i want to talk about the q clocks -- ku klux klan, referring to the group, the militias which show a familiarity the only people who knew actual marauders in the white supremacist moment would use. members of the ku klux klan from 150 years ago when they first came together did not see themselves as founders of a movement. they would have not thought their great-great-grandchildren would be talking about that and yet not only are we talking about the ku klux klan, the angry and ignorant and vicious a gangs of reconstruction men who disguised themselves and hurt and killed people, not only are we talking about them. we are circulating ideas today that recall those of the ku klux klan's perpetrating acts the resemble those carried out by the first clans. i hope you can see some pictures on the screen. let me take you to el paso, texas in august of 2019, a marauder, a white terrorist killed 22 people, ruining the lives of hundreds. this marauder rights a manifesto that talks about white supremacy as his guiding idea. i will take you to charlottesville, virginia, august of 2017, white sup

lecorgne and the others were charged with treason, and violating the ku klux klan act. in washington, congress had hoped that the 1871 ku klux klan act would stand out the white gangs. the klan penalty was five years, the treason penalty was hanging. -- was not the only one of the family who fought for white rule. his cousins, his nephew, his brother-in-law joined in the coup attempt. in addition, several of his french cousins played greater or lesser roles in the militia. in the trees in case, the gallows were being argued when a sympathetic white judge dismissed all accounts, freeing lecorgne and his coconspirators. if you believe to have a clansmen amongst your relatives is a strange thing, think of this. in 1925, the ku klux klan could claim 5 million members, white and christian. it's likely for publicity reasons that this membership was exaggerated. let's assume that it stood at nearly 4 million. the descendants of 4 million clansmen living in 1925, if you count forward 100 years, in the year 2025, add up to about 135 million white living 1 million americans. 135 m

the white league, the only difference between the white league and the ku klux klan is that the ku klux klan were secretive and the white league were not. thank god for the white league because they put the negro out of the seat of power. it was from aunt maude, the family historian that i first learned about our klansmen. 30 years later maude having died, my parents having died, i'm cleaning out the family house and find a batch of files. i began reading and i make a decision to tell the story of our klansmen. i go back and forth from connecticut to new orleans to look into the archives. i hire a researcher to help and the story takes shape. constant lecorn was born in 1832 to a french family in new orleans. he's the second of three sons. his parents gave his older brother the education and constant goes into a trade. he grows up a small, thin man, nervous and alert with sharp features, skinny nose and beautiful hands, an underbite and a furrowed brow. constant's parents were of the white class who start high and then lose their economic advantage. in new orleans, his parents were amon

specifically, we are bringing this lawsuit pursuant to local and federal law including the ku klux klan act of 1871, a reconstruction era federal law designed to protect our country against violent conspiracy, protect our citizens against violent conspiracy like the attack that took place on january 6. in the complaint which has been filed and is public, we specifically allege that these vigilantes, insurrectionists and masters of a lawless mob conspired against the district of columbia. they planned and promoted and participated in the violent attack on the united states capital. we further allege the named defendants cause substantial and provable damage to the district of columbia and, in particular, to err courageous law enforcement officers who risked their lives. and some even died. to defend the capital, the district and our country's freedom. as the independent attorney general, i have the responsive liddy to enforce our laws and whole these violent offenders accountable because they caused actual, physical and financial harm to our city, its employees and a residence. we brough

it was back in 2017, that another statue, actually a proper statue of the same ku klux klan grand wizard, another statue of nathan bedford forrest. forrest park, with two "r"s, named for nathan bedford forrest. the first ku klux klan grand wizard. there was a statue that memphis took down in 2017. there was one complication. nathan bedford forrest was physically buried underneath it. nathan bedford forrest's body and his wife was under that statue in that memphis park. when they started digging after they took down the statue, it turns out, the directions they had weren't exactly right. they weren't directly under the statue. they were kind of under the plaza in front of where the statue had been. it took them a while hunting around to find the caskets. they did finally find the remains. they made a plan to rebury them this fall, a few weeks ago. look what they had to do to get it done. local nbc 5 in memphis, tennessee, got an exclusive look at this. this is astonishing. and, again, remember, this is the confederate general, wealthy slave trader, first grand wizard of the ku klux klan,

