[engine roaring] elissa's connection to galveston is unique is that she arrived in galveston 100 yardswhere we are standing now back in 199883 with a cargo full of bananas. she came later on in the 1880's, 1886. it was really important for the galveston historical foundation to find a vessel that had a connection. the fact she was a sailing vessel was all the more important. [men barking orders] >> take it up. that is a terrible habit. we ease slack into the gear when they want it from aloft -- host: in the 1970's elissa fell on hard times. she had been at sea for 100 years. she had one of the longest careers as a merchant vessel. galveston historical foundation were made aware of elissa's plight and the gears were put into motion to purchase the ship. she was purchased and brought to galveston in 1979 and the complete restoration of the ship began. she is involved with crew sail trianiaining. we have adult seamanship traini ng. was the year she is allowed into the gulf of mexico for day sails. our volunteers learning how to sail the ship on a real one to one basis. it is one thing rea

and galveston was the best natural harbor on the texas coast, and galveston was the large city. and so a lot of everything that involved trade and later blockade running went through galveston for the most part. and other small ports along the texas coast, but galveston was the primary one. even before the confederates fired on fort sumter in april of 1861 in charleston, the union was preparing and thinking about what happens if this becomes, if secession becomes a shooting war. and one of the things that they considered was creating -- establishing a blockade of southern ports. the idea of a blockade is to use -- it's an old, traditional technique that's used in warfare to blockade an enemy's port to keep ships and vessels from coming in and out to prevent the enemy from getting support from outside. the union, union forces declared a blockade on april 19 of 861. that was just -- 1861. that was just two days after jefferson davis had declared the confederates would authorize privateers to go after union shipping which is itself an act of war. but the union blockade was declared

we estimated the loss of life in galveston alone or galveston island at approximately 8000.re in town in galveston at that time. businessmen conducting their business that weekend, and you had vacationers who wanted to wait in the gulf of mexico see the beachfront and they are included among the several thousand people who we can't account for. there is no accurate or complete list. we only have about 199 official death records. many of those bodies were not identified. most of the people who died in the hurricane were prepared from anecdotal sources, word of mouth. and then there were several thousand more casualties up on around galveston bay up towards houston. this was a storm that was rapidly evolving, rapidly acting, but did a heck of a lot of damage and destruction in its wake. the recovery with a homegrown effort, of course there were physical or i should say technological changes that happened as a consequence of the 1900 storm. thousands upon thousands of workers came to galveston to remove the debris, to burn the bodies, for the bodies pose the threat of disease.

>> welcome to galveston on booktv. located in an island off the gulf coast texas is the main port for the texas navy during the texas revolution and served as provisional capital of the state of texas. is visited by 6 million tourists experiencing beaches and other attractions. with the help of comcast partners we will learn about the history of this city from local waters. we begin with casey green -- casey greene undone 1900on the 1900 storm that devastated galveston. >> the 1900 storm struck galveston in 1900 on september 8th, a saturday. the storm began at noon and raised in dramatic intensity and finally when it tapered off that evening. this hurricane was and still is the deadliest natural event in the history of the united states. the destruction pull 28 to $30 million certainly the destructive hurricane. many buildings did survive with major damage but the death toll is why we remember this event more than anything. it can happen again. saturday, september 1900, people went to the beach, the rising tides, the r

galveston was founded as a city by 1839.t was impressive was it was a natural harbor and the only one between veracruz, mexico, and mobile, alabama. there was a natural tendency to bring in goods and people into galveston that could go into texas and the united states. it brought an industry with the availability of ports and easy access to the gulf of mexico. it created an entire community that followed for 100 years. as the 19th century maritime world changed, the ships became larger and the cargo became much larger. what became particularly important for galveston is it was raining and all of the cotton from the central part of the state and other states around us and shipping it out of here. as shipping became so important they needed to get bigger vessels in an closer into the harbor to load them up with the cargo of cotton. by the late 19th century cotton was the largest and most common thing shipped out of the port of galveston. it was the thing that created wealth for the city and the state of texas for a long time.

