Original subtitles

Benny, we're going to go again, is that clear?

Whole thing?

Yeah.

Speeding.

Long, long ago in a land far, far away, a wee fat Scottish boy was watching

television when he saw astronauts landing on the moon, and he thought to

himself, oh, how did I get to be like those magical men in the rocket ships?

A voice came to him and said, First thing you've got to do is get yourself

America. And that's what I did, because I was that fat wee Scottish boy.

Now, look. See that hill over there? That's Mexico. Not just the hill.

lot more Mexico behind it. And then that river there, that's the Rio Grande. And

this here, this is the United States of America.

Now, a lot of people from over there want to come over here. In fact, a lot

people from all over the world want to come here. Now, I know why I did it, but

what about everybody else?

What is America?

Is it a promise? A contradiction?

A dream?

Everyone has their own idea, including me.

I wasn't born here, but I love this place.

I want to show you why I became American.

On purpose.

I'm an immigrant, but a lot of people wanted me to come here.

They just all happened to be people who lived in Scotland.

But I came anyway.

I took my oath to be a citizen on February the 1st, 2008, in Los Angeles.

It's a big deal becoming a citizen.

It's like getting married, but to a country.

Except there wasn't a fight and no one was drunk, so it wasn't like a wedding

my family.

Till death do us part.

In my opinion, There is no view in the world that can't be improved by turning

to someone you love and saying, look at that.

A shared experience with someone you care about makes that experience even

better. That was the feeling I got when my dear, lovely pal, Katie Tunstall,

became a citizen. Katie is a Grammy -nominated rock star. She was born in

Scotland, too, and also became an American citizen, but only recently. So

not at my level of America.

So I brought her to Texas to learn her song.

Starting with Cowboy Hat.

Big -ass Texas cowboy hat.

Because pound for pound, gallon for gallon, nothing says you're American

cowboy hat.

You got your steps, your ridge top, your cattleman, your pink pony club, your

giant foam novelty hat.

American, every one of them. Well, maybe that last one is made in China. But you

get the point.

Have you ever had one in your life? I've never, ever had a cowboy hat. Poor KT.

She desperately needs one.

That is like J .R. Ewing's hat.

I was obsessed with Dallas, the TV show, when I was a kid because it was on in

the 80s in the UK.

Oh, we can't afford it.

In the 1980s, Dallas was huge in Scotland, probably because of all those

And money, and sex, and oil.

But mostly the hats.

All those great characters.

J .R., Sue Ellen, the old lady.

Shania?

The Jonas Brothers.

B. Arthur.

Okay, it was a long time ago. I don't remember all the names. But I do know

we all wanted to come to America and live like they did on Dallas.

You stay there, right? You be J .R., right? And I'll be Sue Ellen. Hold on.

Right? Are you ready?

J .R., what the hell are you doing? Not now, honey.

We're making a deal.

Hello.

How does one mount?

Do you go in the syrup?

There you go.

There we go. There you go. Hey.

Yes, sir. Katie and I are now American citizens. We both don't have hearts.

a woeful situation. It's terrible.

I mean, because I feel like we're not proper Americans.

We can fix that.

Do you know anything about hats, my friend? I know my hat size.

Which will be?

Seven and three quarters.

Really? Yeah. That's quite a large hat, sir. I'm Scottish. We've got very big

heads. Here.

Silver belly. Silver belly. I feel that's more my speed. Bow in the back.

is great.

Yeah, I like it. That makes me feel good.

It looks great.

Now we have to get you a hat.

Oh, that's good.

Ah, very sexy.

Let me just get on my side and talk about it.

Hey, let's pretend that we're riding the range. Yeah. Yeah, right. Boat back.

So tell me how you got here. Well, the story goes.

My dad was a physicist and he got a sabbatical to UCLA in California when I

four. In LA? When you were four, do you remember it? And I had a completely

American accent, like valley girl accent.

Shut up. I was like Cher from Clueless.

Wow. There's like, my dad made little recordings and there's me going, I want

drink of water.

That's so bizarre. Yeah. I had no idea about that. And so my first memories are

California.

And it's like grape flavor and orange trees and swimming pools and sunshine at

Christmas. So it kind of imprinted on me. But I just always wanted to get

I think becoming a citizen is different from living here.

