you are either with gene mccarthy or bobby kennedy. and kennedy and mccarthy did not like each other very much either. well-financed opponent. he would say things like, he plays touch football, but i play football. atnedy was extremely good calibrating himself to be the larger cultural zeitgeist. reaching out, not just to college students, all of whom come in nearly all of whom are white. but reaching out to a multiracial coalition of democratic voters, people who had fond memories and loyalties to his brother, john, and to these other members of working-class members of the roosevelt coalition, the new deal coalition to build support around his candidacy. and by the end of march you have johnson realizing he should see he is getting out. it just gets more crazy from there. if that had been all that happened in 1968, that would be enough of a story. but there is so much more that happens that shapes with the election's outcome is, and also where american history goes from there. including the assassination of martin luther king in -- o

another frenchman had this book, which he made sure bobby kennedy read and was introduced to. bobby kennedy then turns against johnson in the war in march of 1967 on the grounds that it is an independent movement not controlled by hanoi, a spontaneous revolution by southerners who were not communist and don't want to be ruled by the north. the next week, roughly, johnson asked him to go to vietnam to prepare a way for ending our troop participation. he appoints to other people, kolmar, to set up a new organization in saigon. which is another topic that is incredibly effective. the organization working with the south vietnamese -- we defeated the viacom. -- via congress. we won the guerrilla war in 1972. nobody knows it for a bunch of reasons. secondly he sent out general abrams to be a deputy to focus in on the south the enemy's forces. we had bunker at the top level dealing with the political evolution of vietnam, kolmar dealing with the villages come -- villages and all the cities. he had abrams working with south vietnamese forces, and wesley focusing on search and destroy

you are either with gene mccarthy or with bobby kennedy. and kennedy and mccarthy did not like each other very much, either. morethy, place with a far telegenic, finance, and likable opponent, he says such things like, he played touch football, but i play football. kennedy was extremely good at calibrating himself to be the large rural -- the larger cultural zeitgeist, reaching out not just to college students, of of whom -- nearly all whom were white, but reaching up to a multiracial coalition of democratic voters, people who had fond memories and loyalties , and torother john these other members of working-class roosevelt coalition to build support around his candidacy. by the end of march, you have johnson realizing that it is just untenable for him to stay in, saying he is getting out. but it just gets more crazy from their. death that had been all that happened in 1968, that would be enough of a story. beenhere is -- if that had all that had happened in 1968, that would be enough of a story. including the assassination of 1968. luther

and bobby kennedy, is famous as he already was being attorney general, this was a big nationally and even international stage for him as well. host: could you imagine something like this today? paul: that is a good question. i cannot imagine who would be. maybe somebody on the likes of marco and ted cruz on the republican side. maybe elizabeth warren on the democratic side. even then, it would not be the same thing because of it was cnn, fox, msnbc, c-span, you would not have the concentrated audience that you have today when there is basically only cbs, nbc. host: thank you for being here on c-span3. her, it was good to be thank you. announcer: c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television company and is part two today by york cable or satellite provider. >> this weekend on american history tv, talking about the first congressional debate on slavery and race held in 1790. here is a preview. >> the petition argued that people's african descent were entitled to free liberty. humanity of slaves, rather than statu

his secretary of defense who is close to bobby kennedy. who was a potential threat and the joint chiefs and a lot of americans that believe that military problems will solve all our problems. just go out there and as we used to say. kick ass. which is the anti war movement. how do you slice the salami? so what you do is you get the military almost everything they ask for and not everything. and then in the middle you propose the macon -- said to hanoi, if you call off the dogs i will put a billion dollars in the village development in indochina and in north vietnam too. so johnson is constantly doing this. one of the criticisms that i think comes out which goes to the reputation point, why did johnson get this reputation of being escalation? is he never went public with this strategy. i don't think there is any speech by johnson that says look, folks, this is what i am doing. fulbright is demanding a bonling halt of two weeks, i give him a bombing halt of two days. we are going to draft a lot of americans but wink, wink. ladies and gentlem

and bobby kennedy had written a book, to seek a newer world. he gave it to eastland, and said, jim, it is not too late. tell me, how was he on civil right? and he was criticized for not moving when he was president of on civil-rights by virtue of the fact that he would lose the support of the south in 1964 and the southern committee chairman. did he build up any relationships, personally with them where he could move these bills based upon his tenure in the senate with the same people? >> i think the short answer is that kennedy, he he felt like he was on defense on civil rights in the senate. he thought it was an impossible issue politically because he was trying to era have a political base that included both conservatives in the south. he felt like he needed to win in the south to win the presidency, and he also needed liberals. and and just, when you read about just aate years, it was sort of almost nonstop effort to just avoid getting pinned down, and it just -- and several people, paul douglas was very critical. paul douglas held paul dou