what a man working for the fbi posing as a hit man exposed inside the ku klux klan. >>> and later, the boy hero who helped save two people's lives in two separate incidents on the same day. >>> there's new questions this morning after a time capsule that was tucked away benooeeath robert e. lee statue was finally opened. experts were surprised to find a handful of random items, including an almanac, a book and a coin. they expected to find several more interesting items because of a newspaper article back in 1887. it says that the box contained civil war memorabilia and a rare photo of abraham lincoln in his coffin. now, some are suggesting that there might be a second time capsule. >>> an fbi informant that went undercover inside the kkk is speaking about what he found. he uncovered a murder plot. here's abc's christine sloan. >> reporter: this morning, an intriguing tale of an fbi informa informant's secret double life, spying on the ku klux klan in orth florida. >> my former name is joseph moore. i was a confidential informant for the fbi's joint terrorism task force from 2007 to 20

what a man working for the fbi posing as a hit man exposed inside the ku klux klan. >>> and later, the boy hero who helped save two people's lives in two separate incidents on the same day. alright, here we go, miller in motion. wha — wait, wait, is that a... baby on the field?? it looks like it, craig. and the defensive linemen are playing peek-a-boo. i've never seen anything like that before. harris now appears to be burping the baby. that's a great moment right there. the ref going to the rule book here. what, wait a minute! harris is off to the races! we don't need any more trick plays. touchdown!! but we could all use more ways to save. are you kidding me?? it's going to be a long bus ride home for the defense. switch to geico for more ways to save. firefighter maggie gronewald knows how to handle dry weather... ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. with no sticky feeling. ow! so, you think santa will like these red and green m&m's? i don't know! i never met the guy! whaaaaa!

they would evolve into the second ku klux klan, and in the 1920s they would target, not only african-americans, but also catholics and jews. so there's some important underlying issues. i intimated a few minutes ago frank was a northerner, he was seen as an outsider. the public response to the trial really shows the tension between changes under way in the south that southerners thought the northerners had brought, especially the evils associated with industrialization and urbanization, which were luring poor southerners to the cities where there were harsh conditions in the factories, where children like mary phagan worked for ten cents an hour ten hours a day, and they were breeding the urban evils of slums and crime. certainly, these conditions also influenced the verdict in the case. but i want to bring it up a little closer to our own day because calls for justice to frank would continue to ring out over the years. in 1982, 82-year-old alonzo mann who had been an office boy at the pencil factory came forward with an affidavit attesting to new evidence in a case that would exonerate frank.

it came to mecina, new york in a time where the ku klux klan burned crosses on lawns and a sneaky kind of anti-semitism was common. her brother comes out but the little girl never returns. through the night the towns men comb the woods looking for the little girl and then when they haven't found her, someone sh and we don't flow who, but someone says, you know, the jews are having a holiday. maybe they need blood. sun down, sunday evening, the next day would begin the holiest day of the jewish calendar. the day of atonement. some time sunday afternoon, the little girl was spotted on a roadway far from her house. she had looked for her brother, fallen asleep, slept through the night, woke up. she was so lost it took her a while to find her way out. she was unharmed but that sunday evening as the jews of mecina made their way to synagogue, an angry mob was outside the sin -- synagogue. they were yelling the word kike. they accused the jews of having been scared to give up the child. it ended without violence but the damage had opinion done. in the 1930s, hateful rhetoric threats of viole