it came into galveston on the night of may 23-24 of 1865. that is a month after lincoln was assassinated. texas and the trans-mississippi department had not surrendered. the confederate was still part of the war. as late as the last week of may of 1865 reid runners into the port port. it was a rough ending to the running because on the morning of the 24th they tied up a central warf that was right here where we are now. tied up at central warf and they were doing all of the things they normally did to get the ship ready to be unloaded and tying it up and putting game planks down and stuff like that and a confederate courier on horseback came pounding out along the pier yelling get your ship cast off. get your ship out into the stream, get your ship out into the harbor away from the dock and before they could do that a gang of 200 confederate soldiers away from the garrison and post were fed up and swarmed the ship and broke up the holds looking for liquor/alcohol. when they found that they started drinking. by this time a large group of citi

we play an important role for galveston. we are the keeper of the history here. >> find out where c-span's cities tour is going next online at www.c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. >> each week, and american history tv's american artifacts visits museums and historic places. next we travel about 15 miles north of washington, d.c. to great falls visitors center where we will take a boat ride to learn more about the chesapeake and the ohio canal. [foghorn] >> i would like to introduce myself. im a park ranger here -- i'm a park ranger here at the chesapeake and ohio canal. i think we will cast off shortly. we will give you a brief history here on the canal. all right, it is called the chesapeake and ohio canal, but it definitely -- starts at the chesapeake bay and rose up to the mouth of the ohio canal. when we told it we wanted to connect to the eastern shore with what was considered the west back then. the west was up in ohio, pennsylvania, that area. we wante

large container ships utilizing the port of galveston can be seen navigating galveston bay.t was established in 1825 by the congress of mexico, while the land known as texas still belonged to that country. with help from our cable partners, in the next hour, we will explore the history of this south texas city of 47,000. coming, visit the rosenberg library museum, the repository for much of galveston's historical heritage. >> we have so many items related to the history of galveston. we are the keeper of the history. >> later, step aboard the tall ship elissa, a ship that once delivered goods to the city. >> she sailed and arrived here in galveston about 100 yards from where we are standing out in 1883 with a cargo full of bananas. >> we begin our visit off its shores and into the surrounding waters. the fort is a major reason why the island city exists today and plays a dominant role in its economy. >> the first land grant for galveston came about in the 1830's, and it came to a guy called michelle minard and some of his other investors. samuel m a williams was one of those

galveston was a port of entry for immigrants. there is a lot of genealogists coming here looking for information on their ancestors. the first thing i want to show you is our oldest map in the collection. it is a map of -- done by john baptiste bernard taylor hart. in 1721, it is the earliest known rendering of galveston harbor and they. the reason i wanted to show it is because a lot of historians were unaware that this was a drawing of galveston and the harbor. they thought it was done of a different day. -- a different bay. it is the earliest known rendering of the island, the harbor, and the natural bay. some of the other items we will look at today are documents from the collections of some of the founders of galveston. they are the earliest collections that we have here in the history center. we will head out to the reading room and take a look at the documents out there. the city began in 1836 or 1837 after texas won its independence from mexico. since galveston was already a major port, they wanted to start the city here.

it was also an early founder of galveston. it actually lists the original stockholders of the galveston city company. here you can see mckinney and williams, who actually were in partnership together and had their own business. mckinney and williams were actually businessman, and they were cotton traders. and they really wanted to establish themselves as the primary route for cotton growers in texas to transport their cotton out of the republic of texas. they pretty much wanted to have, be the primary transporters of that. so, they are businessman merchants, primarily. the next letter we are going to look at is a letter written from andrew jackson to sam houston. andrew jackson at this point is in retirement at the hermitage in tennessee. and sam houston is president of texas. it's written in january 1844. sam houston knew andrew jackson from his time back east. he had served under andrew jackson in the military. he was involved in politics in tennessee. and so, he and andrew jackson's knew each other from before houston's tim

