i'm asking you generally, though, does the president -- do you agree with douglas brinkley that perhaps the past 24 hours have been perhaps donald trump at his most confused? >> i wouldn't go so far as to diagnose him as brinkley seems to do from afar. it's more than 24 hours. >> what about the -- okay. the last week. we'll attach bizarre. has this been the most bizarre week. >> it's a period not just the symbolic end of the 100 days, when he's dealing with the health care situation of tens of millions of americans. not understanding what's in the house bill. >> explain how he didn't know what was in the house bill. >> there's some debate -- the "wall street journal" editorial page tried to bail him out, there's no doubt people with pre-existing conditions will be in worst shape in some parts of the country at least if the house bill ever became law. he's going around saying people with pre-existing conditions will still be protected. i'm all for talking about the broad sweep of the last week. what i'm saying is for north korea, people worried about their health care, this lack of clari

douglas brinkley is a professor of history. he is the author of a number of best-selling books. brinkley has also written books on theodore roosevelt, jimmy carter, and ronald reagan and has often appeared on our stage. nice to have him back. susan swain is president and co-ceo of c-span. she helped launch the washington journal, book tv, and has been in the numerous c-span tv's. she has also been recognized by her industry as a cable tv pioneer. please welcome stephen kennedy smith, douglas brinkley, and susan swain. [applause] susan: good afternoon and thank you for being here. i should also add that for almost 25 years he has been working with c-span on a number of presidential historical projects, most recently our third survey of presidential leadership. i'm looking forward to learning more about your scholarship on your uncle. would you raise your hand if you were born after 1960? for you, john f. kennedy is entirely a historical figure. great. that gives us a sense of perspective as we start. i want to start with you, doug brinkley, because for the past two weeks, all the

tv, the national archives jose hosts a conversation with his nephew stephen kennedy smith and douglas brinkley. they speak of his conception of his american identity. this is just over one hour. >> when john f. kennedy was born on may 20 9, 1917, the second of nine children, the young 20th century was not that different from the late 19th century. automobiles, airplanes, and motion pictures were novelties and civil war veterans were meeting for reunions. the united states had just entered world war i. jack kennedy's lifetime saw some

stephen kennedy smith and joseph douglas -- brinkley. they speak of his conception of his american identity. >> when john f. kennedy was born , the second of nine children, the young 20th century was not that different from the late 19th century. automobiles, airplanes, and motion pictures were novelties and civil war veterans were needed for reunions. justnited states had entered world war i. saw kennedy's lifetime some of the most extraordinarily rapid changes in american life. his generation was a new generations of americans unable to witness or permit the undoing of human rights. presidentests are kennedy's nephew, stephen kennedy smith, and historian douglas brinkley, brought together some of president kennedy's speeches and some that still resonate today. year,hout the centennial organizations and individuals across the country will observe this milestone anniversary and reflect on kennedy's legacy. the john f. kennedy presidential library in boston has taken leave of a major evidence vision -- major exhibition that will open on j

and douglas brinkley. you, honor your great service for our country as we also reflect on those who have died serving. many american heroes, obviously made the ultimate sacrifice under your command. what does this day mean to you? >> ana, this is actually a very tough day for most who have seen the sacrifices, who have been with fellow soldiers, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen who have given the ultimate in defense of our country and in support of the constitution. so while a lot of people view this as the start of the summer and a great weekend to have picnics, i suggest that a lot of us who have worn the uniform and seen combat have a lot different approach to this day. there's a lot of soul searching. there's a lot of memories. there's certainly remembering those who served with that died. but there's a reflection, too, of how much more we can do to earn their sacrifices. and that's the message i try and give most americans. while you're enjoying your picnics and your day at the beach take a few moment

next, the national archives joÉe conversation with his nephew stephen kennedy smith and joseph douglas -- brinkley they speak of his conception of his american identity. >> when john f. kennedy was born , the second of nine children, the young 20th century was not that different from the late 19th century. automobiles, airplanes, and motion pictures were novelties and civil war veterans were needed for reunions. justnited states had entered world war i. saw kennedy's lifetime some of the most extraordinarily rapid changes in american life.