I remember the ceremony and just...

kind of getting an idea of the commitment of it. Yeah. Just going, you

give up your allegiance to any other nation. Right. And you would bear arms.

You'd bear arms, yeah. And I was like, wait, what?

You probably don't want me to.

Yeah, look, there's probably a better option.

But you do feel... It feels serious.

Yeah. And you end up feeling proud and protected.

Yes, protective. And I think that also when you come from outside into America

as a country, it is this incredible experiment.

I know. And you really understand that nowhere else on the planet is willing to

try this experiment.

I know.

You and I coming here and deciding to take part is part of what it's

becoming. It's an ongoing thing. It's an ongoing, constantly changing...

experience right and we try and do it the best we can what is that is that old

line is it is the mark of civilization of someone that would plant a tree in

full knowledge of knowing they would never sit in the shade of it yeah

feel very lucky so many people would love to be american and they can't do it

know people have died Yeah. Many people died today trying to get this. Yeah. And

I've got it in my hand and I've done it and it's a big deal. It is a big deal.

It's a huge deal to become an American. Glad you did it too. Yeah, I am too.

Okay, maybe time we mosey along.

Hey! Oh my God, I feel like I've been in the saddle all day.

Calamity Jane over here. Yeah, yeah.

Who would I be then if you were Calamity Jane? You'd be Billy the Kid or

something. Nah, not Billy the Kid. I'd be the ancient Bob or something.

No, I'd be the guy. Say, they're coming in here and shooting all around. I think

I saw them. I don't know. They went that way.

Where are you from? Mexico. I was born in Mexico. I was born in Colombia.

My father's side is a lot of Scottish. Oh, okay. Sorry about that. I appreciate

it. German. He's from Mexico.

And I have some Japanese, too. My parents are from Rwanda. I'm adopted

Philippines. I'm Liberian. From Colombia. And then on my mother's side,

And German, but also Irish as well. Okay, so you're kind of a control freak

who's a drunk and a little bit impolite in restaurants.

I try to keep it on the low key for the drunk part, yeah.

There's more opportunities here in the U .S., for sure, than Colombia.

I believe that's really American to have the opportunity of a better life.

When I come here, the door is open, you know. I was able to become something

that I don't think I would have had the opportunity to.

What did you become?

An engineer.

Do your family, do they have contact with... Your family back in Liberia and

Rwanda? Yeah, I was in Liberia last year. Oh, yeah? Did you like it?

No. You wanted to come back to America?

I did. I wanted Chick -fil -A.

So they don't have Chick -fil -A in Liberia? No, just rice.

Yeah.

We're good?

Ladies, thank you so much.

Shut up!

When I came to America, I was young and full of passion.

Passion was the name of a cheap peach -flavoured vodka in the 1980s. Surprise,

surprise!

Back home, I'd been doing stand -up, music and acting for a while, but I

knew if I wanted to be an artist, to really do it, then America was the place

for me, because, in my opinion, America gives you the best shot to take your

passion and turn it into success.

That's passion the passion, not passion the peach vodka. No -one's getting

successful while on peach vodka.

So, Craig, what are you doing in Miami? I hear you asking, your adorable

Scottish accent.

I mean, besides walking around like a total boss.

Yeah, sup, fellas?

I'm here to do art. I have to express my feelings after those kids stole my

jacket. What's his name?

That's my name, Seafoam.

Seafoam. I love it. Now we have to paint over it. Oh, I'm going to, yeah. Right,

right, right.

And to help inspire two big stars from Miami's electric street art scene.

Golden and Dissem.

Like me, both of these gentlemen came to America to follow their artistic

dreams. Is this for the 250? Yes, sir. Ah, I love it. Very nice.

Thank you. It's very nice.

Dissem and Golden are just like me, except cooler, I will admit. But just

me, they felt in order to thrive as artists and as people, they had to get

America. I was born in Venezuela. Yeah, did you come here when you were a kid?

I came here when I was 18, 19.

I was running from a very extreme childhood.

Yeah. And I was running towards, like, a future. Yeah.

That definitely I didn't have down there. I grew up in a family with 11

all engineers, and I was the first grandson, and it was me. I started doing

tattoos and graffiti as a kid.

