i was there for gerald ford's dog liberty, who i think got one of the first splashes into the gerald ford pool. >> and liberty's puppies, of course. >> but, dogs, and some cats, and i think some of the kids had a gerbil or two. that also shows how the white house, although it is a tribute to the glory of the united states and a centerpiece of our civic society, it is also a home. do you have any favorite pets back in the archives of presidential history? >> absolutely. putting aside the dogs and the cats for the purposes of this, i should confess that i am originally from the state of wisconsin and i'm a little biased because of that. my personal favorite presidential pet of all-time was a dairy cow named pauline wayne, possibly the greatest pet name in all of presidential history, also the proud pet of president taft. pauline wayne grazed on the white house grounds, as well as the grounds of the eisenhower executive office building. she was something of a local celebrity, she was interviewed by members of the press. she never really said much. it was a good time, everybody liked her

that seems to be a pretty good update for a big new in some ways revisionist biography of gerald ford for. >> pretty sure i could get you an interview on c-span when that comes out. focus for that. you've got russell out of south carolina democrat good morning. >> russell are you with this? you gotta stick by your phone. charlie in new york a republican, go ahead. >> good morning. i have the question and a statement. my question is, does your survey have obama ranked above ronald reagan? >> no, no. ronald reagan comes in just before obama. your statement is what? there was something else there. >> yes my statement is let's look at president trump's accomplishments. his cutting of taxes and regulation has the economy booming. the lowest unemployment rate for blacks and hispanics in our history. for the first time in our history, more women were participating in the workforce than ever before. his acknowledgment of jerusalem the capitol of israel he moved there. he is reform of criminal justice had black people released from prison. you have him ranked at number 41 is absurd. >> charlie

gerald ford, coming in at 28 on this year's list. not to put you on the spot, but when are we going to be able to get your hands on what you've been working on? >> hopefully, i just wrote page 833 yesterday, got 100 to go. certainly sometime next year. next, year of course, it's hard to believe, next june is the 50th anniversary of the original watergate break-in. from, which in many ways, all of our history since stems. that seems to be a pretty good pub date for a big, no, in some ways revisionist, biography of gerald ford. >> i'm pretty sure i can get you an interview on c-span one that comes out. so, look at for that. edna greene medford, you have russell edit south carolina, democrat. good morning. russell, you with us? got a stick by your phone. charlie in new york, a republican. go ahead. >> yes, good morning. i have a question and a statement. my question is, does your survey have barack obama ranked above ronald reagan? >> no, no. ronald reagan comes in just before obama. your statement is what? there was something else ther

to say the things he knows caused violence. >> richard nixon never admitted culpability, though gerald forde resigned from office, but look, we've never in history had a president do what donald trump did and frankly continues to do. we have to take that seriously. >> you, among politicians, have you had a unique experience. you were extraordinarily demonized by the left. >> i don't remember that time, chuck. [ laughter ] >> what has that experience been like for you? >> look, i think that we have to deal with sort of the facts that are in front of us. my view is the job that i have to do right now and that i have had to, especially as soon as january 6th, is so important that really is my focus. i think that we have seen across the country, certainly seen on our committee coming together people despite partisan differences, to say the most important issue is the defense of the republic. i've been extremely disappointed and very sad by the response to the vast majority of my colleagues on the republican side. i truly believe, you know, when the chips were down, people would do the right thi

but it hasn't really happened since 1974, 48 years ago when gerald ford went in front of congress to testify about his pardon of richard nixon. this was not under subpoena, this was voluntary testimony. former presidents have also voluntary testified. most recently again gerald ford in 1983, testifying in connection with the buy centennial celebration of the u.s. constitution. congress has issued subpoenas before to presidents and former presidents. most famously in 1974, a senate committee issued a congressional subpoena to richard nixon trying to get the white house tapes. nixon challenged this in court and won in court. the courts sided with richard nixon but you're thinking wait didn't nixon also lose a subpoena case in the court? yes. a couple months after that, richard nixon received a criminal subpoena, a grand jury subpoena, he went to court and this time he lost. the courts are more likely to enforce grand jury subpoenas than congressional subpoenas. he lost, and a couple weeks later resigned. and bill clinton received a subpoena from the independent council, ken starr, he a