it was back in 2017 that another statue, a proper statue of the same ku klux klan grand wizard, another statue of nathan bedford forrest was taken down from a park in memphis tennessee. health science park in memphis used to be called forrest park, with two ours, named for nathan bedford forrest that park had this huge statue of nathan bedford forrest in 2017. they did have one complication and taking it down in 2017, which is that was nathan bedford forrest actually physically buried underneath it. nathan bedford forrest his body and of his wife are right underneath that statue in memphis park. when they started digging after they took down the statue, it turns out the directions they had weren't exactly right. they weren't exactly under the statue, they were under the plaza where the statue had been. it took them a while to find caskets. they did finally found the remains, they made a plan to rebury them earlier just this fall just a few weeks. but then look at what they had to do in order to get it done. local nbc five in memphis, tennessee, got an exclusive look at this. this is jus

go back to the ku klux klan and the immediate aftermath of the civil war. think proud boys and oath keepers today. by extremism, we're not limiting it to those motivated by racial hatred, religious or ethnic hatred and division. it also includes those who just want to disrupt and overturn government, right? think january 6th. there were many people within that insurrection that had no affiliation whatsoever with the more white supremacist, white nationalist group. they want to disrupt democracy. when you think about his experience, while he was gently associated with white supremacist groups, his primary moteival is disrupt government and topple government. and saw government as overreach. you have that component and of course, you have some extremists who are single-issue minded, whether they're acting out on their views about abortion, about environmental issues, about animal rights. you see extremists behaviors as well in the single-issue oriented people. but yes, white supremacy and nationalism is probably the primary driver that we're seeing in the mil

democrat alexandria ocasio-cortez says that makes him leader of the, quote, ku klux klan. we begin with the big white house rollout of the winter coronavirus plan. the president visits the national institutes of health next hour for the big announcement. we're told he will focus on getting more children vaccinated and seniors boosted, plus insurance reimbursement for at-home covid tests and new travel restrictions. the timing is tough. winter is coming, and the new coronavirus variant is here. another case verified this morning. and with the public health challenge comes this reality. more uncertainty and stress we see. let's get straight to our cnn chief white house kronlts kaitlan collins. what are we going to hear? >> he's going somewhere he hasn't been since three weeks after he was inaugurated. months later still dealing with the pandemic of a different scenario. with the new variant, it's going to be looming over what the president is talking about, which is combatting covid-19 in the winter months and trying to contain it or contain a potential spread. one of the st

did any of you raise the question when someone on their side of the aisle said i work with the ku klux klan, referring to republicans? did anyone on your side of the aisle talk about when omar said the only reason i rise in supporter israel is about the benjamins, i never got a public apology or phone call. did anybody on your side of the aisle, i think you might ask speaker pelosi about this one, when congresswoman omar referred to american taliban as equal, because i remember speaker pelosi saying something to the effect, i could be wrong, it was to the effect that she did not denounce her for saying that. i think when somebody does something, that is wrong, they apologize. lauren boebert apologized publicly and picked up the phone and -- it took a lot of effort. she wanted to meet personally. denied the ability to meet personally. she picked up the phone and called congresswoman omar. she said i want to personally apologize to you. and that's what she did. i think in america that's what we do. and then we move on on the issues that need to take place. reporter: leader mccarthy, 2019 remo

they came to new york, anytown were by the way the ku klux klan burn crosses on the lawns and where is nikki kind of anti-semitism, not the open kind that you seen this much more common and a little girl be sent by her parents and an afternoon in a center into the woods to find a brother who had been playing with his friends. so not long after her brother comes walking out the little girl never returns. so through the night, townsmen combed the woods looking for the little girl and then when they have not found her, someone we don't know who, but someone says, you know the jews are having a holiday and maybe they need blood. and at sundown on sunday evening, the next day would begin the holiest day of the jewish calendar, the day of atonement. and sometime sunday afternoon, the little girl was spotted on the roadway not far from her house and she had looked for her brother, fallen asleep, slept through the night, woke up but she was so lost and it her a while to find her way out. so she was unharmed pretty but that sunday evening, the jews made their way to the synagogue and angry mobs