So my family...

didn't understood why I was like that.

I remember when I was like 12, I came to New York and I see these two cops

standing in the door of the airplane with tattoos and piercings.

And I've been fighting for two years with my family for this. I'm like, then

knew I was just born at the wrong place.

You know? You belong in a different place. I'm leaving.

I'm going to move here one day because I felt like I could be me. My mother and

my father met at an art university in Panama.

and i have artists on both sides of the family um from then on it we had the

we're in panama we had the invasion of panama right following that you know

leaving all that you know the war pretty much you know we ended up coming over

here to the us so do you think in central america or in south america that

be able to to be the artist you are now not in my country no yeah maybe in

another country but not not there the land of the free right it's been built

immigrants and you know i mean i personally

I'm proud of being an immigrant, you know, and being a positive influence,

know. In America more than anywhere else in the world, we're allowed to express

ourselves freely, right?

Street art is just like regular art, except it's outdoors.

You are, like, good with your cat and the bros, though. That's it, Golden, you

got another assistant, bro. I know, you're higher.

Seven bucks an hour.

$7 .25, $7 .25.

It's alfresco fresco. Look at that. It's pretty good.

When people see a dog in a building, it's like they see it like something

simple, but that is someone that focuses their life into that.

That's why it looks so fresh, so stylish.

Like the first thing you write is your name or a penis.

You know, like that's what you do. You're a child.

But then you learn. I like that you said, because that's the first thing I

was a penis.

That's the first thing I've ever done.

The first thing you draw is a penis.

Now we're going to do some scraping.

All right, let's give the painting a try. All right. You see this line? Yeah.

Angle it up.

That worked.

I feel like I look at it, and all I can see is this line sticking out of it.

Step back. A lot of times, especially when you're at a wall, you've got to

back and look at it.

you know what it's okay yeah i feel like it's all right i think it's cool man

yeah i feel like it gave a little give a little thing this is my i did this now

yeah it's a collaboration with graffiti art in particular i think it's such an

american form of art because it starts like it starts out like you're a bunch

outlaws like you're the founding fathers you're sure it's a revolution

everybody's like oh these guys are bad and it's all going to end badly and then

slowly over time it becomes this multi -billion dollar business changes the

whole world

Let me just do something for you down here. I'll just do you one of these.

Oh, no.

Yeah!

That's a keeper.

You know what? We've got to leave that on there. Like

a

lot of Americans, my entry point to this country was New York City, and that is

important. To me it was important anyway, because New York is so diverse,

multicultural, but it's also unique.

The exotic smell of pee, hot dogs and weeds cannot be replicated anywhere else

on this planet.

New York has an iconoclast spirit.

That's a fancy way of saying, Hey, I'm walking here.

I know it was that way for me, and I know it was that way for my friend,

Rushdie. Salman has faced down lunatic attacks and attempted murder for his

iconoclast spirit, so it's only natural that he would end up being an American.

This is your funniest and most beautiful book. Well, thank you. It really is.

Salman's latest book, The Eleventh Hour, is a collection of short stories, one

of which is called Oklahoma.

America holds a kind of almost mythical quality in the story Oklahoma.

It has this mysterious unfolding.

Have you been to Oklahoma? I have been. In fact, I had a nice experience in

Oklahoma. I've always had a nice time in Oklahoma.

New York for me is almost equivalent to what I think about as America.

Because I'm a big city boy. Yes.

I'm not really a countryside guy.

No, I don't think of you as that. Have you ever been on a horse? I have been on

a horse. I was mostly terrified.

I fell in love with the idea of America long before I ever came to America.

Yeah, me too, yeah.

All of us new Americans have an idea about America before we ever get here.

Everyone has a vision and an opinion about the United States, even if they

get here. It's because we are not just a country, we are an idea.

How did it shape up to the real thing? Because you, like me, became a citizen,

right? Well, the thing that America began to be equivalent in my mind to me

New York City.

Right. What I like about it is its incredible diversity.

Yeah. I remember when the Soccer World Cup was here in America.

You would walk down, like, Flatbush Avenue, and you would go past bars, and

there'd be, like, the Croatian bar, and then there'd be the Brazilian bar, the

Nigerian bar, full of Americans.

cheering for all their different countries of origin.

