that's lyndon johnson. senator barry goldwater, he knew it was lyndon johnson. robert and jackie kennedy, they knew it was lyndon johnson. robert kennedy sends an imstair, william wallton, an artist, a friend of jackie kennedy's, one of the first openly gay men in america. he goes to the soviet union where he has cultural relationships, meeting with the kgb giving a message of the kennedys. one, they say, we know that john kennedy was killed by a domestic conspiracy, meaning the russians had nothing to do with it. two, they said, dallas was the perfect place for the crime, and, three, the elevation of lyndon johnson is unfortunate and a grievance problem. they knew. robert kennedy tells his assistant i know exactly what happened, but there's nothing i can do about it now, which is true because despite the fact that he still has the title of the attorney general, the power has shifted to lyndon johnson. who is bobby going to? the fbi? their conducting the coverup. in any event, i think i make a compelling case. the goal is the same. i'm not a lawyer, but read the

lyndon johnson once described detroit as an outstanding success story. millions poured in to help the poor. despite the effort 50 years later the motor city is considered a failure. since 1966 its population dropped by 400,000 people. al jazeera's reports on what went right and what went wrong. >> detroit today stands at the threshold of a bright future. >> it was 1966. motor city was the automotive and music capital of the world. detroit was considered a model city for lyndon johnson's war on poverty. in 1967 the federal government sent 490 million to detroit to fight the 36% poverty rate, fund low income housing and social programs. in the summer of that year, this. a domestic rebellion. rioters destroyed city blocks, dozens of people were killed, thousands injured. >> 1967 was first and foremost about police brutality and violence against people in the neighbourhoods and the inner city of detroit, and the lack of economic opportunity. >> those were two things that the poverty programs were not set up to address. >> sheila cockrel was a civil rights ac

he worked with people like hubert humphrey, lyndon johnson, scoop jackson. it was a really interesting time with some great senators. >> what was his relationship with lyndon johnson when they're both in the senate? >> i spent some time at the kennedy library, and his file is thick with letters to lyndon johnson asking for better committee assignments. johnson was the senate democratic leader. kennedy was the more junior senator so he was sending johnson a lot of letters asking for different committee assignments. johnson seem to put them away, and ted sorenson had a wonderful know. kennedy appointed john to do some third or fourth tier dredging commission or something. sorts and send them and said we are making great progress. senator johnson is named you the chairman of the boston harbor dredging commission. it was a competitive relationship, but in the end i think johnson came to respect kennedy as a tough, former politician. didn't think he was a real heavy hitter on policy but he thought he was a really compelling political figure. >> did president kenn

research by those who have gone before me, that lyndon johnson was the lynch pin of a plot that involved numerous others, and there is, i think, substantial research now, thousands of books have been written, making a strong case for the involvement of the central intelligence agency, for the involvement of organized crime, for the involvement of the big texas oil, and, indeed, i make the case that lynn don johnson had a unique relationship with each one of them. now, let's talk about motive. first of all, it's important to remember that in 1960, lyndon johnson blackmailed his way on to the kennedy ticket. in fact, we know that president john f. kennedy or in that point, kennedy, senator john f. kennedy selected senator stuart of missouri to be his running mate. he asked him, accepted, was writing his acceptance speech, and that night, johnson and

does he love this job, lyndon johnson loved it. does he love the doing of the presidency? does he love the deal making? >> doing the deal making, there's a big difference. that's a little different. for what i know this president he absolutely loves the job, he loves the fact. i think if you read in that long article you mentioned, bob, that he understands that whether it's four years or eight years or part of history, things he's trying to do whether it's health care, whether it's reform of the banking system as was done and other things going forward. that there is a -- he does love the job, he loves the fact that he is able to help people and i think the thought that he doesn't love the job is just from people who have -- >> a lot of people -- >> schieffer: let me just shift to something else. the "new york times" magazine today put out a cover that -- i think we'll be seeing this for a long time. it is called "planet hilary." i must say my first reaction, i thought it was chris christie. then i thought well maybe it's the man on the moon or something. what about this a