quincy adams, john tyler, theodore roosevelt, william howard taft, herbert hoover, harry truman, gerald ford, all testified to congress after leaving office. trump's defenders will note, president truman, also, defied a congressional subpoena after leaving office, but we should know, that was a subpoena from the houston american activities committee. one of the most infamous misuse of congressional authority in a modern american history. that committee, investigating paranoid conspiracy theories about a communist infiltration of the united states government. it, was perhaps an ironically, the very definition of the which hunt that donald trump returns to january six committee is. except, instead of looking for supposed communist spies, pulling the puppet strings of the truman administration, the january six committee is investigating a crime that we all watched live on television. one that donald trump, and his mob, committed. trump also acts like he is still present, and title to the various constitutional protections, but, as the committee notes, roosevelt debunked that excuse more than a

the concession statement you delivered on behalf of the horse president gerald ford ending the 1976 campaign was not at the end of her own political life. you continue to work to improve the lives of those facing breast cancer in substance abuse, focusing a spotlight on what's taboo topics. she built a friendship and policy partnership with the woman who followed her into the white house, rosalynn carter, and advocate for the mentally ill and she revealed that she lobbied her husband to name a woman to the supreme court and to his 1976 reelection ticket. but before it was one of saying she was known to have an opinion or to. you will hear directly from her, featuring footage from c-span video library. let's listen to her now in her own words. >> the equal rights amendment when ratified will not be an instant solution to women's problems. it will not alter the fabric of the constitution or forced women away from their families. it will help knock down those restrictions that have locked women in to the old stereotypes of behavior and opportunity. it will help open up more options for women. b

so in chicago, wheat imitated almost 8% singapore by six, and corn and soybean oils by 3% gerald fordl join giorgio bush in europe in mid-november this is the name of the most expensive aircraft carrier in us history, which went to the shores of britain defen with a jornell, it is accompanied by a missile cruiser, destroyers and a nuclear submarine, and about 90 aircraft and helicopters are based on board the ford itself. in including fifth-generation fighter bombers in 35, the ultimate goal is kept secret along the way, but it was previously reported that we are talking about maneuvers in the atlantic and another signal according to newsk in finland is ready to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory if its application for entry into nato will be approved for this helsinki has already prepared the necessary bill. ophthalmologists from yakutia are now conducting master classes for colleagues. in lugansk, complex high-tech eye surgeries in luhansk people's republic has not been held for several years, report by pavel prokopenko before the operation, the final inspection, thick curtains

i was there when president gerald ford testified about his pardon of mister nixon and he was before the house judiciary committee. now, what really makes this, i think more a political the legal done is that because this congress has refused to exercise its inherent contempt power. a power that was affirmed over a century ago by the united states supreme court, a case called green and dowry. the inherent contempt power means they can take people without going to court and put them in jail on capitol hill until they comply. there is no way that the subpoena can be enforced before this. congress expires, it becomes known void and probably the republic can take control in january of of 2020 to the cane, our former prime minister bars johnson is set to join the race to get back. his old job is expected to be up against a former finance minister and she sooner and the senior cabinet minister penny more than only she has formerly launched her campaign and each needs the support of $100.00 m. p 's to enter the race for race reports from london. not long after the last leadership contest ended.

committee and he was impeached when he refused to comply, the committee did not go to court, and gerald forde the house judiciary committee about pardoning mr nixon, you member williamjefferson pardoning mr nixon, you member william jefferson clinton, he was called and deposed under oath that we saw it with regard to monica lewinsky, and the sexual harassment lawsuit, so this is not like it is pioneering legal terrain. should have done is a long time ago and should have made clear that if they were serious, they would assert their inherent contempt meaning if he does not comply he will spend time in jail on capitol hill until he does. , , ., ., does. many people would not exect does. many people would not expect donald _ does. many people would not expect donald trump - does. many people would not expect donald trump to - does. many people would not l expect donald trump to comply and he hasn't complied illegal orders in the past, either saying he is exempt, has present your privilege or uses the argument that this is a witch—hunt. {iii the argument that this is a witch-hunt.— the argument t

i was there when president gerald ford testified about his pardon of mister nixon and he was before the house judiciary committee. now, what really makes this, i think more a political the legal done is that because this congress has refused to exercise its inherent contempt power. a power that was affirmed over a century ago by the united states supreme court, a case called green and dowry. the inherent contempt power means they can take people without going to court and put them in jail on capitol hill until they comply. there is no way that the subpoena can be enforced before this. congress expires, it becomes known void and probably the republic can take control in january of of 2020 for 2 days of talk you leaders of wrapped up a summit without reaching agreement and how to solve europe's energy crisis. gas prices across the block of surge does europe tries to context dependence on russian supplies? general reports from brussel. you countries are in the grip of an energy crisis with gas prices up 300 percent since the outbreak of war in ukraine. and e. u. leaders are still gripped b