Right, right. One of the reasons that I'm here living in America is because of

my admiration for the First Amendment.

Yeah. I think that's an amazing thing to put in your Constitution.

Yeah. The freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of belief.

There's no other country that puts that in the Constitution.

I know.

And the pursuit of happiness.

And I think immigrants come to a country because they want to be there. Yeah.

I mean, if you're born in America, you don't have the choice.

It is what it is. But some of us make the choice to come here, and that has to

be an optimistic act.

It is an act of optimism to become an American. You're trying to put aside old

ideas and start afresh. For example, how can the English and Irish and the

Scottish ever get along, even in the new world?

Well, obviously, the safest place would be a bar.

Matt Gilbert and Scott Walker are newly minted Americans.

I met them for a drink when they were celebrating in that understated British

way.

So, an Englishman, a sort of Irishman, and a Scotsman go into a

bar, right?

This is the party for you, who are now a proud American citizen.

How long have you been a citizen?

About two weeks.

How long have you been here?

Since 2019.

Do you miss the chicken shops of South London?

No. You sat the test already, right?

Yeah. Did you do well? I mean, clearly you did well enough. How did you do?

I did okay, but I did mine in 2008.

I became a citizen.

The test was pretty much the three branches of government. They asked about

that. Yeah, three branches of government.

I think the toughest one I asked was if the president wasn't going to be the

president anymore or the vice president.

isn't a president anymore. Who's going to be the president?

Right. And what did you put?

The leader of the house. Right. I put George Clooney. George Clooney. There

go. I figured that was a good one because everybody likes George Clooney.

made you want to be a citizen?

For me, it was the ability to vote.

The right to vote. Yeah. It was a big deal for me.

Also, I couldn't do my job in London.

So what you're telling me is opportunity and the right to participate in

government. Yeah, also like our American dream is different. You know, we're

white men, so it's like kind of a lot easier.

How will you as a new American citizen go about changing that?

And I think that's the main thing.

Participating in democracy, which is what we want to do. That's how I felt.

I remember coming here and everyone was so cool and it was just normal, so

normalised that you could just do all these things. And that was very

to me. I feel that's the spirit of the place. And that's why I've always been

very adamant that I feel that New York is a distillation almost of America

because it takes all those artistic and personal freedoms.

extrapolate them into this mad city. Yeah. Sometimes I'm just wandering

I'll be in the most touristy place. I'm like, this is incredible.

Yeah. Like, you know, I take it for granted. No time to swear.

I'm going through Times Square the other day and a kid came

over to me and he was trying to give me some pamphlet or something like that.

Oh, yeah. Bullshitting me. I said, do I look like I'm from out of town? And he

said, I'm not kidding. He said, no, you look like you're a dick.

While it's fun to spend a little time with these new citizens, it's

to remember that not everyone who became American had a choice. I chose to come

to America, as did many others, but obviously that's not the whole story.

This country also belongs to the descendants of those who did not choose

Enslaved Africans forcibly brought here, and Native Americans who were forced

from their ancestral territory.

Out of that painful history...

comes the resilience and diversity that still shapes who we are today.

If we ignore that part of the story, we're not telling all of it.

It's part of who we are as Americans.

What's the most American thing you can think of right now? My grandfather came

to me from Ecuador.

To him, it was a cheeseburger and a Ford Mustang, being able to work and

send his kids to schools.

you know, and have, like, better opportunity for them.

One thing that I think about America is freedom.

Also the dream, American dream. What is the American dream? You can work hard

and achieve your goals. What do you think the American dream is?

The ability to embrace your aspirations.

Be happy. Be happy? Yes. Be happy, build your own future on your own way.

I ran a marathon.

Oh, congratulations.

The American dream, what does it look like to you?

I think just having the opportunity and options to do whatever you want to do,

whether it's running a marathon in New York City.

Freedom of religion, freedom of choice, just everything.

Freedom. You can be yourself. Yeah, I guess.

I think I can smell someone enjoying their freedom. Yeah, yeah, right now. I

smell it. Yeah, it's happening.

In 1975, I came to America for the first time. My dad and I got a cheap flight

from the old country to visit my uncle James and his family on Long Island.

