yes. >> yes. but let go of my hand. >> i want the genius to rub off. tavis: i regard him as the greatest american to be produced. what is it like when ozzie davis, the late, great ozzie davis introduces you at the march on washington and you perform these two songs. what is it like? >> like being welcomed to the thanksgiving table by your pop. we sound like part of the family. >> i will answer it in slightly different terminology. >> i guess you would. >> that's what made peter paul and mary strong. we each had a different take on it. when we came together, it became something we could express. to me, mary was standing there with me during the speech. she took my hand and said, peter,

. >> joe klein -- >> woody guthrie was singing "this land is your land." >> it is our land and opinions see effective government and a better and brighter future for sure. that wraps up this hour for me. i appreciate the time you spent with me. see you at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. out west. we'll follow opening statements in the trial of the first guantanamo detainee tried in the civilian court. >>> up next is andrea mitchell. be right back. [ female announcer ] last year, the u.s. alone used over 39 billion plastic bottles of water. ♪ that's enough to stretch around the earth over 190 times. ♪ each brita filter can take up to 300 of those bottles out of the equation. it's a small step that can make a big difference. look for our coupon in this weekend's newspaper. so i've come up with some mnemonic devices to help me learn your names. hello, a "penny" saved is a "penny" earned. oh, that's 'cause fedex ground helps you save money. that's right, penny. do you know ours? heavens to betsy. dwayne the bathtub. magic wanda. yeah! what's mine? uh, you're a dan fool. oh. it's just a device, dan.