archives jose -- hosts a conversation with his nephew stephen kennedy smith and joseph brinkley -- douglas brinkley. they reflect on his life and legacy, his administration's new frontier policy and his conception of his american identity. this is just over an hour. >> when john f. key

douglas brinkley is joining us. what do you make of what we're seeing between the u.s.ssian relations, could we be on the verge of a new cold war? >> we may have entered cold war two jrue like there was world war one and world war two. the whole problem with russia interfering in our elections is a big big issue. the cold warren on from 1945 to 1991. and it had highs and lows. so the hope is that trump and putin will be able to find some collaborative evidence to do together whether it's in spay or fighting the war on terror, destroys isis. but as long as we have an embargo going on, russia that was placed during obama years you're going to see putin determined to get that lived. if not he'll make havoc wherever he can for the united states. >> was it the obama years where you felt tensions were chilly is is this taking it to a new level? >> i think it got to a new level second obama term. remember when george w. bush said he kind of liked putin and obama said there might be a way to do businessing to. there seems to be a diabolical attempt out of russia to return it to

we're dealing with a condition he has. >> douglas brinkley appreciate you being on. >> townhalls acrossountry as constituents kofrpt republicans and vent outrage over the health care bill. up to 50% faster today at invisalign.com ♪ ♪ i'm dr. kelsey mcneely and some day you might be calling me an energy farmer. ♪ energy lives here. it's just a burst pipe, i co(laugh) it. no. with claim rateguard your rates won't go up just because of a claim. i totally could've - no! switching to allstate is worth it. briathe customer app willw if be live monday. can we at least analyze customer traffic? can we push the offer online? brian, i just had a quick question. brian? brian... legacy technology can handcuff any company. but "yes" is here. you're saying the new app will go live monday?! yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes. dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden

. >> here to discuss, presidential historian douglas brinkley, michael higginbotham. what we have seen this week, have you ever seen a president with such disregard for the truth? >> no, i haven't seen any human beings with such disregard for the truth. the sign of insanity is when you believe your own b.s. he may believe he's telling the truth and that's the part that has everybody confused all the time. he must feel there's an advantage with this sort of -- we used to call it the fog of war. it's the fog of truth. it forces everybody to wake up and try to say you said this wrong, this wrong and it kind of start becoming a collective insanity. >> is this a kind of flood the zone with lies or misinformation, propaganda campaign? >> when you're a hyper salesperson the car is the shiniest, the biggest, the best. he spent decade after decade doing it and it gets him to the white house. and there's no need to reform himself because he doesn't understand that his words matter now now that he's president. >> there is no this is the best condo, it's the best view, you can se

douglas brinkley reflecting on the life and career of the 30th president. he did believe in strong military. he had a much broader conception about what american identity really was. >> he reached out across the isle and he launched the peace core on pmay 1st, 1961 of incredible program for young people. he started the alliance for progress and he engaged in the space race. >> go to c-span.org for a completely schedule. >> sunday night, elizabeth rosenthal examines the business side of healthcare on her book "an american sickness." >> she's interviewed by blumenthal. >> i wonder if your book given any thoughts of whether healthcare is a free market and whether we can solve our problems. a free market forces. >> well, i think what we have seen is the answer is probably not. i mean the beginning of the book, i put a some what on the list of the economic rules of the dysfunctional healthcare market where if you think of healthcare as a purely a business proposition of a market will solve, you know, you will get to crazy places like, you know a lifetime of trea