the authorities in galveston had no idea he was multi-millionaire robert durst. paid the pail, he was out of there. so then the man hunt begins. robert dirst was a fugitive. but six weeks after he failed to show for an aaron. in gavelson, durst tripped himself up. he was caught on a security camera inside a wegman's supermarket in pennsylvania's lehigh valley. where he'd gone to college authorities stopped him and minutes later he's under arrest. his rental car searched. >> when you opened the trunk, there were $37,000 in cash and two handguns. >> reporter: and back at the police station, it got even more interesting when the officer ran the shoplifter's name through the computer for a background check, there was a hit from galveston. >> i asked him, when was the last time you were in texas? with that, his face just dropped. he said he didn't want to talk to me unless he spoke to an attorney. >> reporter: robert durst was extradited to texas to stand trial for murder t. careless evidence he left behind was a prosecutor's gift. there was no question he killed his

during booktv's recent visit to galveston, texas, we toured the galveston book shop with owner sharon washington, dc who rebuilt the story after it was destroyed by hurricane ike in 2008. >> we're in storm alert as powerful hurricane ike closes in on the gulf coast. you can probably count the hours before landfall. we're talking on one hand. >> absolutely. the impact paul take a look at these waves crashing over the sea wall in galveston texas. now, this sea wall is 16 feet tall so imagine how high the waves. >> this is truly amazing what ike is dishing out right now. this is the worst we have seen, obviously, for the past two hours or so since we have been here in houston the past two days. the problem is -- my goodness. i mean really, this is mind-blowing what we're withing right now and being able to broadcast to you live. i've never witnessed anything like this in my career. >> when we came down here, we tried to be prepared. we brought overalls and shoveled and first aid kits, and the extent of the damage, you just can never imagine how bad it is. there's no way. the adjustor lat

galveston was a port of entry for immigrants.re are a lot of genealogies coming here, looking for information on their ancestors. at the first thing i want to show you is our oldest map in the collection. it is a map done by jean baptiste. this is the earliest rendering of the galveston bay. the reason i wanted to show it, a lot of historians were unaware this was a drawing of galveston in the harbor. they thought it was done of matagorda bay, so they had not acknowledged it as a drawing of galveston. but it is a drawing of the island, the harbor and the natural bay. some of the other items we going to look at today are documents from the collection of some of the founders of galveston. again, they are the earliest collection that we have here. we will head on out to the reading room and take a look at the documents out there. the city was began in -- around 1836, 1837 after texas won its independence from mexico. since galveston was already a major port, they wanted to start a city or. a group of men were entrusted with the task

the galveston historical foundation was made aware of elissa and a connection to galveston, and the gearsinto motion to purchase the ship. she was purchased and brought to galveston in 1979 and the complete restoration of the ship began. we have our adult seamanship training. what the year, we take the vessel out in the gulf of mexico . it is one thing reading about sailing in books, but to actually climbed the rig and feel the ship breathe and move while you are sailing is a unique opportunity and available to people who join our volunteer program here. >> back live now to some selma alabama for the events commemorating the 50th anniversary when voting rights activists were met with violence by state troopers and local police. this is a church service at the historic brown chapel ame church, the starting point for the arches. -- marches. ♪ >> amed. n. >> [indiscernible] >> amen. [applause] ♪ >> [indiscernible] >> amen. >> we want to start our program and we want to ask you to take a step back and love. if you have a camera and you are standing, we are going to ask you to take a step back

comcast for a visit to galveston, texas. >> heave ho. >> with the opening of the suez canal in 1869, sailing ships are almost dealt a death blow. with that opening of the canal coal-fired ships had a shorter route to the far east to india those markets. sailing ships needed to find a way to make their own living. instead of high-value cargo they started carrying lower value cargo. coal oil cotton, etc.. alyssa found her niche in carrying any kind of cargo that did not require getting to market at a fast pace. >> watch all of our events from galveston, saturday, march 7 at 12:00 noon eastern, and march 8 at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3.