i was there when president gerald ford testified about his pardon of mister nixon and he was before the house judiciary committee. now, what really makes this, i think more a political than a legal done is that because this congress has refused to exercise its inherent contempt power. a power that was affirmed over a century ago by the united states supreme court, a case called green and dowdy. the inherent contempt power means they can take people without going to court and put them in jail on capitol hill until they comply. there is no way that the subpoena can be enforced before this congress expires, it becomes no one void and probably the republic can take control. in january of 2021 of donald trump's most prominent allies has been sentenced to 4 months in prison. steve bowden was found guilty injured aia failing to comply with investigation into the johnny 6 attack. a former presidential adviser was also find 6 and a half $1000.00 on friday. the sentence is suspended into abandoned fowls can appeal ukrainian forces, say russia could be preparing to abandon, her sullenness keeps co

betty ford, a close relationship that mirrored the one between their husbands, jimmy carter and gerald ford and she'll talk about her legacy. >> betty ford was my friend, and i am honored to be here today to help celebrate the life of this truly remarkable woman. i never imagined when we first met 40 years ago that we would develop such a close, personal friendship. at that time, that he was the wife of the vice president of the united states. she had danced with the martha graham dance company and performed in carnegie hall. she was a leader in the fight for women's rights. she had come to georgia with the michigan art train, a project taking six cars filled with great art, to rural communities across the country. jimmy was governor and we invited betty to stay at the governor's mansion. i was nervous. she was the most distinguished guests we had ever had, but when she arrived she was so warm and friendly that she immediately put me at ease, and we had a good time together. of course, i did not tell her that my husband was thinking about running for president. the next time i met betty was

was impeached in an article in peach many then resigned and became lou hours there when president gerald ford testified about his pardon of mister nixon and he was before the house judiciary committee. now, what really makes this, i think more a political than a legal done is that because this congress has refused to exercise its inherent contempt power. a power that was affirmed over a century ago by the united states supreme court case, calling green and dowry. the inherent contempt power means they can take people without going to court and put them in jail on capitol hill until they comply. there is no way that the subpoena can be enforced before this. congress expires, it becomes null and void and probably the republic can take control in january of 2020. yeah, and that's an important point to make bruce, because trump is notorious, isn't t for ignoring these sorts of legalities. so what are the options very briefly for trump, to delay his response, and i would like to see some kind of legal ping pong battle going on. yeah, i mean, one of his options is simply to go to court and seek an

gerald ford was not elected and he felt the knowledge he had, having been in congress for so long andhen vice president, would allow him to show people he was better all of five to continue as president than jimmy carter who was the one term governor of georgia. jimmy carter felt he wanted to demonstrate that he was fully capable of standing toe to toe with the incumbent president. they both had a motive for debating and it reestablished the notion that candidates should debate in the just on the debate continued even with incumbent who were heavily favored step they didn't have as many debates but for heard two of them in 1984. i hope we will not get away from that again. i worry at the presidential level that we may find a candidate or two with excuses for not debating. there are no real excuses but it may be enough to sell to the party. that trickles down to the senate level and other levels. we should maintain this tradition. it's true that not many boats change usually on account of a debate but voters are better informed because of them, not for the people watch the debates but

kennedy: no and jere gerald ford is looking like a genius now.flationary depression. depres. >> the president has to get on the real page, even press secretary talking about high -- hiring strong, even microsoft, is firing a thousand people. laying off a thousand, intel, google all of the big tech names they have been leader of the economy, they are demonstrating where the economy is going, hiring is the next shoe to drop, we'll see every day life, every day luxuries travel, expensive clothing, out to dinner, that is next to go. that is what is going to hurt, no politician would say let's raise every poor person's taxes 8%. but that is what they are doing, year after year because of inflation. kennedy: and shame on them for not acknowledging it. we will right here on the show. jonathan thank you. >> be well. kennedy: topical storm is next, tonight's tickle me tuesday joke. don't look it up. how do you weigh a. millennial? from comcast business. with fully integrated security solutions all in one place. so you're covered. on-premise and in the clo