as as douglas brinkley said, a confused state that gotten worse.g anything. but there is no doubt that there is something impacting his thought process. >> something is wrong with him! >> the republican party is enabling the mental illness on a daily basis. >> we are on the influential with a guy who wants to kill us.he >> mainstream media ramping up suggesting that the president is suffering from a dangerous mental illness. and the media not the only ones questioning his sanity. more than 800 mental health professionals have formed a group called duty to warn. there mission to one americans that mr. trump must be removed from office because he is dangerous. joining me not to defend those accusations is a psychologist and found a number of -- doctor john gardner. have you evaluated the president n'face-to-face? >> no i haven't. but i do not need to evaluate him face. >> i do not need to evaluate someone if you need to evaluate the mental health? >> set is actually not the way to effectively evaluate people their personality is the best way. >> what

might be the problem, because reed was appointed by the previous administration, and historian douglas brinkleypeculated the trump administration seems worried about obama's spies! even i think that's ridiculous. i've seen pictures of this woman and she doesn't look like an obama spy. can we put her up? ( laughter ) she's lovely! look, there has to be another reason. when asked about the unusual firing, sarah sanders said something. >> but we left on very good terms and wish her the very best and certainly hope for great things for her in the future. i believe that the deputy usher will be serving as the acting usher for right now. >> stephen: translation, we gave the job to jared kushner. ( laughter ) whilerooms are dismantling obamacare, democrats are fighting back -- the only way they know how, through the power of visual arts, because democratic candidate for virginia governor and man who 20 years later just realized who kaiser sose was released the following ad right after the house voted on healthcare. >> republican leaders are trying to do this to affordable healthcare. i'm tom periello,

at sunday at 8:00, jfk's nephew and historian douglas brinkley reflect on the life and career. >> he was a combat veteran. in strongieve military. but he had a much broader inception about what american identity really was. he reached out across the aisle, launched the peace corps on may 1 of 1961. incredible program for young -- he started the alliance for progress, and he engaged the states. >> for our schedule go to c-span.org. sunday on "u.n. day" -- q&a, our guest mark cheetham on his book, andrew jackson: southerner. >> i do not think he represents the positive values jackson presented. he certainly represents some of the negative values jackson represented, but i think i would tell president trump if he wants to be like andrew jackson that she is to -- in front of his own or some hood, has to put nation in front of his own family, interest, because that's what that -- jackson did for most of his president. ♪ c-span, where history unfolds daily. 19 79, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies, and is brought to you today by your cable or sa

kennedy, and presidential historian douglas brinkley, reflect on his life and legacy.fk, ae coeditors of vision for america. here is a preview. had to deal with the assassination. i think there has been too much attention paid to the assassination in a sense at the expense of considering what is really important and useful ideaspresident kennedy's for today. so we deliberately have -- we celebrated his birthday. so we have to note that this was a national tragedy and a tragedy or the family, but we also have die, andhat a man may ideal lives on. we are trying to celebrate with this book his ideas and those ideals because he not only inspired us but confronted us with the opportunities and challenges of citizenship. we are confronted with those things today. one of the things he said in his last speech, which he never got to give, was in the future of the united states, it should be governed by learning and reason, otherwise those are converts -- confused with reality and popular ascendancy with easy and quick solutions to every world problem. there is a lot to learn fr

douglas brinkley, terrific historian who edited the reagan diary said the realm of reagan scholarship is beginning to open up and every time i sit down to think about ronald reagan i think about a new aspect of his life and career and times that has been either underreporter hasn't been covered at all. >> let's get in friendly territory and talk about the elephant in the room which is donald trump. so when -- >> no. no. no is the answer to his question. >> you are -- here is the question. people say gosh, how would you compare reagan to trump and they say what has come -- >> let me turn it around. >> conservatism from reagan to trump. >> you cover the reagan white house for how many years? >> four. >> and the reagan campaign in 84. let me ask you, is there anything about donald trump that reminds you of ronald reagan? >> no. >> okay. >> i must tell you, so many people in the republican party hold ronald reagan up -- >> with good reason. >> a paragon of the party and conservatism. then a say they are now with trump. >> that is a matter of practicality. you can be with reagan but also i