and bobby kennedy, is famous as he already was being attorney general, this was a big nationally and even international stage for him as well. >> could you imagine something like this today? >> that is a good question. i don't know who exactly it would be. it would have to be maybe somebody on the likes of a marco rubio on the republican side and maybe an elizabeth warren on the democratic side. even then, it would not be the same thing because of it was done by cnn, fox, msnbc, c-span, you would not have the concentrated audience that you have today when there is basically only cbs, nbc. >> historian and author joining us from pit. i keep your time on c-span3. >> good to be with you. >> never let anyone to find you. that is the first lesson i want to leave you with. only you define who you are. ,> our hearts should be open not just of falling in love to the world. we need to look and care and we need to contribute. >> don't ever let anyone tell you your dreams are silly. if you have to look back on your life, regret the things that you did and not what you did not do. >> nothing sta

the campaigns for the democratic candidates, particularly during the primaries, gene mccarthy, bobby kennedyeing among them. then in the 1980s we had the rise of ronald reagan. and reagan was an interesting case because reagan got his start in politics and in television back in the 1950s. the same advertising agency, dbdo, that had controlled many of ike's political appearances, that got ronald reagan to move from being a film actor to being a television host, and then a spokesman for conservative causes. so we can actually trace reagan back to the sort of same promotional team that had played such an important role in eisenhower. the age of mass media, an outage of television -- first radio and then television and now cable television and social media -- celebrity has become for good or for bad a pretty important ingredient in how people evaluate presidential candidates. it's not that they're looking for somebody who is a star. it's not like they're looking for somebody who has their chops in entertainment. but they are looking for people who have a certain star quality, people who look goo

kennedy. shake hands with teddy, bobby. >> bob kennedy. >> we worked hard. >> i come here today as a candidatewisconsin prima primary. >> kennedy is smart. he knows that if he can prove himself a vote winner here in the primaries, the democratic party will have to take him seriously as a candidate for president. >> this was a new way of campaigning. this was a new way of becoming the nominee. >> first of all, he's going to have to beat hubert humphrey. >> hubert humphrey, democrat senator from minnesota, is confident he'll win wisconsin hearts. >> let me tell you, i've been working for the dairy farmer ever since i set foot in the senate of the united states. >> so we knew we had a tough job to win. it was a monumental challenge. >> kennedy does have one advantage -- being a kennedy. his father joseph, rich, powerful and the former ambassador to great britain has always wanted a son for president. >> politics was definitely a family affair. you had a large family who was out there saying we are supporting our brother, our brother-in-law. and that i think was a very compelling picture. >> and i

bobby kennedy handled this man well. the russians wanted a summit with the newly elected john f. edy. he said please wait for the inauguration. we'll talk about it later. i don't think the people around trump had the sophistication. i think the russians put pressure on them and took advantage of them. we saw how they played us for fools by tweeting pictures of the meeting with president trump. i don't know whether the trump inner circles were dunces or devils. if they understood they were colluding or were so excited a foreign important power that the president or president to be liked that they dealt with the russians. i'm waiting to see the extent to which the trump campaign understood that the russians were wanting to play them. >> there is the original puzzle in this which was why did donald trump fall in love with the russians? can we appoint, can congress appoint a special prosecutor, an independent counsel? >> it would have to come from the attorney general or in this case the deputy attorney general because jeff sessions is recused or another person in the department of ju

bobby kennedy handled this man very well. ians wanted a summit with the newly elected john f. kennedy. he put them to one side, said please wait for the inauguration, we'll talk about that later. i don't think the people around trump have that sophistication. i think the russians put pressure on them. i think the russians took advantage of them. we saw how the russians played us for fools by tweeting those pictures of the meeting with president trump. my issue is i don't know whether the trump inner circle were dunces or devils, whether they understood they were colluding or whether they were so excited that a foreign important power that the president or president-to-be liked, that they just dealt with the russians. so, what i'm waiting to see is the extent to which the trump campaign understood that the russians were wanting to play them. >> and of course, there is the original puzzle in all of this, which was why did donald trump fall in love with the russians? >> exactly. >> cristina, the legal issue -- can we appoint, can