lisa i remember going down to galveston texas with you in 2000. charlie you have been worrying about this a long time. among us there's almost a bond, it is a group that kind of suffered through this. i want to ask each one of you the same question. what was your reaction when he said i killed them all. i killed them all. >> i would say shock that he actually said it. i am not surprised because i always felt like he was responsible for these three deaths but to hear him say it out loud i was shocked. >> jim, for the first time you hear that your sister's husband admitted he killed your sister. your reaction? >> i wouldn't say as much shock as it was finally vindicated for the years and years of pursuing the truth. bob, you know i knew him when he was in love with kathy. i knew him when kathy was in love with him, how that de sgraded over time like a separate drama. the bottom line is bob is the fight or flight syndrome. he would always fight if he knew he had a good bank account behind him. this time around he knew he had the flight which was his

black's dismembered body parts begin washing ashore in galveston bay, 22 of them a torso, limbs, but no head. >> the fact that the head never showed up that's his home run. that's his luck process. >> reporter: and that ghoulish luck actually becomes his legal defense. durs the admits he chopped up black's body, but only after shooting black in the head in self-defense. no head no bullet, the jury buy it is. >> robert durst, not guilty. >> do you think he's teflon? >> no. no. i think he's been well protected by others. and enabled by others financially. >> are the walls coming in on robert durst? >> i would think so. >> reporter: in the final episode "of "the jinx," he appears unphased. he walks away to the restroom his mic still on. the camera records as he talks to himself. >> here it is. i killed them all. >> reporter: killed them all, of course. do you have hope? >> i have a lot of hope. i think kathy's coming home is a good way to describe it. kathy will come home. >> is this the closest you've felt to that over the years? >> oh yes. >> reporter: retired cop, mike struck also ca

her connection to galveston is unique in that she sailed and arrived here in galveston 100 yards from where we are standing right now back in 1883 with a cargo full of bananas. she came a second time later on in the 1880's in 1886. it was important for galveston to find a vessel that had a connection. the fact that she was a sailing vessel was all the more important. >> take it up. a terrible habit. >> in the 1970's, aelissa fell upon hard times. she has one of the longest careers as a merchant vessel. the galveston historical foundation were made aware of her price and the connection to galveston and gears were put into motion to purchase the ship. she was purchased and brought to galveston in 1979 and the complete restoration of the ship began. she is involved with seamanship training. once a year, we take the vessel out into the gulf of mexico and our volunteers and up learning how to sell the ship that sailed the ship -- learning how to sail the ship. to climb the rigging and feel the ship breeze and move while you are sailing is a unique opportunity available to those who join ou

next weekend, we partner with comcast for a visit to galveston, texas. >> with the opening of the suez canal in 1869, sailing trips were almost dealt a death blow. with the opening of the canal, coal-fired ships had a shorter route to the -- to the far east and to india, to all of those markets. so sailing ships really needed to find a way to make their own living. so they instead of high value cargo, they started carrying lower valued cargo. coal, oil, cotton, etc. alyssa found her niche in carrying any kind of cargo that did not require getting to market it at a very fast pace. >> watch all of the events from galveston, saturday, march 2 and sunday, march 8 at 2:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span 3. each week, american history tv's "american artifacts, visits museums and historic places. founded in 1923, the museum of the city of new york's collection contains nearly 750,000 objects. we visited to learn about the exhibit, guildled new york. >> my name is janine falino. i'm one of the co-curators of guilded new york fashion, society, and culture that's being shown here a

we take a visit to galveston, texas. >> the opening the canal sailing ships were almost dealt a death blow. with that opening of the canal some ships had a shorter route to the far east india, all those markets. sailing ships needed to find a way to make their own living. instead of higher valued cargo, they started caring lower valued cargo. coal. oil. cotton. carried any kind of cargo that did not require getting to market at a fast pace. >> watch our events from galveston saturday, march 7 at new eastern on book tv. sunday, march 8 at 2 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span 3. >> the political landscape has changed with the 114th congress. there are 43 new republicans. 15 new democrats. in the house. keep track of the members in congress using congressional chronicle on c-span.org. the pages lots of useful information, including voting results and statistics of each session. new congress, best access on c-span, c-span normal to come c-span radio and c-span.org. >> next, the president's task force on policing looks at ways to improve relations between law enforcement and the