this comes from the ku klux klan era in attempt to keep these kinds of attks in a similar way to thenia law that was used by victims of the unite the right rally at happened in charlottesville where one person was killed. it's an attempt to hold people that organized the rally in d.c. the way they tried to hold people that organized the rally in charlottesville responsible for the violence for the bloodshed, for the financial cost of these attacks. it will be interesting to see if we get a similar result from charlottesville. there is also a criminal conspiracy case relating to the january 6 attack on the capital. >> all of these efforts to hold people accountable for january 6, and what have we learned about mr. trump and what he was doing that day? >> we don't know a lot about what donaldrump was doing. reports are he was watching television during the early part of the attack on the capital. he did have phone conversations and there were reports about conversations with kevin mccarthy, thhouse minority leader. but the question is, why didn't he take actions, why did he take so lon

reading, truman was aware of the demagogues and bigotry and among these he concluded that the ku klux klanhe information in missouri and confederates, truman it be that the present he did not sit idly by any longer and do nothing of the glaring injustices occurring in the south and in response to home, truman responded, if there living 80 years behind their times and the sooner they come out of it, the better it will be for the country, and themselves. and we have an upcoming series, truman will go on to be military and the workforce. and history informs truman it about our great republic amos also speaking of challenges for democracy and on june 16th 1949 angel reporter inquiring about the recent history in his administration of an down in a country in a didn't go to hacking it will not now. and it the members of his father to that and assess the situation it braided and the history we have now. and now, as we know, avelino about truman, the family bible scene here twice at the age of 12 because he said so and one, a great deal of familiarity of the bible from the fact that i run it throu

such an important question because these attacks, and i alluded to this when i talked about the ku klux klan of the '20s as well, that these groups were not only attacking jews, they attacked catholics, communists, african-americans. so coughlin's, like the white russians essentially, saw that the jews were judeo bowl shah vics. good question. other questions or comments? >> -- >> it was a series of articles. when the four volumes were published, they called it the international jew, the world's foremost problem, in case they hadn't gotten the message across. in it, the writers, very much like the protocols saying the world has become corrupted by liberal values, they tapped all sorts of things and blamed the jews. for example, they attacked jazz. jazz was corrupting proper music. they blamed the jews for jazz. they echoed the themes of jewish world conspiracy, jewish banking, jewish financiers. anything that's modern, that's changing also appears in those. you can read them. they were newspaper articles, newspaper exposes. grace. >> my question is, when you saw the newspaper article, the in

did you raise the question someone on their side of the aisle set i work with the ku klux klan referring to republicans? does anyone on your side of the aisle talk about when omar -- said the only reason i support israel is about the benjamin's. i never got a public apology or phone call. did anybody on your side of the aisle -- i think you might've asked speaker pelosi about this one. when congresswoman omar referred to american taliban as equal, because i remember speaker pelosi saying something to the effects, and i could be wrong, but it was to the effect that she did not denounce her for saying that. so i think when somebody does something, they apologize. he apologized publicly and then picked up the phone and it took a lot of effort. she wanted to meet personally. denied the ability to meet personally. when she picked up the phone and called, congresswoman omar, she said i want to personally apologize to you and that is what she did. i think in america that is what we do and we move on on the issues that need to take place. host: you can see more on the website at c-span.org. let'

akron, the center of rubber manufacturer was home to one to have largest centers of the ku klux klan.this is the golf course behind the club still there today. no longer segregated. this is liberian labor housing. it had become an embarrassment to the u.s. state department. fire stone had a bad reputation as an employer of africans. one that was damaging to the prestige of the united states. that same year in response to fire stone segregationist practices and those of american firms like republic steel that operated large mining concession in the country, liberian president william tubman introduced an anti-segregation bill into the liberian legislature. that liberia, they needed law against racial discrimination suggest how entrenched jim crow was in the plantation and mining enclaves built by american firms on sovereign african soil. this is tubman. on the left is harvey firestone junior who would retire from the company in 1963. next to him is tubman. next to him is raymond. one of the other brothers that would assume the presidency of the company. he would go onto pursue a phd in