>> present tranny -- kennedy had complete trust in bobby kennedy. they know each other so well for their entire lives. bobby played a critical role. talk about the what if in that sense. then senator edward kennedy served in the senate and continued working on issues like immigration. john kennedy in 1958 wrote a book called "the nation of immigrants." edwardk that bobby and did are all part of the mix. as well as his sister with the special olympics. and the other sister being ambassador to ireland. >> how many siblings survived? just wrotenedy smith a book. i encourage everyone to look at a called "nine of us." >> i'm really glad you're doing the show. it reminds people how important kennedy was to our nation and the whole world. thankful you are putting on this presentation. , with the trump administration in office, it seems to me like we are ratcheting back all the progress that has been made over so many years. trump more than any isis. i wonder what you think president kennedy would think of the truck administration right now? >> thank you. i

first of all, let's talk about bobby kennedy because i've been working on that project too.ut tell me about georgie bowl sha kov and while he was important to the cuban missile crisis. >> >> he floated the deal thatt saved the world. that was floated through a back channel. he was a soviet intelligence agent. pure back channel. >> i've been watching the americans, like everybody watches the americans, and i'm watching this guy. he's sort of a b.s. artist. he's a drinker, a party guy. >> yeah. >> like good-time charlie. deep down he's an agent, a spy. >> his patron back in moscow was khrushchev's, i think, father-in-law. it was family. >> like today. clint, wha do you make of back channels? nixon tried it. he stopped johnson from pulling a little number before the '68 election, a peace move. >> this doesn't make sense to me for a lot of different reasons. i understand the purpose of back channels, but we're talking about somebody who was not in an official capacity. the other thing is the way he went about doing it. what was he needed to send in a protected way from a russian

president kennedy had complete bobby kennedy and they knew each other so well for entire lives, that was very important. bobby played a critical role, we what-if, we're reminded in this sense, and then 47 years senator edward kennedy served in the senate and workingd the legacy and on issues like immigration and equity. 1958, wrote "a nation of immigrants," one of three books he wrote, that book as relevant today. the work that bobby and senator did, are part of the mix, as well as sisters from special olympics and kennedy smith and so many more. host: how many survive of the siblings today? guest: there were nine, jean kennedy smith, the nine of us, a it look courage people at. host: jeffrey from san diego, good morning. morning.good i'm really glad that you are peoplehis show to remind how important kennedy was to not whole r nation, but the world. on thankful you are putting this presentation. my question is, with the trump administration currently in right now, it seems to me ratcheting back all prot aggress made over so many probably i fear trump more than any kind of isis i eve

you don't see bobby kennedy accused of tree son. >> kennedy and barack obama were elected presidents.is looking at, mueller will be looking at committees looking at, donald trump, kushner and others, michael flynn, were attempting to do this back chapel before they were in office. after they won the general election, that's a big and huge difference. so, we have to be careful with that type of comparative. if the media is pointing out negative stories about donald trump, remember, donald trump is a unique politician. he drives every narrative that the media covers. notwithstanding the likes, the likes are going to continue. every administration has had likes. donald trump drives the narrative. he should drive the narrative towards his policy, and his agen agenda. in this fight, against the institutions that he's a leader of, d.o.j., nsa and others, that's what the media is going to talk about. that's why they're not talking about tax reform and healthcare reform. >> leland: it's worth making con point before i turn the floor over to eric, who ronald reagan before he was elected had a

director hoover signed it, bobby kennedy signed it and we were off to the races. here's the hard part. i'm not telling this story and i don't keep the document thereto pick on hoover or kennedy. i have no doubt both of those men believed they were doing the right thing. they were certain that their cause was just uncertain that their facts were right. in the absence of constraint and oversight, there was no one to tell them otherwise. i keep that piece of paper in that spot to remind me of what the fbi is responsible for and what we as humans are capable of, and why it is vital that power be overseen and constrained, including my power and that of the fbi. imac. [applause] we put those sessions and the king curriculum at the very beginning of our training program for analyst and agent spread the reason we start their education there is we believe it's foundational. it tells us who we are and what we are. learning how to shoot and conduct an arrest in appropriate ways are appropriate stuff and hard but it's much harder to understand and internalize a long-term ratif