gerald ford. >> a lot brighter than i expected and one of the most people i know. >> jimmy carter. >> if he felt you were to be somebody he could trust, very good. he understands family and all that and had some difficulty relate to go people who disagreed with him. >> ronald reagan. >> a lot different than i thought. i remember a conversation and i urged him to go to russia and he said why? because you'll finally learn about russia, but more importantly, they'll learn who you are and that you represent america. >> george h.w. bush. >> i liked president bush, i have so many handwritten notes from him, so many times we'd sit around the oval office and just telling jokes. and i'll tell just one, doing rapid fire, but i wrote the organic farm bill like this and he's planning on standing behind me, he says pat, did you write every word this have bill? i said, you're the one signing it, i've read about as much of it as you have. and he just cracked up. [laughter] >> bill clinton. >> i like bill clinton. we would sometimes argue. i remember one time we were just at each other and secret ser

morning 1976 the dow jones industrial average is having the best month since the year 1976 when gerald fordd the bee gees were topping the charts. the dow is up 14.4% in october on this final trading day of the month. the s&p and nasdaq currently on track to snap a two-month losing streak. right now on wall street, stock index futures you can see them, we'll pull them up, this is tokyo hong kong -- there you go, down just a little bit. looking at markets around the rld wo, mixed performance here. european shares mixed as well. october inflation figures from the eurozone due out today. marriott, uber, cvs and hyatt among those set to release quarterly numbers. >>> federal reserve meets tuesday and wednesday. fed chair powell is expected to deliver another whooping interest hike. gas prices now sitting at 3.76 a gallon. it's all about the fed this week. let's bring in chief economist. good morning, mark. nice to see you. >> good morning, christine. >> so another gigantic interest rate hike is expected, four in a row. it's really jacking up mortgage rates, right? really hurting some of these h

gerald ford was the last president to testify in 1983 about the constitution. >> bill: thank you, from capitol hill tonight. dramatic testimony in the trial of russian national accused of lying to the fbi. a lot of this case involves the infamous steele dossier that was used in the trump russia investigation but the scope is invented beyond that. david spunt explains outside the courthouse. >> on paper of this trial is about lying to the fbi. in the courtroom it is a much broader theme according to special counsel john durham who is trying to uncover some problems within the fbi back in 2016 and 2017 inside the agency itself. the first witness on the stand today a political operative on the democratic side named charles dolan. he was in contact with igor dan janco during the summer of 2016. he told him he had inside information about problems within the trump campaign from a g.o.p. source. he gave the information which wound up in the widely reported steele dossier a collection of allegations aimed to take down candidate trump. under questioning today he admitted he lied that the info

even the people who were in detroit at the convention because it was gerald ford was going to become the vice president and all this kind of stuff. i think it was fate that gave him the breath of experiences he had. they came together at exactly the right time. think how dangerous the world was when russia was looking to reemerge not as the soviet union, but something else. the berlin wall comes down, even the british were not in favor of german reunification at that time. they were skeptical of it. george h.w. bush was the visionary transformational leader that was patient, and kind, and inclusive and did not command but invited. the way he would, especially during the time of that you reunification of germany, really meant there would be no hot war. we ended the ideology of the soviet union and the united states. we did it peacefully because president bush earned and gave respect pretty gave respect to people who were willing to be part of a solution. and he earned respect because he did that but his relationship with gorbachev was something no one could have predicted for years be

this is the town where there was attempt to assassinate gerald ford in union square. this is a town that has a history of this, and this is another sad chapter in it. we hope that paul pelosi recovers, but we also cross our fingers to see if the city recovers as well. karina: at a time when the city is trying so hard -- phil: trying desperately to get a safer image out there. karina: thank you for your input. dan: we were sending out alerts about the attack before dawn this morning with the abc 7 news app. download the app now. customize it to the specific topics and places you are most interested in. karina: and we have the this is gloria. she hasn't worked this hard to only get this far with her cholesterol. taken with a statin, leqvio can lower bad cholesterol by over 50% and keep it low with two doses a year. side effects were injection site reaction, joint pain, urinary tract infection, diarrhea, chest cold, pain in legs or arms, and shortness of breath. with leqvio, lowering cholesterol becomes just one more thing life throws your way. ask your doctor about leqv