it has the observation bit shepherd said his family was harassed by the ku klux klan and land developers who own properties in the beach city. ah, they slouch tires ah, the i started fights with people. ah, the burn duck crosses. they burned a house down here. they burned a mattress under the porch of the resort itself. here, there are people here that don't want you know, to see change in manhattan beach. and we're not here to change manhattan beach. we're here to right or wrong. the public trying to get property back to belong to us that was illegally taken away from fraud and shepherd, got his wish, california governor given you some signed a law transferring the property known as bruce, as beach, back to the family, you can see what it was purchased for back then and what it's forth to day. so now an organization called where's my land is hoping to bring the same type of victory to other families who have their land taken. but some advocates say other cases being brought up or not as straightforward as the bruce's beach case, william dirty junior, a scholar at duke university said i

interaction with african-americans which none of the northern justices had at all and the fact the ku klux klan was inserting itself so strong also gave him a moral impetus later on. a. >> i understand he was a fundamentalist christian of the time. what do you know about stopping the decision? >> this is a difficult question to answer and i probably shied away from it a little too much because the theologies are a very difficult thing to grasp obviously. i will say he was a devout presbyterian and there were two doctrines one was a famous theologian of his time and believed in this idea that god has a divine plan for anything and i think that how can you be aware of the injustices of slavery and allow it to continue. the presbyterians was that god had a plan. they would preach the sort of relationship to acknowledge the humanity of people in the subservient position and in a different part of the church they also had this idea that it's part of this plan that may have prevented action. by contrast, there is another doctrine with a sort of spiritual agency where people can and later in his life

. >> did any reporter ask about her remember last week who said i work with the ku klux klan? did anyone ask her about congresswoman omar when she claimed in the last congress my only support for israel was about the benjamin. when she said america is no different than the taliban and would not apologize for that and nancy pelosi said she wouldn't make her or what about when she mentioned congresswoman omar, on 9/11 some people did something. but you know what happened to a republican when they made a comment they didn't truly believe, they apologized to the american public and apologized to the member personally but this is what the democrats try to continue to do. they need to hold their members accountable but why would eric swallwell who could not get a security clearance in the private sector, why would they give him the national secrets of it and be on intel committee's. that is amazing to me. to let it happen. >> don't think they should be controlling what republicans sits on what committees and none of you should be apologizing. at this point they are the ones sitting

as private plaintiffs, what our plaintiffs can bring is a civil lawsuit and they did using the ku klux klann 151-year-old statute to protect against the racially motivated violent conspiracies we saw here four years ago. >> one of the nine plaintiffs is liz signs who says fields' car almost hit her. >> i'll never forget watching them attack my fellow students or the feeling of running for my life. >> another plaintiff is natalie. she was hit by fields' car causing a skull fracture and concussion. thomas baker thought he would die and still has hip pain. marcus martin seen here in midair, his leg was broke and couldn't work for nine months. >> a lot of pain. a lot to cope with. >> what makes this case so interesting is that it brings the concept of incitement into the internet age saying an entire group of people should be expelled from the country or killed sooner or later isn't another political debate like marginal tax rates. it's harassment. healthier is seeing a healthcae pro whenever you may need one. doctor: the fever should break... or...trying to. ♪ ♪ this is what healthier looks li

kevin mccarthy is so desperate to be speaker that he is working with his ku klux klan caucus to lookr members of congress. this cannot be ignored. what's your response to her words. >> there well ms. cortez, do we say that she using political hyperbole and pa jurorrives to fight political hyperbole and pa jurorrives. it's not it says e pluribus for many one. what ms. cortez and her squad have done repeatedly very good at playing victim and guilty of divisive rhetoric themselves. todd: congressman peter defazio becoming the 19th house democrat to retire. you are in congress, you are with these folks, you feel the vibe of this place. do these folks want to get off the sinking ship or is there something more here? >> no, i think you are right. we have seen what happens under nancy pelosi' leadership. she was at the helm ganged 63 seats 10 years ago and it looks like we could -- we might not be seeing a tidal wave it might be a tsunami a red wave and we are hoping that's the case. carley: less than a year away so we will continue to follow it congressman pat fallon thank you so much for

