Thats floating around that is all torn and whatever that i think that i had before this. But this inspired me to do something. This has been 30 years in the making. So maybe 35, chris. And so what during the george floyd thing, as you know, i was sitting here and leading a lot of the coverage and people were asking me what do i do, what do i do, what do i do . And i didnt know what to do. And i one night i sat down and i started scribbling things and i contacted someone and so and we came up with this, which has been really rushed, its been really short, less than six months to put this out. And so, um, this is an ode to James Baldwin and the fire next time and its called this is the fire. And for me this is not about selling books because you know i have a fulltime job, i do two hours here, i do a bunch of other things. I really think this book will help heal america, in the way that conversation you just had with secretary cohen about white people having conversations around the dinner table and wherever they are. So all those people who contacted me and even beyond on social media everywhere, even people who may disagree with me, who may not like me, youre going to get something from this book because this book is about grace. Since were here on dr. King, one of the most graceful people that we know in our history and really think its going to heal. This is not about selling books for me. This is something that came to my heart and just poured out with late nights of jotting things down and writing things and working with a collaborator. Its short, like this, and it starts like this, although it not derivative. It is really inspired by James Baldwin. It starts off with a letter to my great nephew. And i start by saying i dedicate it because you know over the past couple of years ive gone through a lot, weve covered all of this. And i just want to read something to you, okay, because this is how i start. I start with i said its to the memory of those who paved the way with gratitude to those who march in their foot steps, James Baldwin, my sister lisa and all the not so obvious heros who daily take a stand for truth, like the not so obvious heroes who were at the capitol who were helping to save our democracy and the lives of people like those Police Officers who were there. And i start with a letter to my great nephew like james bad ldw and i saturday down and this was on may 25th and i said, i heard a dying man call out to his mom p mama and i wept for the world that will soon belong to you. And thats how i start this book. And remind people, fire next time was very resonant in the 60s. It was two essays that had come out earlier, baldwin, we all know he was, he was a correspondent and an influencer the time. First was an essay to his nephew, which obviously don is adapting and the next one was really important about where we are right now, which was an essay about baldwin realizing his place growing up as an africanamerican in harlem and the division. Up religion. You dont question people in their faith in this country. It is time to realize that just putting it in the bio of your twitter account does not make you a follow are of jesus christ. Amen. It says down at the cross, letter from a region in my mind, how do we deal with this . Thats all i kept thinking, how can i help people, how can i help people . Unless you do harp harry pottert you get from a book is not really that financially amazing, right . It can be helpful but this is really for me something that i just i just honestly want people i just want to help. And i think this book is going to help them and i sat back and read it and when the publisher sat back and read it and the editors, they were like we got to get this out immediately. Why is it going to help . Because people are going to because people are going to have conversations that are Even Stronger than the conversation you had with secretary cohen, thats Even Stronger than the conversation that you and i have every night, thats even more fulfilling than a conversation that i had with, you know that officer Michael Fanone . Every time i talk with him. I think he wouldnt mind me sharing. He said one of the good things that happened out of this horrible thing is that i get to have conversations with you. And in those conversations we get to know each other and our awareness of each other and america and the world expands because were open to it. Nothing in common. You know, hes got kids, hes a straight white guy, got kids, whatever, Law Enforcement. And here i am this guy on cnn, no kids, gaengaged, you know. So why do you talk every day . Because it helps. It helps both of us understand this particular moment where we are. If you want to call it kismit, whatever you want to call it. If weep are truly going to continue this grand experiment that we call america, then were going to have to do it together and were going to have to have some grace with it, were going to have to understand each other. This is why i think its going to help because i think maybe him and those people who went into the capitol and a lot of people out there have been taught a history about america thats not necessarily true. Yes, we are a great country. We are the greatest democracy on earth, but there is a lot of our history that has been whitewashed, that people have to the been taught in school or given the wrong history. So now they are angry because they are because the truth is coming out in many ways and they dont believe it. And there are lessons in this book about the true history of this country and things that we were taught that are not necessarily true, that there are more people who contributed to the origins of this country and building this country than just white men. Go on. Heres my pitch for the book the hard part of this, because were not new to it, you lived it and have i been today whats called an ally, which should