gerald ford was wearing a "whip inflation now" button on his lapel, and he got beat by jimmy carter becausef high inflation. i mean, look what happened to george herbert walker bush, probably our finest one-term president, maybe in history. the foreign policy, president of winning the cold war and the first war in iraq. bush loses because of the economy. so the democrats are really trying to just stem the tide of history. they're hoping that something else in the atmosphere is going to be happening. perhaps it is roe v. wade decision that brings out more women. perhaps last minute, this pelosi incident will remind people of january 6th and the danger of the extreme right-wing, election deniers. things aren't particularly good for the democrats. >> though the democrats would cry foul, saying that, you know, they're being blamed for all these world forces that are sort of impacting fuel prices, you know, the economy in europe, for instance is having worse inflation problems. they're also trying to make the case that republicans, you know, if they get into power, will crash the economy. is tha

gerald ford, a lot brighter than i expected. and one of the most down to earth people i know. jimmy carter. if if he thought you were, could be somebody he could trust. very good. he he understood our family and all that. had some difficulty relating to people, disagreed with him. ronald reagan, a lot different than than i thought. i remember a conversation when i urged him to go to russia. he said, why? because you will finally learn about russia. but more importantly, they'll learn who you are and that you represent america. george h.w. bush. i like president bush. we have so many handwritten notes from him so many times we sit around and you, the oval office, just tell jokes. i'll tell you just one. i know. that's i do in rapid fire, but i wrote the organic program that was big like this. he say, and same behind him. he saw his pat. you read every word of this bill. i said you're the one signing it. i've read about as much of it as you have. and he just cracked up. bill clinton. i like bill. and we would sometimes argue, will we? i remember what i would o each other and sec

we are approaching the anniversary -- maybe it's happened this week, when gerald ford voluntarily went to the house subcommittee of the house judiciary committee to testify about the nixon pardon. george washington went, voluntarily, again early on, obviously. and it's very clear i think both common sense and constitutionally, that a president is not above being held accountable for his or her actions. and if we saw anything over the last five years, we've seen a new that the law has to be more important than any single person or party. you can't be for the law when it hurts the other guy. but be against it when it might be deleterious to your interest. that is not the way the rule of law works. >> -- . , -- -- . . -- it's a fundamental question, of it's gonna be pretty grand forks tomorrow night -- and certainly of representative democracy. if i don't see you as someone of equal dignity and the right, then i can take something from you and not feel guilty about it. you can't be for the law when it hurts the other guy. but be against it when it might be deleterious to your interest. th

carrier group led by the aircraft carrier george bush is already in europe and croatia will have gerald fordt britain. russia, for its part, at all levels, is talking about the readiness to move to politico-diplomatic regulation, both with the united states and with ukraine, vladimir putin stated this while speaking at the valdai forum last week, then sergey lavrov and dmitry peskov also stated the same thing. well, the united states, how did they respond to these unambiguous signals on the part of russia about the readiness for the policy of diplomatic regulation, and this was stated by the secretary of state, damn it. ah, who on friday made a statement that the united states does not seek contacts with russia because they do not will, according to glinkin, be meaningful. so , after all the statements of putin in valdai and lavrov after that, dmitry, here is a similar position of the united states - is it, let's say, but the matter is in the midterm elections, which have already begun with the united states, or is it still a fundamental position that it is necessary to weaken russia to such

defeating president gerald ford in the general election. he was succeeded in office in 1980, by president ronald reagan. carter won the nobel prize 2002, according to his grandson, president carter is planning on spending his birthday watching his favorite major league baseball team. the atlanta braves on television. >> and coming up on a final check of your 4 zone forecast and your 10 at 10 outlook after the break. stay tuned. >> a humpback whale that became in tangled in rope was rescued a few days ago off the coast of southern california. this rope was actually wrapped around the whale's several times. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and representatives from sea world in san diego spotted this whale and attach an inflatable in order to track it eventually got a hold of the rope with a knife at the end of it. a long pole. they were able to cut this off. the whale is now happily free and doing well once again. all right. going to be giving you a final look at your forecast now. here's a look at the golden gate bridge ou

president gerald ford tried to come up with a campaign, win. to inspire americans to spend less and conserve energy. it didn't work. it was mocked as one of the biggest public government relations blunders ever. ford lost and economic hard times continued. three short years later, president jimmy carter called for american sacrifice to combat a natural gas shortage, all while dressed like mr. rogers. >> all of us must learn to waste less energy simply by keeping our thermostats, for instance, at 65 degrees in the day time and 55 degrees at night. >> 55 at night. good luck. i don't control the thermostat in my house, but i digress. a few years later, america's inflation rate hit a record high of 14.6%. voters kicked president carter out of the white house. then there's president h.w. bush, whose presidency was eventually doomed by a recession in the early '90s, a recession that economists say could be the model for what they say we're about to experience. we should point out there are some significant differences. first, unemployment today is lo