bobby kennedy, i'm working on a project now for years.respected by the lawyers, all the attorneys at the justice department because he did stick up for them when there was political heat applied. a lot of them hadn't had that kind of a boss before. carrie, thank you so much. and u.s. congressman sean patrick maloney of new york. james comey is only the second fbi director in history to be fired from the job. the "hardball" roundtable joins us next with more details on trump's historic decision to sack the guy while he's trying to investigate him. you're watching "hardball." david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ and my brother ray and i started searching for answers. (vo) when it's time to navigate

director hoover signed it, bobby kennedy signed it, and we were off to the races. here's the hard part. i am not telling this story and i don't keep that document their is a criticism to become hoover or kennedy. i have no doubt that both of those men believed they were doing the right thing. they were certain that the cause which -- was just in their facts were right. in the absence of constraint and oversight there was no one to tell them otherwise. i keep that piece of paper in that spot to remind me of what the fbi's responsible for and what we as humans are capable of. and why it is vital that power be overseen and constrained, including my power and that of the fbi. [applause] we put both sessions, holocaust museum and king curriculum, at the very beginning of our training program for analysts and agents. the reason we start to various because it is foundational. it tells us who we are and what we are. and how toe law conduct an arrest in appropriate ways are really important and hard, but it is much more important to, and our view, understand and internalized

. >> i can say truthfully the example of jack and bobbie kennedy helped guide me into politics, and that guidance of teddy kennedy made me a better public servant once i arrived in washington. >> reporter: the award is given to politicians who demonstrate political courage. the foundation cited the former president for restoring relations with cuba, clean air and health care reform. >> from his first days in office until his last the president consistently put the national interest above his interest. >> reporter: this honor comes while health care is under threat. >> make no mistake this is repeal and replace of obamacare. >> reporter: while the future of president obama's signature piece of legislation is in doubt, the former president appealed to the current congress. >> it actually doesn't take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, all comfortable, already influential. but it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm. >> reporter: after months away from the public eye, president obama back in the spotlight. dan shinneman, nbc n

bobby kennedy did not travel with jack kennedy. everybody keeps bringing them up. he had been head of the rackets council for three years before this. that wasn't so much blood. it was achievement. this guy is being brought along because he's the one person, ari, the president trusts not to rat him out. what -- >> i think you raise all the core questions, chris, and i think that is why many people said that what is lawful is not always prudent. and it may be lawful that they found -- at least the justice department said they found a loophole because, remember, if jared kushner was an apena nietoee -- appointee to the cabinet, it would be a loophole. but was it a good idea and does it really protect the interest of the white house and the united states at large to have someone so close to the president now under scrutiny according to nbc news in the fbi inquiry who effectively probably cannot be fired? i mean think back now to the january post-election press conference where donald trump said some of his family members would handle the business, and that would be se

and they are counting on you, the lawyers, to do what bobby kennedy said, and that is to breathe life and force into the concepts of liberty and justice. if you've ever doubted whether that was true, if you ever doubted whether the american people really care about all of that or not, just think back to that first weekend after the travel ban when protests erupted all over the country, and thousands of people streamed to airports, east coast, west coast, big cities, small towns, all demonstrating about what they believed was an attack on our constitution and core values. but lawyers streamed to the airports, too. lawyers streamed in there to represent people who are being turned away. of course, they were not getting paid anything for it. the most remarkable thing about that whole experience to me was that all of these people who were flooding the airports to protest or the lawyers showing up to represent individuals, for the most part, they were not personally impacted by the travel ban. not them, not their family members, not their friends. it didn't impact them, yet they still felt

. >> i think if you have look at bobby kennedy's record some good things came out of that.t let me get it out. you don't have to be sow rude. howie: i get that ivanka trump being on the white house staff is controversial. mollie: it seemed like a little bit of booing was elevated into a major story. people didn't do a good job of explaining she is an unpaid advisor. this is not hillary clinton running healthcare, this is someone going abroad and speak about women's issues. but at the same time she has her father's ear. she is someone who is so not conservative and is clearly close to her father and what that means and how it affects policy. howie: if hillary clinton had won and put chelsea clinton on the white house staff, the media would be savaging her for that. joe: i think they would be. i'm not for that. spouses and children, even adult children should be left out except once she starts putting an end to these positions where they are making foreign trips, there are going to be questions. howie: questions are fine. >> but it would have gotten personal for sure with che