this time, the millionaire flees new york to this rundown apartment in galveston, texas, hiding out, cross-dressing and posing as a mute woman. for months, he's speaking to virtually no one except this woman, susan berman. new york investigators decide to interview her. but before she could be questioned, around christmas 2000, someone shoots berman execution-style in her beverly hills home. the killer sends police this anonymous handwritten note obtained and shown in the hbo docu-series "the jinx." it lists berman's address and one word, cadaver. what did you think? >> i said, bob is eliminating the witnesses and people who have knowledge of kathy's passing. >> reporter: in "the jinx," a new stunning revelation by the stepson of susan berman. in a storage box, the stepson comes across a letter durst sent to berman shortly before she died. durst's handwriting, the killer's note to police, they bear remarkable similarities. down to the misspelling of beverly. in the final episode of "the jinx," robert durst is presented with a close match between his handwriting and the killer's. on c

next, a look at our recent visit to galveston, texas. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. announcer: the first land grant for galveston came about in the 1830's a guy named michele minard, and some of his other investors. they actually had someone lay out the plots for the city of galveston and began selling a lot from the late 1830's. so galveston is officially founded as the city in 1839. what was attractive about galveston is it was a national harbor. it was the only one between veracruz mexico and mobile, alabama.

we partnered with comcast for a visit to galveston, texas. >> with the opening of the suez canal in 1860 nine, sailing ships were dealt a death blow. with the opening of the canal coal-fire chipset a shorter route to the far east, to india, to all those markets. so, sailing ships needed to find a way to make their own living. so they started carrying that lower value cargoes. call. cotton. etc.. so, alyssa found her niche in carrying any kind of cargo that did not require getting to market at a fast pace. >> watch all of our events from gallup -- from galveston on saturday. and sunday at 2 p.m. on history tv on c-span three. >> in his weekly address president obama discusses , retirement issues and new rules to protect middle-class america's future earnings. representative jim renee c of ohio has the republican response. he talks about the importance of saving for college and legislation passed by the house earlier this week that expands 529 savings plans. president barack obama: hi everybody. in america we believe that a lifetime of hard work and responsibility should be rewarded with a

next week, we partner with comcast for a visit to galveston, texas. >> heave ho. >> with the opening of the suez canal in 1869, sailing ships are almost dealt a death blow. with that opening of the canal coal-fired ships had a shorter route to the far east to india those markets. sailing ships needed to find a way to make their own living. instead of high-value cargo they started carrying lower value cargo. coal oil cotton, etc.. alyssa found her niche in carrying any kind of cargo that did not require getting to market at a fast pace. >> watch all of our events from galveston, saturday, march 7 at 12:00 noon eastern, and march 8 at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> florida senator marco rubio is in new hampshire recently to speak at a politics and eggs breakfast. this was his final stop on a two or through the state which traditionally holds the nation's first presidential primary. before the event, the senator met with several attendees and posed for pictures. this is part of c-span's road to the white house coverage. it is just under an hour and a half. >> class of 2017, you are a

>> the 1900 storm struck galveston saturday september september 8, 1900. is started at noon increasing in intensity then tapered off before midnight that evening. this hurricane was instill is the deadliest in the history of the united states. the destruction was $30 million but the death toll is why we remember this. it can happen again. saturday 1900 people would thronged to the beach. the rising tide and the wind

teach at, which was then called the texas maritime academy -- today it's texas a&m university at galveston -- that's when the school began and it needed a training ship because it was a merchant marine academy. the students who went there trained to become third mates, those are the navigators or third assistant engineers the people who run the power plant. their training included lots lots of stuff in the classroom but more importantly, it needed sea training. before they had a ship the students used to go out on a passenger ferry that was part of the texas department of transportation system going between galveston and port bolivar to the east, and they used to learn rules of the road by being on the ferry. after that ship came in they now had the opportunity to good on a summer training cruise. so when school was out, they would board the ship and beginning of june and sail in. >> july, and come back in august having done just about everything you could do on a ship including visiting many of the ports. the ship was renamed when it was claimed for the texas maritime academy, it was rena

