but... ( laughter ) >> jon: she's talking to arthur schlesinger and he's talking about the dinner partiesand he's mentioning people that attended them, and she's mentioning some of the senators and things like that. and you know, at one point, schlesinger said, the coopers i think were there, and he says, "they're the nicest." and your mother, i can just imagine, goes, "maybe." ( laughter ) and is that a moment that resonates with you as her wit? >> well, i think she to me some of the places where she really gets going are more the ones that resonate with me. >> jon: such as. >> they didn't happen that often. i'm trying to think of a good example. when someone-- well, the scene that she describes of, you know, i kept know, indirra gandhi, or someone she didn't like, it didn't happen that often, but when she didn't like somebody, you know, it was really fun to be around ( laughter ). >> jon: not crazy about gandhi, huh? how did khrushchev fare? >> she didn't like his wife. she was a sour puss. >> jon: really? she didn't look it. khrushchev sent her a dog. >> i that were dog. it bit. ( laug

shortly after the assassination of her husband, the president, she sat down with historian arthur schlesinger, jr., and spoke with candor about her husband and other major figures of the era. the recordings are a part of the new book, "jacqueline kennedy: historic conversations on life with john f. kennedy." on friday, after we purchased a copy at a bookstore we shared early excerpts with you. tonight on what would have been the kennedys 58th wedding anniversary. andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: she was still in what her daughter caroline described as the extreme stages of grief. speaking publically only once. >> the knowledge of the affection in which my husband was held by all of you has sustained me. >> reporter: while famously private, the young widow sat down with historian arthur schlesinger, jr., and secretly recorded her most personal thoughts for posterity. >> it's just not as simple as that story sounds. >> reporter: in sharp contrast to the formal white house guide. >> i think every first lady should do something in this position to help the things she cares about. >> reporte

these are conversations with the historian and kennedy aide arthur schlesinger, jr. the recordings are part of a new book, jacqueline kennedy, historic conversations on life with john f. kennedy. we bought a copy last week, and tonight we hear more about how she felt about her husband, her family during a very scary time. our report again from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: they appeared to be a storybook couple from their marriage 58 years ago this week. >> you're pretty much in love with him, aren't you? >> oh, no. i said no, didn't i? >> yes, you did. you want to do it again? >> reporter: she described herself as a victorian wife. from the election campaign to the white house as a young family. at work and at play, she called the white house years the happiest in her life. before the tragedy and scandals, it was that brief shining moment she later called camelot, frozen in memory and brought back to life in her conversations with arthur schlesinger, jr. in 1964. daughter caroline says her mother was still in extreme grief at the time, less than four months af

now, 17 years after her death, she is making news with a candid interview she gave historian arthur schlesinger. kennedy was 35. chip reid reports it's being released this week for the first time. >> reporter: in february, 1962, first lady jackie kennedy gave cbs a tour of the redecorated white house. >> i just think that everything in the white house should be the best. >> reporter: it was the first time americans had her her speak at length. her voice and poise captivated the nation. in a series of interviews in 1964 just months after her husband was assassinated, she said that for her, the tour had been a turning point. >> suddenly everything had been a liability before-- your hair, that you spoke french, that you didn't just adore and campaign. everyone thought i was a snob and hated politics. then i was having a baby and couldn't campaign. and when we get in the white house all the things that i'd always done suddenly became wonderful. >> reporter: the tour was seen by 56 million people. >> i was so happy for jack. it made him so happy. it made me so happy. >> reporter: according to the "n

. >> in 1964, the former first lady recorded a series of interviews with arthur schlesinger, the historian, but only on conditions there were not released until 50 years after her death. her daughter carolyn has decided to release them now. there were reported for months after her husband was assassinated, and focus almost -- focus on her most recent memories. >> he would always come in before he went over to the office. >> it is jacqueline kennedy in her own words, her oral history in a series of recordings never before heard intel this diane sawyer exclusive. the year is 1964. the first lady describes her years in the white house. in one recording, she recalls begging her husband to let her stay with him during the cuban missile crisis. >> even if there is not room in the bomb shelter on the white house, i just want to be with you. i want to die with you. the children do. i do not want to live without you. >> her husband did not support a lyndon johnson presidency. >> she was fond of lyndon johnson. she found him amusing and warm hearted. >> caroline kennedy compiled the recordings in a

as her friend, renowned historian arthur schlesinger, asks her questions, she emerges as a skillful and irreverent diarist of what the people in the photos are really thinking. >> what did the president think of eisenhower? >> well, not much. you know, jack saw that all that could have been done, i mean, how really he kept us standing still and gave away -- i don't think he thought much of him. >> reporter: and the sweet-faced grandmotherly mamie. what did mamie think of her? >> didn't president eisenhower say during the campaign, "whenever mamie thinks of that girl being in the white house, she goes s-s-s-s-s-s," or a raspberry or some charming sound? you know, there was this sort of venom or something there. >> reporter: as they leave for the ride to the capitol, the amused young newcomer notices mamie seems to have forgotten that kennedy is the first irish catholic president. >> i was sitting in the car, president eisenhower and jack came out afterwards or something and she said, "look at ike in his top hat. he looks just like paddy the irishman!" i don't think she realized -- and th