with bobby kennedy, it was hard to tell president kennedy i don't want to tell you this in fronts ofr because they become the final arbitrator. there's always that fear of nepotism. and it was the kennedy years that created the nepotism law people try to avoid. and he was a legend in civil rights saga. >> stig around both of you. when we come back, could president trump release thousands of files on jfk's assassination? ♪ ♪ so we know how to cover almost alanything.ything, even a coupe soup. [woman] so beautiful. [man] beautiful just like you. [woman] oh, why thank you. [burke] and we covered it, november sixth, two-thousand-nine. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ with e*trade you see things your way. you have access to the right information at the right moment. and when you filter out the noise, it's easy to turn your vision into action. it's your trade. e*trade. [vo] the grille is distinctive. but it's usually seen from the rear. the all-new audi q5 is here. made daily life a guessing game. wil

but an idealist would say, yes, that's it, dream dreams, take the moon shot, be like bobby kennedy, oneod heroes. there are those who look at things that are and ask why, and i look at things that never were and ask why not. if technology is go to put millions out of work, let's find new ways to create jobs. o this is important stuff, people. so what's dan schuman really doing at pay-pal? he's making money for shareholders. however what he's really doing is simple. he's democratizing the way we handle money. i never knew about paypal until my youngest daughter told me she was using it to buy things on amazon, wanted to know why i wasn't. i didn't know about venmo. this is the digital revolution, when paypal is going to put the cash on your mobile or desk top whenever you want itted a wherever you want it. it's a business that's going like gangbusters, here's what you don't know about dan. some big-time cynical wall street analysts never stopped giving him a hard time, telling them that visa or wells fargo or google or a host of other strawmen who turned out to be good partners would des

learned the only political hero i ever had had just been assassinated, the hope of my generation, bobby kennedy assassinated. and he died with that bullet in the kitchen and los angeles after having been declared the winner of the california primary, and the likely nominee. 2 fallen american heroes in a matter of weeks and many more fallen americans across the globe, in vietnam. for my generation, for my graduating class, the once hope of better days ahead was gone, shot through the pain and grief of a nation that viewed itself on the brink. and all throughout this great country, a sense of hopelessness and helplessness began to take hold. that was the world that pete and i entered into, that was history that was written for us up to that point, not by us. but in spite of all that, as i walked across the stage i never doubted for one instance that we could change the history we were handed, that we could rewrite the outcome that we were heading toward. it did not matter at the time the overwhelming sight cast was, just drop out, do not trust anybody over 30, hate as barry. i am deeply proud of

." >>> the example of jack and bobby kennedy helped guide me in the policy. >>> plus, it's a speech puttingesident barack obama into the spotlight. the message he shared that had millions reacting overnight. >>> "news 4 today" starts now. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilcrist. a lot to fill you in on. >> sheena parveen f these chilly temperatures. we'll check in wion the forecas >> we're 10 degrees below where we normally are. 47 degrees currently. feels like 43. plenty of sunshine as we go through the day. nice and dry. you might want the long sleeves. 43 dulles, we see the coldest temperatures way off to the west. 42 in lorton. mainly patchy frost. freeze warning this morning. mid 60s and sunny this afternoon. the busy monday morning commute with melissa. >> chopper 4 headed to show us some of those slowdowns on 295 southbound as you're approaching the capitol. now here is what we file right lane getting by. at this point this morning it had cleared out of the way. we are seeing pretty good delays. jones bridge right turn lane is still blocked for a disabled vehi

when you have a relative, it's hard -- with bobby kennedy, it was hard to tell president kennedy i don'tant to tell you this in front of your brother because they become the arbitrator in several ways. there's always that fear of nepotism. and it was the kennedy years >>> all right, stick around both of you. when we come back, could president trump release thousands of files on jfk's assassination? albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. >>> thousands of secret files about the assassination of president john f. kennedy could be released by president trump. back with me, steven brinkley and douglas smith. the president is in position to decide -- 3,600 secret files about the assassination of jfk to be released. what do you think? should they become public? >> i assume he will green light anything that opens up archives. >> are you eager to see them? >> we're always eager to see documents. and there's some discrepancies. i believed of the oswald aasination theory personally, but i always want to get more i