to learn about their literary life next week end, we partner with comcast for a trip to galveston texas. >> opening the canal in 1869 sailing ships were almost a death blow. with the opening of the canal coal-fired ships had a shorter route to the far east, to india so sailing ships needed to find a way to make a living. instead of high-value cargo they started carrying lower value cargoes. oil, cotton, etc. melissa really found her niche in carrying any cargo that did not require getting to market at a fast pace. >> watch all of our events from galveston saturday and, march 7 on book tv. >> here is a look at what is coming up tonight on c-span. david cameron taking questions from members of the house of commons. in a recent event with marco rubio in manchester new hampshire. later, a senate banking hearing with janet yellen. >> during question time at the british house of commons, prime minister david cameron was asked whether members of parliament should have second jobs. in his exchange, ed miliband challenged the prime minister to back the labour party's proposed ban on members of p

and a guy who chops another guy apart in galveston, texas. do you think he's crazy, andrew? you know, i try not to label him because it really took us all of six episodes to be able to explain to the audience enough for them to be able to make their own decisions. he's complicated. >> the guy lies for a living and he lies very well. let's talk about the fact that he lied about me. he and his lawyers, which is one of the reasons i got involved, even after i left as d.a., they say the reason he chopped up a body is because i was chasing him and he had to chop the body up. i mean, how did that -- how did you get the lawyers to admit it? >> well, if you watch in episode four, there's really a quite elaborate discussion between the lawyers of how they strategized and one of the lawyers says, well, we kind of created this mythical creature in jeanine pirro. we knew it would be persuasive to the jury if we could say bob had run to galveston because he was running away from the investigation of this career-driven d.a., really trying to further her own ambitions but that really was s

he was up on a murder charge in galveston, texas. beat the rap but admitted to cutting this man up into ten pieces and tossing him in the bay. then there's the ugliness that his friends say with his former wife who disappeared in '82. she says she was abused. he was tossing her personal effects while he was still missing. is a court going to hear any of that stuff, paul? >> it will be very hard to get that into evidence. you have to show that the pattern is the same in a series of murders in order to admit evidence of prior murder. s we have to explain in the berman killing, she's shot in the back of the head in execution style whereas the person in galveston, texas was cut up into small pieces, it was a self-defense claim and his first wife never turned up. it's hard to prove a pattern. >> even if you show a pattern, it could still be thrown out. >> i'm putting you guys at equal. thank you both. and this guy is a millionaire. >> you follow up on this. >> it ain't over. joey, paul, jean, thank you all pi i just want to make a mention

before we get to the galveston case you're featured in the hbo documentary about robert durst.your mind when you heard that he had been arrested this past weekend? >> i was very surprised. shocked. i had been interviewed for documentary a few years ago and had been watching it every episode, every sunday. >> deborah, i'm wondering how you respond to criticism, which i'm sure you got after the trial was over and still today, people basically saying how could this guy who admitted to killing, then dismembering a person, morris black, how could he be acquitted? i'm wondering just as a juror how do you see it? how do you explain it? >> well, anderson, like i said, in the first trial, it wasn't a 9-3 vote that he was not guilty. it was a unanimous vote by everyone on the jury. and i did what the system required of me to do and by the verdict coming out to not guilty, it just was what it was. i mean i've got a lot of flack for it. >> i mean again, you're doing a service by sitting on the jury so, anybody who's giving you flack, they weren't sitting in you're seat. joann, as a jury, d

i think at that point, he started going around setting up safe houses like he did in galveston. did the same thing in new orleans, dressed up as a mute female -- >> said he was a family member -- >> told his sister he posed as dorothy in galveston, a girl he went to high school with. in new orleans, he posed as dixie wynn another female from his past. but i think what happened was, he went around setting up these safe houses in the event that new york was to find her -- indict him or bring charges against him, he'd have safe houses to jump to. he also set up bank accounts in bogus names and stuff like that. >> i should have played this earlier, but i'm going to play it now. this is the verdict. this is the verdict in your case. >> yes, sir. >> the verdict of the jury is such. we the jury find the defendant robert durst not guilty. >> what was going through your head then? >> shock and disbelief. but if you look at that clip he is the most surprised person in that courtroom. he even asked his attorney -- >> is that why you were smiling? >> to watch his demeanor he fully expected