one of them was a trusted friend arthur schlesinger.re was the famous white house historic guide that provided visitors to the white house with a book that they could purchase and take away that would give them the history of the house. she and its lessons her work together on a biography of president. -- and offers less center worked together on a biography of the president -- arthur work together on a biography of the president. it was really at his suggestion, but what one will also find, i will tell you, steve, for anyone who has read the history of the kennedy administration, they will recognize a lot of the anecdotes and stories that are being thought of as new has in fact not new at all. one will find many of them direct quotes and arthur book that won the pulitzer prize. what i will say is interesting about all this is that, first there was an idea that it was all going to be about jackie talking about herself. no, she was talking about the president. that was the purpose of these. but knowing that a lot of these things are none

, like a lot of people i am looking forward to seeing what jacqueline kennedy had to say to arthur schlesinger charlie after the assassination of president kennedy. >> the caroline kennedy book. >> well, she is the editor. >> conversations on life with john f. kennedy. is that the book? >> right. >> bob minzesheimer, why did the two women from little rock, why did their relationship fall apart? >> i have not gotten that far in the book yet. you will have to stay tuned. >> at 11, what are you looking forward to? >> i am looking forward to susan's new book coming out this fall about rain 1010, the famous dog that started in a number of movies. when i first heard about the book and had to confess i was a little skeptical. you would want to read what the dog on tv. i read the first excerpt in the new yorker, and it just blew me away. the excited to see this story crossing different world wars. a fantastic story. >> well, you both mentioned biographies, so let's look at other biographies. that includes christopher hichens, arguably essays by christopher hichens. jason boog, what can you tell us abo

instance, the cuban missile crise, when jacqueline kennedy tells historian and kennedy incider arthur schlesingerat those tense days were like for her and the family. let's listen. >> please don't send me away to camp david, please, don't send me anywhere. anything happens we're all going to stay right here with you. >> suarez: it's a reminder that this was not kidding around. the world fet like it was rice on the precipice. when the first lady says to the president, "i and the children want to die with you," it was striking. >> be out on the lawn not in a bomb shelter. the other thing it tells something. their marriage. in my experience, the president does not have a great marriage with the first lady, and there's a big political political crisis, the president usually doesn't want to spend very much time with his wife, would rather be around cronies or something. john kennedy's first instinct when he knows about the cuban missile crisis is in the book. he calls up jackie who is in virginia, there's something funny in his voice, he says. he says, "please bring the children right now back to the

arthur schlesinger's the vital center came out in the late 40s for early 50s. he gets lost in history a little bit but he was known to be a liberal but conservative on certain things when it came to defense and talking about communism and finding ways in which left and right can work together in winning the cold war. i suggest that. dan flynn's conservative history of the american left. >> i meant to use this joke earlier. i am the only person in this room who owns maureen dowd's book. if you want to do a liberal's office is in my office too. on a regular part of one's reading diet it is a good idea to read contemporary liberal writers who have influence. that would be one example. she gives a very good window, why it is necessary is the name of her book and believe it or not i think it is a -- insightful at the moment or a window into left thinking on some of these social issues but also the impact the sexual revolution has had on the relationship between men and women and she doesn't have any solutions. but i think she lays it bare. .. >> where would you star

is heard wandering in and talking to the microphone held by historian arthur schlesinger. >> john, yous heroic, walgreens apparently did not. five days later, despite the fact that hoven had a permit to carry a gun, he was fired for violatinging walgreen's non-escalation policy as well as a policy barring employees from carrying weapons while they work. >> at no time during my employmentntith walgreen's was i advised of, given a copy of, or discussed with management a nonescalation policy. >> reporter: in a statement to abc news, wawareen's stands behind their decision and says their policies are designed for the safety of f eir customers and employees and are "endorsed by law enforcement," but hoven is fighting back with a wrongful termination suit that is now headed to federal court. dan harris, abc news, new york. >> good for the guy to fight back. that is debatable termination. >> he didn't know about the policy. >> this guy's lawyer says he was exercising his reasonable right of self defense in the face of a gunman who attempted to pull a trigger three times and shoot him, presuma

they were conducted by arthur rams schlesinger, jr., the historian and kennedy aide. last call here. berkeley springs, west virginia. carl, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i look at paying taxes like giving money to charity. if the money is well spent, i have no complaints. but i will give you an instance. when obama gave this company out there, i think it is in california, about $500 million, to make solar panels, and they turn around and put $1 million back into his reelection campaign it makes you think that there is a wink and a not there. -- a wink and a nod there. it is just a game they are playing. it's not only played by obama, but a lot of politicians out here, especially local government. they will tell the unions, "if you put money into my reelection campaign, we will give you all these great benefits, great pensions." it is the taxpayers that are paying a -- that are picking up the bill. people do not mind paying taxes if their money is well spent, it's just a case of it not being well spent. thank you. host: the story from "usa today," "