mother, uit in -- eunice founded the special legitimates and cher brothers, be john kennedy and bobby kennedy and ted kennedy. what impact has the catholic faith haven't on your life and does it faith the way you think about pope francis? >> well, think first of all, dan, thank you for that great first question. you start off really easy. that was a -- that is a tough one. i want to thank the key school for inviting me here. walked around the campus. >>> it's a great school. and incredible resource here's for kid. so thank you. and thank you all very much for coming. i really appreciate you spending time with me on a saturday afternoon. obviously the faith -- the catholic faith, my mom and day went to mass every day. my father and mother, whether they were traveling in america or around the world, i remember clearly when they check into hotels the first question they asked was always where is the local catholic church and what time is mass in the morning? so, that sense of catholicism was imbedded into me and all of my siblings as well. so i think that you can't for me separate our perspectiv

so he was to ease into his new job in the justice department working for bobby kennedy when the assassination happened. as i was saying earlier at lunch, my aunt had volunteered in a kennedy campaign and had -- in dallas. she was at leftfield when jackie and john kennedy arrived. my uncle was watching the motorcade from the praetorian building on main street. my grandfather was at the plaza. so they were i mean, there kennedy -ness was not - they were deep kennedy people. as a set at lunch today, my parents stayed up all night in washington to walk by the president's body lying at the capitol building. so the intimacy in which our family along with millions of other people were kind of woven into the story again, makes the film so much more powerful. and i think that is where the - i would not describe it as trauma for myself but where there are reverberations. you know my father who, the disappointment of the assassination, the pain and sadness, the loss, the trail. if stayed with him for his whole life. and for all of them. for my grandfather and my father to then be responsible for this ob

you had bobby kennedy's original copy of the emancipation proclamation. the only known flag that survived custer's last stand at little bighorn, and then you had the rules. >> talk about competition. the flag from little bighorn sells for $2.2 million. the emancipation proclamation beats that easily -- $3.7 million. >> you could feel the tension building throughout the other two sales. >> the comes harlem globetrotter curly neal to introduce the basketball rules. the bidding races to $3 million. it's a jump ball between david booth and one other phone bidder. >> did you know who it was? >> i didn't at the time, but it turns out it's a good friend of mine -- david rubenstein. >> rubenstein, also a billionaire, once purchased a 13th century copy of the actual magna carta for more than $20 million. >> about $3.2 million, you could feel mr. rubenstein starting to slow down. he had to think about each bid more carefully. >> and then, the final bid. >> on my left, $3,800,000. >> sold to david booth! >> you paid more than the emancipation proclamation. >> yeah,

i can say truthfully that the example of jack and bobby kennedy helped to guide me into politics. and that the guidance of teddy kennedy made me a better public servant when i arrived in washington. i have to imagine it would give them great pride to see a new generation of kennedys like joeijoe i carving their own proud path in service. [ applause ] for whatever reasons i receive this award and for whatever reasons that we overcame in the scope of progress that we made over my presidency, it is worth pointing out that in many ways the times that president kennedy confronted were far more perilous than the ones that we confront today. he entered the oval office at just 43, only a few years after khrushchev had wars raging around the world, and large swathes of the country, and poverty was far deeper and more wi widespread than we see today. young causes were gaining traction not just by custom, but by law. in the end, president kennedy praised what he had. it was a proud moment of the cold war without firinging a shot, and yett in that tinderbox of a time, he led with a steady hand

it was his younger brother, bobby kennedy, that would assume the role of attorney general that was the go-between. we don't know the degree to which he did and what was legal by today's standards versus what's going on here. but does it make you uncomfortable if there were? in other words, the two sides are talking. historically is that what has been done between these super powers? >> clearly you've had back channels not only between the u.s., russia, the soviet union. president obama had established back channels with iran, which is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. the fact of a back channel without more to me is not troubling. now there's reports that there was discussions about using the russian communications equipment, which would be odd. i want to know whether those are true. there's reports that say that wasn't suggested by kushner. >> neil: you mentioned an important point there. some of these leaks or later revealed to be untrue or distorted. many in the media don't waste a second getting them out there. they're big enough. i can see that but they're not adequa

jackie and bobby kennedy? >> they were good, good friends. he came to see the kids all the time.oved him. >> then the unthinkable -- five years after the death of john kennedy, bobby kennedy was gunned down. cat says she mourned on the train carrying their uncle's body to washington. john was on the floor playing with a toy car, startled, he jumped to cat. >> somebody threw a wreath, like a christmas wreath through the window and john said "are they coming to get us, too?" i said, no, john, that was somebody very sad for your uncle. >> he thought it was a gunshot? >> yes, he thought it was a gunshot. >> not long after that, the former first lady surprised many by marrying aristotle onassis. >> you had seen aristotle onassis but you thought they were just friends, didn't realize there was another relationship. >> i never put two and two together. >> was she happy then? >> she was happy, yes, very happy. >> and when cat got married, jackie and her kids attended her wedding in queens. cat moved out of the 5th avenue apartment but continued to work for the family for years, even afte