kennedy's 100th birthday, and sunday, stephen kennedy smith and douglas brinkley reflect on the life and career of the 35th president. >> he was a decorated combat veteran. and a stronge military, but he had a much broader conception about what american identity really was. >> he reached out across the aisle, launched the peace corps, and incredible program for young people, and he engaged in the space race. announcer: for the complete schedule, go to c-span.org. ♪ announcer: c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. it is brought to today by your cable or satellite provider. announcer:

joining me now is history professor, douglas brinkley.een taping systems in the white house before, it would be unique to have not only a sitting president tape their fbi director over dinner, but then to kind of, it's already raising the spector of it in a tweet. >> it's said that president trump developed a voice activated system. >> so anywhere oval office -- >> you also hear drinks being stird. and it was that you bick wit to us in the white house. >> winston churchill wrote a multiple volume, maybe i'll do the richard nixon tapes for the world. and ammunition against somebody he didn't like, somebody would say he said something, he would say i have the transcript, he wanted it as ammunition against people that met him. so it's plausible that donald trump had bugged that dinner, knowing that the stakes were high as head of the fbi, but i think it seems to me like a bluff. he would have had to put a taping system in very, very quickly and meat it a pr priori here. >> it's not a two-party consent state. florida, if he was recording stuf

out or good at their jobs, what does that have to do with spinning or not telling the truth, douglas brinkley>> it doesn't, everybody knows spicer has been horrible as a press secretary, his first day, he had to lie about the size of the crowd, and brought out like a funny photo shopped deal. he just can't get any traction, to i think trump's pretty frustrated with what's going on because he can't answer questions, he seems out of his league. look at josh ernest the last time as press secretary or obama. no drama, things went smoothy, things went cool. with spicer, every day something goes off the rails, so he may feel that he needs to become his own press person, trump, in the end he may run the whole white house by himself, because anybody who gets too close to trump, seems to shrink. >> michael hig, do you think pe believe what they're saying, just in the bunker? >> i don't think they believe what they're saying, they're taking their direction from the president and they're going to say whatever he wants to say. limiting the press is not good. at our core american democracy is a robust pre

your fellow historian, douglas brinkley, he described the president as having a confused mental stateowing his interviews. what do you think, david? do you agree with that? >> i don't know what his mental state is. what we don't want to end up doing is apologizing for or normalizing this kind of anti-historical approach. we don't want to normalize the idea that a good negotiator is a strong man. a good negotiator is full of knowledge. and a president is going to face innumerable crisecrises. if you haven't looked at previous crises, how do you know how to respond or react in future ones? what does president trump know about northern asia, if he has to deal with a nuclear crisis with korea? what does he know about the history of that region? what does he know about the history of the korean war, for that matter? is he somewhere, somehow, getting some tutorials on this? one would hope. >> thank you, gentlemen. i appreciate it. >>> when we come back, jimmy kimmel's emotional monologue about his newborn son's heart condition. >>> plus, hillary clinton speaking out about why she lost the e

let's discuss, with samuel buehl yuk university and douglas brinkley, coauthor of "jfk: a vision foruehl let me start with you. we know that d.c. is a one-party permission district, meaning only president trump would have had to have given his permission to himself in order to make a tape recording. you don't need two parties. so is this, if he had tapes, if if he were taping oval office conversations, is it legal? >> well, yes, it's legal in the district of columbia, if one party consents but not legal to use tapes to try to intimidate a witness. it wouldn't even be legal to pretend to have tapes in an effort to intimidate a witness and what we need at this point is an investigation to look into this and certainly one of the first things that any prosecutor would do in this situation is to subpoena any tapes to find out whether they exist. >> douglas, historically speaking, ever since fdr, i think with just the exception of eisenhower, presidents have taped their conversations. so what makes this any different? >> well, when we say tape their conversations, a lot of presidents would