really just be a conscious human being who isnt a black person. Heres the sticky bit. People dont want to hear what makes them feel guilty, which makes them feel wrong, which makes them feel uncomfortable such that what don just said is demonstrably true. There is a whitewashing of history. Weve seen it in school and we know why it exists. Heres the problem do you have want to hear that if you are struggling and white and you dope dont want the blame, youre tired of hearing it, and then someone like donald trump who has a lot of power and prestige of a position we gave him puts out on the same day that we celebrate dr. Kings legacy in stuff from a 1776 society, whatever thats supposed to mean that says, you know, a lot of people bleacelieve this country founded on slavery and therefore that there was something disingenuous about equality from the beginning but no, no, no slavery was the rule, not the exception. Therefore, america cannot be blamed but starting in a basis of slavery but wanting equality, its only what was natural at the time, even for christians. And that feels better. Yes, i like that. Yes, thats better. Not this i should feel bad stuff. This is better. How do we deal with that . Thats not what its about. How do we deal with it . Read it. This is a book club book, don. Who has a Big Book Club . Who has one . Oprah . Oprah winfrey. Thats who i was thinking of. This is a Perfect Book Club book. You have people who are similarly situated. Im being told to move on. Please, were dealing this is what were dealing with in this country. This is dr. Martin luther king day, the insurrection on the capitol, the racism. This is the news. Youre right. I do have to go because i have to get to what we have planned here. Everybody read it, this is the fire. And i promise you it will be helpful and i thank you for doing what you just did. I thank you for doing what you are doing. I love you, don lemon. This is one reason why. This is the conversation i have with my friends, this is what i say. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in. I really appreciate it. This is a special dr. Martin luther king jr. Edition of cnn tonight. Im don lemon. We are just a day and a half away from the moment joe biden raises his right hand and hes going to take the oath of office becoming the 46th president of the United States. Short time away. The capitol is under lockdown right now as more and more National Guard troops flood the city. This is the moment that were in. Were learning tonight the current president has recorded a farewell video bragging about his accomplishments, though he hasnt been seen in public since last week. This is not going to be like any inauguration any of us has ever seen, can you bet on that, but its exactly what we have come to expect from a disgraced president , a president who lost the election and is the first in American History to have been impeached twice. The final days of his administration completely on brand, classless, braceless, unpresident ial, all about ego. And here we are tonight in the divided states of america. Weve seen where the president s hostile rhetoric and incompetence has taken our country, to violent insurrection in our capitol threatening our democracy. And it is threatening our democracy to the brink of a horrifying, 400,000 americans dying dead of the coronavirus. Thats what joe biden will inherent. On the day we remember the life and work of Martin Luther king, less than two days that Kamala Harris will become Vice President of the United States. The Bidenharris Administration was elected to represent all americans with more than 81 Million People voting for them. But it was voters of color who put them over the finish line, even as the current president , until wednesday at noon anyway, deliberately tried to divide us. That as more and more of the republicans who supported this president , who stood by him through everybody racist attack, even as he tried to disenfranchise millions of american, many of them voters of color. Those republicans like mike pence, who are putting out empty tweets quoting dr. Kings words, can you believe it . Amazing. Like mitch mcconnell, who supported a president whose actions supported everything dr. King stood for, like lindsey graham, who allegedly called Georgia Election officials, including large numbers from black voters, ted cruz, who even and the riot on capitol hill still voted against certifying the Electoral College vote. Ivanka trump who called the rioters american patriots and then deleted the tweet. One republican after another apparently hoping that youll forget fl support for a president who used race to put americans against each other. Since you seem to want to understand dr. Martin luther king jr. , let me give you another quote from him. Maybe youll learn something. In his letter from a birmingham jail, he wrote in frustration about the white people who just didnt get it. The people who stood in the way of progress and i quote here, shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Luke warm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. You might want to read it. You might want to stop and pay special attention to this part, another quote, so the question is not whether we will be extr extremeists will we be. Will we be extremists for hate for love, for the preservation of justice or the extension of justice . We know what kind of ext extremist dr. King was and what kind of extreme donald trump is. Donald trump created an environment where White Supremacists and conspiracy theorists overran the capitol. United states of america. Y u he used race to divide us from the beginning, from the birther lie that barack obama was not born in this country. If he wasnt born in this country, which is a real possibility, im not saying it happened, im saying its a real possibility, then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics. You