On this trip, I went to a bowling alley, and for the first time, I tasted root

beer over crushed ice, and I smelled the aroma of rented shoes.

To this day, the taste of root beer and the smell of feet still mean freedom to

me.

Do you know how to vote?

I do. On you go, then. All right, let's do this. All right.

Those pillars of democracy, foot smell and root beer, were also a beacon for

Abdi Noor Iftin when he dreamed of escaping the vicious civil war in

the teeth -chattering freedom of Maine, the way life should be.

He's now a proud American and the best -selling author of the book Call Me

American, a memoir detailing his journey.

When you become an American...

Some things, like patriotism, come quickly.

Other things, like bowling, as you're about to see, take a little longer.

There you go. That's it.

That's not bad, I guess. You have to knock that one down now, don't you?

There you go. That makes me feel more comfortable.

No!

Oh, boy.

How did you get into American football coaching? There was a woman.

In our neighborhood, she ran a little movie theater.

We sat on the dirt floor. We watched action films continuously because the

only had seven films.

What were the movies? Do you remember?

Commando. Right. Rambo.

The Terminator.

Just what you want when you're a kid with PTSD and a war zone. Yeah, yeah,

exactly. But actually, it was pretty good entertainment.

We're sitting in the movie theater, and we were playing a quiz.

What did he say, you know, when Arnold says, I'll be back?

Because, of course, you don't speak English. We did not. That's how we

it. Is that the first idea of you wanting to come to America was these

these guys? That is where the window cracked open.

I was like, I want to go there.

So you learned English from Sebastian?

Yeah.

You speak English a lot better than both of those guys. I agree.

But the good thing is they spoke, they said a few words. Right, just a little

bit at a time. Exactly.

I wasn't a journalist professionally.

As soon as I spoke some English, I started recording secret audio diaries

Somalia that could get me killed.

So it was an extremely dangerous move that I had to do so that the world

All of my audio diaries were actually aired by a radio station based in North

Carolina. And so many people partied.

I had no idea you were such a badass.

I didn't have any choice.

It's just like I die or I do something, you know.

That's crazy.

It was either of those.

I became the storyteller to the American. But it was a long way from

this country. I had no idea if I would ever do that.

Were you still fixated on coming to the United States?

because I really wanted to be a full human. For example, in Somalia, no

schooling, no hospital, no clinic, nothing like that. If you get injured,

might die bleeding. I have friends who died like that. And I kept thinking, I

need to be someone who has rights and freedom and access to the basic things.

How did you arrive?

There's this lottery system.

Yeah. It's called the visa lottery. This is like the golden ticket. Like

literally the... Literally, yeah.

There's no other way that I can get to the U .S. other than this.

There was a pretty good chance that I could get denied.

Even with the golden ticket?

Well, yeah. Guess how many people apply for this golden ticket? I don't know. 20

million. 20 million? Every year.

And how many get them? The U .S. State Department only has 50 ,000 visas

available.

For 20 million applications?

That's green.

It is.

All right, it's me to go first. Let's do this.

Yeah!

Beat that.

For Abdi, getting into the U .S. was a dream that required an incredible amount

of luck.

Coincidentally, so does my bowling game.

Don't do that. There you go.

This is fun. We're evenly matched.

How did you get here?

Because it was a visa lottery program, the government wouldn't help at all.

Right. I had to go to a family who heard my story on the radio.

Yeah. They got involved in supporting my process to come to the United States.

They live in Maine, and now they become my family. So if you're wondering, why

do you spend your time sleeping on Christmas? That's where I am. That's

though, man.

I'm so pleased to hear that.

We've talked to a lot of people about freedom.

What does that look like for you, the idea of freedom?

In this country, if I wake up tomorrow and decide to drive my own car from

Maine and head all the way to the other end of this country, I can do that.

Freedom to you is being able to go where you want.

Choices. Absolutely.

I think freedom hits different when you come from my background.

That I can appreciate each mile that I drive knowing that I can do that.

It's amazing.

To me, it's more than a vacation.

It's freedom.

Freedom. Absolutely.

Literally. Yeah.

Yes, he said.

You still win. You need 21 points for the game.

Two strikes.

All right.

Okay, you can technically still get another strike.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Get another roll, yeah. All right.

Oh, no!