one day, he shows up in three trash bags in the galveston bay.e trash bag is a newspaper with bobby durst's address on it. the cops are like -- we will check it out. mark: it is the case that bobby durst was pretending to be a mute woman. lisa: when the cops get to the address, the landlord said there is no bobby durst. the tenant is a deaf mute. mark: all these cases go unsolved for a large amount of time. lisa: they don't. there is a murder charge for mr. morris black. bobby is on trial for murder. he testified in his own behalf -- his defense was self-defense. he said i did not mean to kill my neighbor but i did. once i did, i had to chop him up and get rid of him because jeanine pirro has been chasing me for the disappearance of my wife that i had nothing to do with. john: bobby killed kathleen durst. what is he doing all day besides occasionally killing people apparently? lisa: he travels a lot. he had a beautiful home in northern california, downtown. he did a lot of traveling. he did not have much to do. mark: why pose as a female deaf mut

and galveston was the best natural harbor on the coast. so everything went through galveston and other parts but galves ton was the primary one. before the fort sumpter fire in charleston the union was thinking about what to do to secession becomes a shooting war. they thought about creating a block aid of southern ports. and that idea is it is an old traditional technique used to keep ships and vessels from coming in and out to prevent the enemy from getting support from the outside. they declared it on april 19th of 1861 two days after jefferson davis declared the con federates were having priv tears going after the shipping which was a war. the idea of this was that the federals would position around the coast and prevent vessels from coming in and out. running the block aid -- was it legal? it wasn't legal in the us of the union forces but it was in the con federacy because they didn't recognize federal authority in the succeeded states. block aid running was mostly done as a private venture. anyone could be a block aid runner if you h

we partner for a visit to galveston, texas. >> with the opening of the suez canal in 1969, sailing ships were dealt a death blow. with the opening of the canal ships had a shorter route to the far east, india, all of those markets. sailing ships needed to find a way to make their own living. instead of high-value cargo they started carrying lower valued cargoes. coal, oil, cotton, etc. she found her niche in carrying any kind of cargo that did not require getting to market at a fast pace. >> watch all of our events from galveston saturday, march 7, at noon eastern and sunday, march 8, at 2:00 eastern on american history tv on cspan3. >> we have received more than 2200 entries from 400 schools. wednesday morning at 8:00 eastern, we will announce the grand prize winner and show their winning documentary. following the announcement, you can see all 150 winning documentaries at studentcam.org. >> you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. to join the conversation, like us on >> on february 17, 1865 columbia, south carolina surrendered to the union army. next,

it struck galveston september 8, 1900.toward noon, and increased and dramatic intensity, and then finally tapered off toward the night that evening. this hurricane, was and still is the deadliest recorded natural event in the history of the united states. >> watch all of our events from galveston saturday, and sunday afternoon on american history tv. >> washington journal continues. host: the house comes in at 10:00 a.m., and open phones until then. tweet your thoughts, you can post on our facebook page, and if you want to send an e-mail that is journal@c-span.org. speaking of tweets, dr. ben carson sending one out saying that he is pleased to announce he has established a presidential exploratory committee. that tweet was sent and little bit ago. you can talk about what we've talked about in our time together or other issues. the headline of the section -- marilyn section of the washington times. if you go down into the column it lists some of the potential people who might be interested in the seat, including donna edwar

the dead body of his neighbor cut it up threw it into the galveston bay and walked. happen? >> i trained assistant prosecutors. the mere fact you have destruction of human remains doesn't mean you proved the person actually killed the person. >> bill: he argued self defense. >> and that was in the motive evidence he needed to tame take the guy out. >> in my view this is a jury dynamic thing. that was a 1-100. >> this time it will be a little different because you have direct concrete evidence of the letters. >> bill: we have the roll. thank you bob and doug. >> martha: there is talk about whether the white house is medaling in the israel elections. benjamin netanyahu facing big elections this week. there is a bipartisan investigation into obama administration funding of a non-profit group that is campaigning against the prime minister. doug mccowell is live in washington. >> reporter: this investigation is around the one voice movement. it was headed by a clinton administrative diplomat and it was written israeli's have grown leery of benjamin netanyahu and his exces