. >> i think did the reporter asked her about her member last week who said i work with a ku klux kland anyone ask her about congresswoman omar when she said my only support for israel was all about inch of it. or when she said that america is no different than the taliban and would not apologize for that. and nancy pelosi said she wouldn't make her. or what about when she mentioned congresswoman omar that on 9/11 -- but you know what happened to a republican when they made a comment that they really did and truly believe? they apologize. they apologize to the american public and they apologized to the number personally. but this is with the democrats try to continue to do. they need to hold their members accountable. but you know if they held their members accountable, why would eric swalwell, who could not get security clearance in the private sector, why would they give him the national speaker and let him be on intel committee? that is -- because -- >> laura: i don't think they should be controlling what republicans sit on what committees. and none of you should be apologizing, fra

now, of course, trump followers are going to appoint their ku klux klans.nting things and john eastman writing their own presentation in this. it's the first time i greed with chris christy and votes were driven from the top, and that trump surrounded himself with c-teamers who told him what he wanted to hear. i agree with most of that, but i think chris christy is wrong. he was just playing the video of these people, trump's lawyers and others. i put mark meadows in that camp, too. so what i want to know is who in congress saw that powerpoint? who were they? when did they know it? at that point 63 different courts, federal and state, including the u.s. supreme court, said this election fraud stuff is all nonsense, and yet some of them appear to have given aid and comfort to team coup. >> you laid that all out. that makes sense. when the meadows defense says, well, this actually wasn't a big deal, that's why they turned it over, what's your response to that? >> well, i think they had to turn it over because they had no possible claim of privilege whatsoever

quote, to put an end to this terrible condition white people joined together which they named the ku klux klanmbers dressed as ghosts and scared lawless men into acting decently. on moonlit nights they could be seen on horse back riding to bring order back into the lives of people. such sights frightened negros to living better lives. the names of the men negro or white who had done wrong, they were listed. the next moon lit night, the klan would visit the men and punish them. lawless men were not so bold, and crime became less and less, end quote. on that note, i'll stop here, and answer a few questions from carole, and questions from all of you. thank you very much for listening. >> thanks, david. it really is a wonderful introduction to what is a very powerful book, and it is really gripping to see what is going on and one of the things that just amazed me so much about the book was some of your sources were these things that the perpetrators of this coup had very proudly written for the rest of the world to see and give them accolades for what they were doing to bring what they believed in

civil war to honor battlefield heroes, they were erected in 1924 as symbols of white power, the ku klux klan held a parade to celebrate statues and we got around to discussing the dining school. follow my premise and i will let you take away to explain the dining school. i alluded to it before his children and young adults, who have a certain set of values, beliefs, narratives and when introduced to new ideas it can be quite jarring to the senses, the dining school interpretation of the confederacy and reconstruction, from crazy guy and left field, a prestigious ivy league university, that narrative dominated scholarship for half a century so what was the dining school and why is it important? and why is that important for this discussion? >> dunning was historian at colombia university, he had a lot of influence on the ways in which historians wrote about reconstruction and their argument in a nutshell was reconstruction was a failure, it was corrupt and the heroes of the period were the redeemers, the people, white southerners who basically drove the black and white republicans out of the