quincy adams, john taylor, theodore roosevelt, william howard taft, herbert hoover, harry truman, gerald fordand testified after they left office, so i don't see why mr. trump would think he was more important or more special than those prior presidents. >> trump's long-time adviser, steve bannon, as you know, he was sentenced today for refusing to cooperate with your committee's subpoena. but that legal fight took almost -- took more than a year. does the committee right now have a strategy to prevent trump from repeating those various delay tactics? >> well, you know, we'll get to that if he refuses to comply with this subpoena. but obviously the bannon matter was extended a great deal of time because of legal fights about whether he had executive privilege, which we thought was bogus. that would not be an issue with the former president. and so if there were an action, it would proceed, i think, promptly, not this extended kind of frivolous litigation about executive privilege. >> congresswoman zoe lofgren, thank you for joining us. i know you have a lot going on. we appreciate it very muc

they say former presidents the whole way back to john quincy adams up to gerald ford have sat for testimony with committees. they also mentioned that abraham lincoln as a sitting president testified to congress, and so they really are testing trump here, putting it on the line and seeing what he does to respond in just a few weeks. >> we know it hasn't been too long since this letter was released, which means we haven't had a ton of time to look it over. the president earlier saying he'd love to testify. have we heard yet from his legal team in response to the subpoena? >> reporter: well, we do have sources that say that trump's team is discussing how to respond. we know he has a couple of lawyers designated to be handling this particular legal issue that's facing him right now out of a whole lot of lawyers that he has around him dealing with lots of different things. we are going to have to wait and see exactly what happens over these coming weeks. he has a couple of options. he could fight this in court. he could sue. he could claim presidential privilege, executive privilege, confidentia

in about 1875, when that squeaky from from the manchin family subpoenaed successfully gerald ford in the criminal trial. he was his would be assassin. there is plenty of precedent for a subpoena anchoring precedents, and there is -- if you could subpoena a current president, there is way less of a problem subpoenaing our former president, because you don't have the same executive branch separation of power concerns that you would with a sitting president. so, in all likelihood, if pressed, congress could get this subpoena in force. the reality is, they likely waited to log to actually get the subpoena and forced. there's going to be a lot of debate about this, but arguably, they knew what stuff or they need to know many months ago, and one of the things the trump legal team does very well is delay. they appeal, they move for stays, they could successfully lay a case for many, many years. case in point, you only just sat for a deposition in the eugene carroll case this last week. we've been talking about that for appeals at least a couple of years! >> oh, no, 100 percent. i think this

gerald ford called inflation public enemy number one, kennedy.now we're seeing why. this is not caused with by greedy ceos or the supply chain, it's caused by government spending. both parties. this starts really under president trump. kennedy: yes. >> $5 trillion, and we're paying for it in terms of our quality of life. people are dating less, going out to dinner less, they're investing less. and, unfortunately, what government's doing is only exacerbating the problem. carter, to his credit, by 1978, kennedy, jimmy carter was cutting 7,000 government jobs every month. he was cutting government. biden's doing no such thing. kennedy: no. and they have no plans to do that. and you,, you know, we talk about gavin newsom, they're just throwing money, exacerbating the situation, making an inflationary environment even worse because toss thing money at it, it is gas leap on the campfire. -- gasoline. and it's a cruel hinge to do to people. what can people do to fight back, to my original question? >> well, and people are doing the only thing they can d

it went through to gerald ford. a whole litany -- seven dated after they got out of office. lincoln. he was a republican. it doesn't seem like a claim of executive privilege would at all stand up for this reason. presidents have been set. >> the question is not if presidents or former presidents can testify before congress in general. can they be forced to do it against their will? anyone can always do something voluntarily. in the 19th century, john tyler testified in response to a subpoena. he didn't fight it in court. in the early 1950s, harry truman, now out of office, was subpoenaed by the house on american activities committee. this was during the era of mccarthyism. he refused to show up, saying presidents are immune from force testimony. later on, while he voluntarily testified. the house did not buy that in the 1950s. we just don't know. the issue is that there is a similar case from 1982. nixon was sued civilly for damages after he was out of office. the supreme court said that ex presidents are absolutely immune from being sued for damages. the problem is that tha