it was one of the gateways learning from galveston but it is a point. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2 48 hours of nonfiction books every weekend we're on location and john hopkins talking with professors or also offers professor, what do you do at the university? >> i teach courses on the family in poverty in children's welfare. >> your chair of the sociology department? been a guy could boss around people who have lifetime tenure and i cannot tell them what to do. [laughter] >> host: to talk about your book how you define a working-class family? >> pretty hard. it used to be the guy working construction or in a factory with the wife staying home may be working part-time in a couple of kids. that was the '50s and '60s at its peak for you cannot almost blinded these days because it is falling apart. that is the issue. will we have seen is the deterioration of a kind of american family. with a couple of kids with a union job making good pay that family was very common in the '50s and it has fallen apart. i feel like i have watched the slow motion and disintegration. because our economy

the 1900 storm struck galveston saturday september 8, 1900. the storm began at noon and increased injured matt aitken intensity and then finally tapered off at midnight that evening. the server can was and still is the deadliest recorded natural event in the history of the united states. >> watch all of our thence from galveston at noon eastern on c-span 2 book tv. >> next, the supreme court oral argument on king versus burwell on the constitutionality of the health care law. live, your calls and comments on "washington journal." the future of the federal health care law rests once again with the supreme court. justices heard oral argument wednesday challenging whether tax subsidies could give to people who buy federal exchanges or those established by states. the challenge rests on six words in the more than 1000-page law stipulating they are available in an exchange established by state. only 16 run their own. the federal government runs the exchange for the remaining 34 states for those who opted out of setting their own. the court is expec

he also had rented a room the same way he did in galveston.that also in new orleans as a mute female. >> interesting. all right. i'm going to ask you one last question. i've always felt that the way that the jury ended up acquitting robert durst, that something actually, you know, was awry. sources tell me that one of the jurors, the most vocal one, actually was in mexico with durst after the trial. does that sound like it's kosher? >> i don't believe it passes a smell test. i received the same information and had seen some pictures. i think him and his wife were in mexico. >> and when you say him and his wife, you mean chris lovell, correct? >> yes, ma'am. >> okay i'm sorry. go ahead. >> yes. and so does it pass the smell test? i don't think it does. but at the same time, i believe that it's my understanding that it happened after the trial, that he supposedly became friends with bob durst and, you know, i -- it is what it is. >> well, interesting that you'd want to befriend someone who cuts a body up like a pro. detective, thanks for being w

his neighbor in galveston, texas. he admitted to shooting him, dismembering his body and dumping the pieces into the bay. his legal team argued it was in self defense. the jury agreed and he was acquitted. the reason he was in galveston in the first place. according to his testimony. is because new york prosecutors reopened the case into the 1982 disappearance of his wife kathy, who has long been presumed dead. in connection with that case, investigators sought to speak to durst's close friend, susan berman. before they could speak with her, she was found dead in her home, shot in the head. an anonymous letter, believed to have been mailed the day she was killed was sent to the beverly hills police linking a cadaver at her address. filmmakers came into possession of another handwritten letter sent to robert durst to susan berman before her death. they noticed the writing looked very similar to the letter alerts police to her body. the filmmakers questioned durst about the two letters. >> the writing looking similar an

it was one of the gateways learning from galveston but it is a

he also had rented a room the same way he did in galveston.id that also in new orleans as a mute female. >> interesting. all right. i'm going to ask you one last question. i've always felt that the way that the jury ended up acquitting robert durst, that something actually, you know, was awry. sources tell me that one of the jurors, the most vocal one, actually was in mexico with durst after the trial. does that sound like it's kosher? >> i don't believe it passes a smell test. i received the same information and had seen some pictures. i think him and his wife were in mexico. >> and when you say him and his wife, you mean chris lovell, correct? >> yes ma'am. >> okay i'm sorry. go ahead. >> yes. and so does it pass the smell test? i don't think it does. but at the same time i believe that it's my understanding that it happened after the trial, that he supposedly became friends with bob durst and you know, i -- it is what it is. >> well, interesting that you'd want to befriend someone who cuts a body up like a pro. detective, thanks for being w