if you could explain more -- he also said that, you know, if you're known member of the ku klux klan, be fired. it is if you act on that. what exactly does that mean? >> first, i heard that interview he did, too. you know, it is notable that have gone to the level of prohibiting the use of social media to distribute or support extremist activities and that would include posting, liking, sharing, to streaming content -- just writing content and by stating the military personnel responsible for the content they publish on all personal and public domain, including their social media sites logs. one thing we were tracking was the way extremists were and those that were within the military were even using their military email addresses. all of the planning was happening right out in the open on major platforms. the devil will be in the details on the implementation step as you can see from that clip come he doesn't really have a good answer on what the plans are for implementation. the rules are clear and what falls outside of the guidelines is clear, but, yeah, he says they won't be monit

after the civil war for battlefield heroes, they're arrested in 1924 assembles of white power, the ku klux klan held a parade to celebrate the statues. and, we got around to discussing the dunning school. so, if you follow my premise, all let you take it away to explain the dunning school. we alluded to it before us children, as young adults, we are greeted with a certain set of values, beliefs, narratives, and they'll start lining up. then, we are introduced to new ideas, that can be quite jarring to the census. the downing school interpretation of the confederacy, and reconstruction, didn't just come from some crazy guy in left field. it was prestigious, ivy league universities, and that narrative dominated that version of history. it dominated scholarship for a century. so, what was the dunning school, and why was it important? why is that important for this discussion? >> studying columbia university, he had a lot of ph.d. students, a lot of influence on ways in which historians wrote about reconstruction. it is their argument, in a nutshell, was that reconstruction was a failure, it was co

i got to know the ku klux klan way too well. i don't mean to judge but they're [ bleep ].ged race because he was unafraid to be black in a white world. i wanted to challenge and provoke in the same way that there was a way to do it even though i wasn't black and i wasn't white. >> one of the main components of being a comic is feeling like an outsider. whether you actually are or you're not, the more of an outsider you are in this game, the more perspective you gain. >> straight to the kitchen and pour me a cup of coffee and make it like i like my men. hot, black and strong. >> race in popular culture come together in really interesting ways in the '70s. there's this decade of what i like to call firsts. you start to see black situation come to dislike "sanford&son," "good times" and "the jeffersons". >> do you know what you're doing, george? >> of course i do. >> that's what you said on our honeymoon. >> is he a brother? >> no but what difference does it make? >> it makes a whole lot of difference to me. >> pop, haven't you seen that bumper sticker that says, good neighbo

the ku klux klan held a parade to celebrate the statues. we got around to discussing the dunning school. follow my premise and then i'll let you take it away to discuss dunning school. they believed in certain narratives and then when we're introduced to new ideas, it can be quite jarring to the senses. the dunning school interpretation of the confederacy of reconstruction didn't just come from some crazy guy in left field, it was a prestigious school narrative, and that narrative dominated statuary for about a decade. why is that important to our discussion today? >> dunning had a lot of phd students, he had a lot of influence on the ways in which historians wrote about reconstruction. basically their argument, in a nutshell, was that reconstruction was a failure, it was corrupt, and that the heroes of the period were really what were called the redeemers, the white southerners who basically drove the black and white republicans out of the state houses. had, quote, redeemed the governors of their states from this corruption. it just wasn't

i do think that calling -- this escalation of name calling about the ku klux klan caucus does not helpe problem with the extremes having disproportionate influence in our debate and in congress. it is asymmetric. but i think that kind of fighting fire with fire is the thing that burns the whole house down. >> no question. you have to censor comments from sitting lawmakers from your children, given the language being used, for mccarthy, is it possible he's not the speaker if republicans bring back the house, win back the house? >> yeah. definitely. that's why i think he's not only walking a difficult line, but playing a dangerous game. you can't placate crazy. you can't placate donald trump. we talked about mark meadows earlier. he was floating the idea which i think is nonsense, but technically possible. donald trump could be speaker. i don't think there is the willingness or the aptitude. it goes to show, kevin mccarthy can genuflect and kiss the ring at mar-a-lago all he wants, but he's never going to actually get the support from folks who love donald trump. he's had the temerity to