Oh, look at that.

Yeah. All right.

Now, Abdi and I both suck at bowling, which is our right as Americans. We're

free, except from harsh judgment by the chodes of the Internet.

You have to understand, in 1975, getting from Scotland to America was like

getting from America to the moon.

It was a different world.

One small step for a man, one giant leap for a wee fat Scottish boy.

Mike Massimino is a former NASA astronaut.

He helped fix the Hubble telescope twice.

and set a record for the longest spacewalk on a mission.

He also comes from an immigrant family with very humble beginnings, and yet he

still found his way from Long Island, New York, to outer space.

To me, an astronaut is still one of the most American jobs there is.

Mike and I are at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where we're talking

about what it means to have the guts to go to space, or the guts to immigrate to

America.

Your second name's Massimino.

Yes. So I'm thinking Italian.

Yes. Your grandparents came here? Yeah, all four of my grandparents immigrated

in the early part of the 20th century, all from Sicily. The American dream for

them is come here, bear life, raise your family. It wasn't necessarily for them.

I think they did it for their future generations.

Which you are.

And that's what I think it was all about. They came here with the

a better life for future generations. You go from Sicily to space.

Yeah. Two generations. Yeah, quite amazing. I mean, that's unbelievable.

I are the same age, right?

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, like a month apart, I think. So we watched the moon landing when we were

kids. I remember watching it. Do you remember watching it? Oh, absolutely.

It changed my life.

It definitely changed my life.

Growing up in Scotland in the 60s and 70s meant growing up between two

superpowers in the middle of the greatest pitting contest in human

Cold War.

And nothing said Cold War like the Space Race.

Wait, I feel we can do better. Let's do it again.

The Space Race!

There you go.

The US and the Soviets went back and forth. Rockets, satellites, capsules,

monkeys, Sputnik, the Vomit Comet, even a few ex -Nazis. Do you get to be an ex

-Nazi? I don't know if I feel that's true. Anyway, we both threw everything

could at cosmic dominance.

But in 1969, America hit a gut punch to those commie bastards.

The moon landing.

650 million people around the world watch the moon landing. That's like Katy

Perry's Instagram.

This was a global calling card, a statement that American greatness was

and that I could be part of it. At least that's how I saw it.

This is the face of a young man who is about to manifest his own destiny.

When I saw that, I was six years old, you know, like as you were going on

that summer of 69.

Even the build -up to it, you know, seeing those guys, they're just like,

know, have the American flag on their arm.

And they just, to me, symbolized everything that was good.

I wanted to be an American. I didn't think I could be an astronaut.

Let me ask you something. Because those guys, the moon guys, the guys who walked

on the moon, they commented that the feeling was, throughout the world, it

an American accomplishment, but in a lot of other countries helped and

participated. Did you see it that way? Did you feel like...

Oh, these are American.

Oh, did you feel like it's... We're doing it. Do you know what, in Scotland,

what we were saying was, you know Armstrong's a Scottish name?

Really? Armstrong's a Scottish name, aye. So basically, it's Scotland landing

the moon. You know, technically. We're all immigrants. Technically. It was a

about, you can't go directly to the moon from Scotland, you have to go to

America first, which I think is still true. Maybe it's because America might

some way symbolise...

the whole world because everybody came from somewhere else well that's what i

think america i think america is a great accomplishment for humankind i mean

look even now when people are still bleeding on about you know the problem

and that everybody's still trying to get here yeah you know yes

your

family every

immigrant family which is like most of us you have to take those risks and

becomes becomes part of the the american spirit right the the idea that we're

going to get on a boat and we're going to go to a country we've never seen

before the whole family's going or just the kid is going they said goodbye and

that was it you know they didn't go back but leaving that all behind with

whatever possessions you had and coming to a new place and that becomes part of

the spirit right because that in some ways i think we're pointing to the

here that's easier than what they did To take that risk, that was a true risk.

And so that's the kind of people that came here, and I think as a result were

able to accomplish these things.

It's amazing.

As an immigrant from Europe, nothing is more emblematic of the journey to

becoming an American than the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Hi. Still have the gift shop plastic statue of liberty I got when I was a

Here it is. Isn't that cool?

I adore her.