he talked about his phone, the scrambler he's splitting, and the majesty of the white house, douglas brinkleyain, i don't mean to be facetious about this, but almost as if he's never gone to the white house. you can take a tour. or he's never seen photographs of the white house that show the majesty of the white house. it's like everything is just happening for him right now. he's learning about all of this right now. >> it's sad to say that that's true. he has a zero knowledge of america's past, don. he was all about now, now, now making money. he admitted he doesn't read books on history. he has an attention deficit disorder. he has to get his history, or anything like mcnuggets. but more than that, when we're constantly telling lies, it's just who donald trump is as a person. i think, don, he's counting on fatigue. the reporters will get tired. the public will tune out. like the old coyote in the warner brothers cartoon, beep beep, the road runner goes and the coyote can't get him. he sees he's going to outfox us by just hanging in there. if you tell ten lies a day, like in the first 100 d

. >> douglas brinkley and general hertling, thank you. happy memorial day. general, we salute you.'ll hear from the teen who says she wouldn't be alive if not for the three strangers who stood up to hate. mu got it. rumor confirmed. they're playing. -what? -we gotta go. -where? -san francisco. -when? -friday. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. "blue monday" by new order. cheers. ] [ music and cheers get louder ] the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's travel, better connected. >>> on a day when we remember our fallen heroes, a teen is thanking the men who stood up to hate and saved her from a man with a knife on a portland train. two of the three men were killed. destiny says the suspect, jeremy joseph christian, hurled anti-muslim slurs at her and her friend. but the heroes in the story confronted him. in turn, ricky john best, a 53-year-old military veteran was stabbed to death along with a 23-year-old, a recent college grad. the third victim,

what historian douglas brinkley called the most bizarre 24 hours in presidential history, joining meorian professor jon meacham author of "american lion andrew jackson in the white house." to just try to put this in some sort of context, can you give us a history lesson? >> sure. jackson fought for the union in 1832/33, south carolina was causing problems, they wanted to pick and choose which federal laws they wanted to obey called nullification. it was seen as a pretext for about a future battle over slavery and i think what -- you know, the president, like all presidents or most presidents, sees as he wishes to be seen. that is, he looks back to history for inspiration and -- but more often look for sanctioned for a given moment and if you listen to what he said there and what he said in the past about lincoln, jeffson and others, he is clearly in a way talking about himself, a tough guy with a big heart, at least his vision of himself. and so i think whenever a president talks about a predecessor, it's important to put on a pair of x-ray glasses and try to figure out are they real

that's why we have douglas brinkley joining us now. of political blow back after this firing. you look at this new poll that came out and the majority or more americans disapprove than approve it. it's 46% who oppose compared to 36% who approve. more americans approved than disapproved of president clinton's firing of the fbi director sessions at that time. >> william sessions had ethical lapses meaning bill clinton -- bill clinton called him twice the day he was fired. president trump didn't even have the courtesy of telling comey. he had done some ethical lapses to travel, having his wife get little perks, that kind of thing. nobody really complained bill clinton did that. we have to remember -- >> because it was a crime essentially. >> but it was a crime they had to get rid of him. bill clinton did the right thing. in comey's case he's leaving as a boy scout. he hasn't done anything ethically wrong. he was getting canned because apparently donald trump didn't think he was loyal enough and was going to gyn up this russia-gate investi

cnn legal analyst jeffrey due bin is with us all morning, chris cillizza, phillip mud and douglas brinkley. a point we have been coming back to a lot is the second paragraph in this letter, maybe the best window into the motives and problems in separating the executives have an investigation thereof with respect to russia. kellyanne wanted to distract and say it doesn't say in there the president asked him any questions, just that the fbi communicated to the president three different times that he w wasn't under investigation. now, we're assuming this is true. you take issue with that because you don't think james comey would have these discussions. but, again, isn't this something that has to be reconciled? >> it is so -- the level of impropriety is so great at so many different levels. if the conversation took place as the president describes it in this letter, it is completely inappropriate because he should not be discussing a pending investigation with the person who is in charge of that investigation. that is a bedrock principal of the division of labor within the executive branch. o