five years after the death of john kennedy, bobby kennedy was gunned down.ly on the train carrying their uncle's body to washington. john was on the floor, playing with a car. he jumped up to kat. >> like a christmas reed was thrown through the window. and john said, are they coming to get us, too? no, john that was somebody sad for your uncle. >> reporter: he thought it was a gunshot? >> yes. >> reporter: not long after bobby's death, the first lady surprised many by marrying aristotle onassis. you saw aristotle onassis and thought they were just friends. didn't realize there was another relationship. >> i never put two and two together. >> reporter: was she happy then? >> very happy, yes. >> reporter: when kat got married, jackie and her kids attended her wedding in queens. kat moved out of the apartment, but continued to work with the family for years, even after jackie's death, spending summers in the kennedy home, managing the estate. when jackie died in 1994, her last visit with her became all the more meaningful. jackie gave her treasured photos. kat'

. >> i can say truthfully that the example of jack and bobby kennedy helped guide me into politics. hat the guidance of teddy kennedy made me a better public servant once i arrived in washington. >> reporter: the award is given to politicians who demonstrate political courage, the foundation cited the former president for restoring relations with cuba, clean air, and health care reform. >> from his first day to the last, he put the national interest above his own. >> reporter: but this honor comes while hillary clinton is under threat. >> make no mistake, this is a repeal and replace of obamacare. >> reporter: while the future of his legislation is in doubt, the former president appealed to the congress. >> it doesn't take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential. but it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm. >> reporter: after months away from the public eye, president obama back in the spotlight. dan shenaman, nbc news. >> really haven't seen him for a while. i guess when you're done

you had bobby kennedy's original copy of the emancipation proclamation.nly known flag that survived custer's last stand at little bighorn, and then you had the rules. >> talk about competition. the flag from little bighorn sells for $2.2 million. the emancipation proclamation beats that easily -- $3.7 million. >> you could feel the tension building throughout the other two sales. >> the comes harlem globetrotter curly neal to introduce the basketball rules. the bidding races to $3 million. it's a jump ball between david booth and one other phone bidder. >> did you know who it was? >> i didn't at the time, but it turns out it's a good friend of mine -- david rubenstein. >> rubenstein, also a billionaire, once purchased a 13th century copy of the actual magna carta for more than $20 million. >> about $3.2 million, you could feel mr. rubenstein starting to slow down. he had to think about each bid more carefully. >> and then, the final bid. >> on my left, $3,800,000. >> sold to david booth! >> you paid more than the emancipation proclamation. >> yeah, well,

her own commencement, if you're not familiar with the history history, martin luther king and bobby kennedy had been killed. we were in the middle of the vietnam war. it was a time of incredible distrust of government, of institutions, of civil disorder, of fights over the civil rights movement. she recalled that moment that she made this connection. >> we were furious about the past presidential election of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice. [ cheers and applause ] >> after firing the person running the investigation into him at the department of justice. >> i mean, you pull punches, john, or you can throw punches. >> that was throwing punches. >> not a terribly subtle reference. you have to remember given her history, she went from wellesley to yale law school and then went to the hill where she worked on the watergate committee. but again, it is sort of this sort of bringing up the looming presence of the talk about impeachment which i think is really sort of unreek rigalisti not talking about the way forward. this is

was when you think just of '68 what happened in that year, assassinations of martin luther king, bobby kennedyive, all the things that shaped all the institutions that we have are important for our young people to understand, and i think what ken's done here is just spectacularly important, and really will help do that over many years. >> ken, you often say of your work that it explains who we are. and in this case, it's also about who we thought we should be in the world and we still think about what america should be in the world, and i'm thinking this morning about the fact that we get to involved in the war out of fear of communism and in 2017 with the russians manipulated our election and investigations about close ties between an administration and russia, what is it we need to know about vietnam today that shapes who we are today? >> mark twain said history doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes and i listen to the rhymes we've made for pbs that is coming out in september is an attempt to say the vietnam with a are is the most important event in the united states in the second half of the