also had people that were very fine people on beau oth sides excuse me, i saw the same pictures as you did. Excuse me, i dont know anything what youre talking about david duke, i dont know anything youre talking about with White Supremacy or white supremacist. The former first lady, michelle obama, with wides words today. She said leadership based on lies and distrust and demonizing those who dont agree with you or look like you, that kind of leadership will always end badly, whether in destruction, lawlessness or death, but leadership based in honesty, truth, compassion toward others, leadership driven by dr. Kings inescapability network of mutuality, this is true pat patr patriotism. Shes right. Thats true patriotism. That is love of our country. Remember how the obamas welcomed the trumps to the white house four years ago . Look at that. Class, grace. Remember how they had to they had so much respect for our country that they did their duty. Even to the birther in chief and his first lady birther in chief. But in spite of that, the obamas showed a grace this president completely is incapable of. Remember this scene in the oval office . I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences to now come together, Work Together to deal with the many challenges that we face. I want to emphasize to you, mr. President elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed, then the country succeeds. Imagine if the obamas had acted the way this president acts. Can you imagine that . And if anyone had the right to, they certainly did, after his racist lies about their family. But barack obama said this, it was this his final press conference as president. I believe in this country. I believe in the American People. I believe that people are more good than bad. I believe tragic things happen. I think theres evil in the world, but i think that at the end of the day if we work hard and if were true to those things in us that feel true and feel right that the world gets a little better each time. Boy. The contrast there. I mean, the contrast there in just four years, four years later, is stunning. What he says, husband demeanor, even the way hes dressed. Even the way he addresses the media and the American People. Stunning contrast. The current president is fleeing washington in disgrace hours before joe biden takes the oath of office, snubbing the new president. Melania trump prefusing to invie dr. Jill biden for a walkthrough of the living quarters, leaving them to be gro greeted by the white house chief usher. Yet Melania Trump in her farewell video says this. Be passionate in everything you do but always remember that violence is never the answer and will never be justified. When i came to the white house, i reflected on the responsibility i have always felt as a mother to encourage the strength and teach values of kindness. Kindness. Kindness. Kindness. Enemy of the people. What a nasty question. Racist. Hmm. Dont treat them nicely. Very fine people on both sides. Grab them by the you know what. Kindness . Okay. This from a first lady who cant be bothered to show the next first lady around a house that doesnt even belong to her. Thats entitlement. Because this is the peoples house. And also the first lady who talks about values and integrity . Never forget thats why i said the birth lady birther in chief, she was a birther, too. In one way it would be very easy if president obama just show it. Its not only donald who wants to see it. Its American People who voted for him and who didnt voted for him. They want to see that. But all the trumps care about is getting out of town with the president s ego in tact. Moving trucks already at maralago, the president of the United States turning his back on the incoming president , turning his back on the people of this country after four years of disgrace and dishonor. But america is turning the page in less than a day and a half. Americans who cant attend the inauguration represented by more than 190,000 flags and 56 pillars of light on a deserted national mall. Joe biden will make the most important speech of his life on wednesday, speaking to a deeply divided america, his Vice PresidentKamala Harris saying this today. When we look at where we are as a country today, when we look at recent events, we know that the fight that dr. King was engaged in is still a fight in america. I want a bucket of chicken. I want. Its the easiest because its the cheesiest. Kraft. For the win win. 2020s done a new era has begun so keep pushing forward. Because this is twenty twenty won make a different future start different at godaddy. Com so tomorrow, president Donald Trumps last full day in office, thats when it is. Hes expected to issue a flurry of pardons and commutations, about 100 in all. Trumps been out of sight since last week but hes taped a farewell message that will likely be released tomorrow. I want to bring in Kaitlan Collins and jeff zeleny. President donald trump is about to leave washington as a twiceimpeached president , oneterm president , who incited an insurrection. Hes hold up in the white house and has now recorded a video message. What do you know . Reporter its kind of unbelievable that this is how the last few days of Donald Trumps presidency looked like, where he is completely walled off from the media, has not interacted with us in almost a week now. He has now recorded this video. As jeff noted earlier, he recorded it in the white house and basically list his accomplishments. Given the wachl he responded and the fallout from that attack on the u. S. Capitol. But the president is not enjoying these last few days in office. Were told hes been in a pretty foul mood and its notable given this is someone who relished the pom many and circumstance of being president and now its about to go away for him, hes about to be an expresident and instead of being out in front of the media like you