joining me is the co-author, along with historian douglas brinkley on the book "jfk: a vision for americaat to have you with me. i was looking at this book, which is great looking, by the way, and heavy. i was amazed at looking at the centennial edition. it's hard to believe this is where we are in celebrating nfc's 100th birthday. where do you break new ground in what you found about your uncle? >> it is hard to believe president kennedy is 100 years old and we really wanted to celebrate his life in a new way, so what we did was we asked leading thinkers from around the world to comment on his greatest speeches, and we also told his life story in words and pictures. so doug brinkley wrote the narrative and i have everyone in the book from the dalai lama to conan o'brien, to secretaries of state, john mccain, elizabeth warren, gloria steinem, some of our nation's great writers, so we wanted to talk about the relevance of president kennedy's ideas to today and i was listening to your panelists earlier, of course, president kennedy said in his inaugural if the free society cannot save the m

with some perspective is cnn presidential historian and co-author of "jfk a vision for america" douglas brinkleyerspective on how this markens back to the nixon administration when obstruction of justice was a foundation of the political argument there for impeachment but also the idea of crises on influence of anened. what your seeing here and what does this remind us? >> this is a white house unraveling. donald trump has gotten himself in so many difficult situations over the last few days, i don't know how he's really going to be able to work his way out of it. of course, nixon is being talked about for days now but for good reasons. i want does seem that donald trump obstructed justice in the firing of comey and then particularly as the statement that he was trying to get the fbi not to look into flynn any more and let him off the hook because he's a good guy. the drum beats of impeachment are here. that doesn't mean he's going be impeached. you'll be hearing that word, the "i" word that any president dreads regularly from commentators and pun departments that come on cnn because the atmosph

jfk's nephew8:00, and historian douglas brinkley reflect on the life and career of the 35th president. >> he was a decorated combat veteran. he believed in a strong military. he had a much broader conception about what american identity was. >> he reached out across the aisle. he launched the peace accord in corps in 1961. >> for a complete schedule, go to c-span.org. historian annette gordon reed talks about thomas jefferson and the enslaved hemmings family, who lived and worked on his monticello, virginia, plantation. she discusses sally hemming who she argues had six children by jefferson. the university of mary washington in fredericksburg, virginia, hosted this event, as

sunday, 8:00 p.m., his nephew, stephen kennedy smith, and douglas brinkley, reflect on his life. >> he was a dedicated combat veteran. he believed in a strong military. but he had a much broader conception about what american identity really was. he reached out across the aisle. he launched the peace corps on may 1st of 1961, an incredible program for young people. he started with the alliance for progress. and he engaged in the space race. >> for our complete american history tv schedule, go to c-span.org. >>> veterans affairs secretary david shulkin testified recently on his department's operations. he addressed several efforts to better serve veterans who seek and receive care, including full implementation of choice 2.0, wait time reduction, and improving and modernizing the department's i.t. systems and veterans crisis line. this is two hours and 20 minutes. >> good morning. today we're pleased to welcome back a good friend, dr. david shulkin, the new secretary of the department of veterans affairs. the last time you appeared before our committee, you were va undersecretary for he