No, you can't have it. If I was going to give it to anyone, I'd give it to my

dear friend Adriana.

She is a second -generation Italian -American, a best -selling author and an

acclaimed director and screenwriter whose work focuses on immigrants and

descendants. She is also the 2025 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of

I can think of no better way to see that lady than with this lady, and have her

show me... My God, are you so excited?

Yeah, a little bit.

There she is. It's a hell of a thing.

Isn't it?

Every morning, I go over to the water and I look at her.

Every morning.

It just reminds me, like, I'm so lucky I'm here at all.

My immigration story doesn't come through here, but it feels like it. How

times have you done this?

Every time a cousin comes to town, I take him.

I've never done that.

No. No.

Oh, my God, I get to show you everything.

There's life in this place.

There's a spirit.

Look at this.

This is what my grandparents saw.

This is where they lined up.

Kills me.

Kills me.

Between 1892 and 1952, over 12 million immigrants came through this

place. In fact, 40 % of Americans today can trace their roots back to this

island. Megan, my wife, Megan's grandfather, Andrew Wallace Cunningham,

orphan in Edinburgh, and he came through here.

He's like a little kid.

Can you imagine the story that got him from Edinburgh in?

Imagine being a street kid and getting that idea that I've got to get to

America. And to be a wee Scottish boy on your own. Oh, my God, all by yourself

and just on that ship and just trying to make a friend.

When do we eat? I'm in my 60s and I was kind of uncomfortable in the 10 -minute

ride from Manhattan.

I was like, oh, it's cold.

I need a sandwich.

I imagine my grandparents standing here.

That, like, says America to me.

That's the future.

Getting online for your family, for your future, for the children that are yet

unborn.

And whoever was at that table, keep your name, change your name, misspell your

name. That all happened in the air.

And just imagine how they felt standing here.

It's a cathedral.

Yes. It's not some empty promise. It's a cathedral to a real promise. An

opportunity.

Opportunity. Opportunity there is. If you work hard, man, you'll make it.

it is.

That's America.

What was the name?

Bonicelli. Bonicelli.

And it's really a beautiful thing to just come and read the names, because

there's a name, then there's a person and an identity and a place in history.

mean, Max Glickman.

Welcome to America, Max. Max Glickman. Hey, how you doing? Welcome.

Look at this one.

Philomena Barbieri Giuliano.

I don't think she's Scottish.

I just want to see Annie Ferguson.

There we are. There's my Pete.

Did you find them?

Robert Ferg. Yeah, yeah, there's tons of them. Don't you just feel like the

magic of it?

Yeah.

I need to get a selfie with Megan's grandfather.

Here they are.

You got your family? Uh -huh.

Andrew Wallace Cunningham, there he is. You got him? I got him. Don't tell me

we're, like, on either side of the wall. Is that perfect? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're right there. We didn't even plan this. This is amazing.

These people in that big circle, they made that.

They built it. They made that.

That's unbelievable. Isn't that great?

Yeah. Well, my grandfather made the shoes. Yeah, what? I'm making the shoes

all the people who make that. He made the shoes and the boots, and my

grandmother made the clothes.

I'm going to come through here. Oh, my God. I'm going to make all the shoes for

all the people. Please, the wall is weeping. I can't take it.

So, the word immigrant.

You've said this. It's a... It's a word of honor.

It is a word of honor. And a word of honor comes with a bond.

And it's a sacred bond.

You come here and you own it too.

It belongs to all of us.

Not one group, not one family, not one person more than another.

It belongs to all of us.

Bring the good stuff from where you're from.

Leave the crap Where it was this is the new world bring your heritage bring your

culture bring it but bring an open mind because it's America

You ready for this?

I came to America with the crazy dream of making it in show business. And guess

what? I still might.

It's America.

And this dance keeps going.

In the meantime, if I do nothing else on this show, I want to illuminate for my

fellow Americans the thrill and exhilaration that comes from joining the

the free.

If this sounds trite, I don't give a rat's ass.

I believe America truly is the best idea for a country that anyone has ever come

up with so far.

We're from everywhere.

We're not just a nation. We're not just an ethnicity. We're a dream of justice

that people have had for thousands of years.

America made us, and we made America.

Back to Scotland then.

We're Shrek and Fiona, we're here all...