. >> kennedy's 100th birthday and sunday, steven kennedy smith and douglas brinkley reflect on the lifer of the 35th president. >> he was a decorated combat veteran. he did believe in strong military, but he had a much broader conception about what american identity really was. >> he reached out across the aisle. >> he started the alliance for progress and he engage d the space. >> go to cspan.org. >> saturday at noon eastern on book tv. military historians discussed their books on world war i. speakers include jennifer keen with her book, world war i, the american soldier experience. the path to war, how the first world war created modern america. retired colonel, and his book over there. america in the great war. and the recipient of this year's kole be award, david barren and his book, waging war, the clash between presidents and congress, 1776 to isis. watch the 2017 colby military writers symposium, saturday at noon eastern on cspan 2's book tv. >>> now, a panel discussion on president trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan. how that proposal can be funded and what the federal gov

kennedy's 100th birthday and sunday at 8:00 p.m., jfk's nephew steven kennedy smith and historian douglas brinkley reflect on the life and career of the 35th president. >> he was a decorated combat veteran. he did believe in strong military. but he had a much broader conception about what american identity

sunday, 8:00 p.m., his nephew, stephen kennedy smith, and douglas brinkley, reflect on his life. >> he was a dedicated combat veteran. he believed in a strong military. but he had a much broader conception about what american identity really was. he reached out across the aisle. he launched the peace corps on may 1st of 1961, an incredible program for young people. he started with the alliance for progress. and he engaged in the space race. >> for our complete american history tv schedule, go to c-span.org. >>> veterans affairs secretary david shulkin testified recently on his department's operations. he addressed several efforts to better serve veterans who seek and receive care, including full implementation of choice 2.0, wait time reduction, and improving and modernizing the department's i.t. systems and veterans crisis line. this is two hours and 20 minutes. >> good morning. today we're pleased to welcome back a good friend, dr. david shulkin, the new secretary of the department of veterans affairs. the last time you appeared before our committee, you were va undersecretary for he

back with me, steven brinkley and douglas smith. 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 eager to see documents. i believed of the oswald assassination near ro theory. i never want to see a president keep things sequestered. >> this is not just history. it's personal. you're a family member. what do you think about these? >> i think it's fine to release the records, for public information. i think my father and rfk believe the warren commission report was accurate. larry schiller who worked on the book with me, knew marine oswald and knew jack ruby. and went back to russia with norman mailer and went through the kgb files with oswald. and he's convinced that oswald acted alone. he was a disgruntled, unhappy man. and he needed to find an identity. but larry who knows the situation very well, never thought there was a conspiracy around it.

brinkley. the author of the new book "jfk:a vision of america." great to have all of you. douglasll start with you. how unusual is it for a former president to publicly weigh in on the policy of a new administration. >> they usually don't like to do that. obama did not mention donald trump by name. ss his name was not evoked at all with president obama leading the charge. joe biden was working the crowds as if he was getting ready to run for 2020. grabbing cameras and who wants a selfie with me. it had a spirit to the event. a nice mixing of two brands. jfk brand of we will put a man on the moon and peace corps and profiles in courage book and barack obama, the nobel peace prize winner. the two represent the spiritual life of the democratic party now that bill and hillary clinton are held in low regard at least for a while. >> david, the words he chose and the forum it didn't seem as though president obama was looking to provoke anything here. you juxtapose from what he saw in the crowd and he wanted to put a nail in the coffin of what the congress members are saying. >> you are b

and sunday at 8:00 p.m., jfk's nephew, steven smith and douglas brinkley reflect on the life and career of the 35th president. >> he was a decorated combat veteran. he did believe in a strong military, but he had a much broader conception about what american identity really was. >> he reached out across the aisle. he launched the peace corps on may 1st of 1961, an incredible program for young people. he started with the alliance for progress, and he engaged in the space race. >> for our complete american history tv schedule, go to c-span.org. >>> sunday night on after words, physician and journalist, elizabeth rosenthal examines the business side of health care, in her book an american sickness, how health care became big business, and how you can take it back. dr. rosenthal is interviewed by dr. david bloomenthal, president of the commonwealth fund. >> so i was wondering if your book gave you any thoughts about whether health care is a free market, whether we can solve our problems in health care through free market forces. >> i think what we've seen is the answer is probably not. i me