in 1964 when lyndon johnson was giving his address, u.s. congressman john lewis was fighting for the political rights of african-americans. he joins me now to give us a historic perspective. congressman, what do you make of this rubio proposal. oh, we'll just turn everything over to the states and get rid of them and somehow the free enterprise system will take people out of poverty. in other words, do nothing in washington and everything good will happen. what do you think? >> well, i must say, chris, that the proposal by the senator is wrongheaded. i think he's dead wrong. i lived through the '40s, through the '50s, through the '60s. i grew up very, very poor. during the '60s i traveled across america, rural areas, urban centers and what lyndon johnson did with the war on poverty, he made great strides in cutting poverty in half. to go back and say give everything to the state government, you going to give it to the state of georgia, alabama, mississippi or to some other state outside of the south? we don't want to go back we want to go f

he worked humphrey and lyndon johnson in 1960. i mean, he was not a natural politician, but when he decided to run a race, he was a fiercely competitive, very tough, from the -- formidable back. >> a question. you mentioned a critique of defense policy in vietnam and the algerian and poland. and obviously what he had said about vietnam in algeria, how was that received in the u.s.? positioning himself for a presidential run? just curious as to how -- >> it was considered very controversial because the cold war was still in its intense phase and there was a sense that kennedy had sort of transcended what was appropriate. that there was -- there were several people is a committee should not come on the floor of the united states senate and criticize an ally. he actually gave his first speech -- i forget the exact date, but he ended up giving a very lengthy 11 week later saying, have gotten a lot of responses last week, and i feel like and the jury spine, first of all, why give that speech and also to respond to a little bit of the b

as i said, that was the lesson of president lyndon johnson. that's what we should take from this 50th anniversary moving ahead. mr. president, with that i yield the floor. >> coming up this morning on c-span2, senator roberts and on the unemployment extension bill. that's followed by senate minority leader mitch mcconnell on the state of the senate. and then we're live at 10 a.m. eastern for more senate debate on the unemployment insurance extension bill. >> today, the senate foreign relations committee examines the conflict in south sudan. you can see the hearing with the state department and usaid officials live at 10:15 a.m. eastern on c-span3. and later, general frank grass, chief of the national guard bureau speaks about the financial challenges facing the guard. live coverage at 1 p.m. eastern also on c-span3. >> can any woman be adequately prepared for the duties of first lady? >> yes. [laughter] >> you're the wife of the governor or if you're the wife of the vice president -- >> or if your mother-in-law is first lady edge of watched he

america, and the argument over whether we won or lost the war rages on. >> 50 years ago president lyndon johnson declared a big government war on poverty. sips then. the american tax payer spent trillions to lift people out of poverty. today, tens of millions of americans live beneath the poverty line. >> liberals say the programs have been a success, keeping tens of millions of americans out of poverty. >> derek kitchen from cato institute joins me, and melissa boteach, from the half in ten, which seeks to cut poverty in 10 years, and is a director at the center for american progress. thank you for being with us. melissa, senator marco rubio's argument is straight forward. trillions later there's still poverty, therefore the war on poverty fail. >> if you use the poverty measure taking the programs into act, a study shows it's untrue. if you count the programs, 26% in 1967, and today it's down to 16% much those programs made a difference in lifting millions out of poverty, that's not to say we should pat ourselves on the back and declare the war is over, but we have to build on what is

she says 50 years after lyndon b.nson declared a war on poverty the battle rages on for far too many. >> people don't have the will to address the challenges of these urban communities. we have allowed ourselves with being okay with saving some and not all. >> reporter: in the last year, the initiative built a play grown and pushed the city to repave a main road and plant trees. this block by block approach is designed to show people they matter, and ensure that kids get that ticket out of public defender's officerty that she did. >> if every community challenges that, and says on our block on these streets and this community, our children are going to be the future, not the ones at the bottom, i think we would saw a dramatically different world. >> reporter: shortly after our interview, alicia's hours were cut, unable to afford the gas, she was forced to quit. >>> back to those bitterly cold temperatures. >> it can't stay this cold forever. this cold polar air has to warm up slowly, and that is what is happening. the

lyndon johnson would have supported that. in some ways, programs of the reagan administration, a sense of self responsibility, and lyndon johnson would have support that. he was not for giving away money without any kind of responsibility being exerted by those who received it. i think that is an important ask but i want to bring about. host: this is from one of my viewers, -- one of our viewers, wow, 25% in poverty when johnson took office and that was rogue poverty. -- that was real poverty. no safety net. programscial security were very modest, nose for retired persons who had paid into social security, but for example, medicare was part of the war on poverty, and medicaid, if you were an older person and you had medical problems, there was really no safety net for you at that time. that is why medicare came into effect. there really was very little social safety net in the 1960's until the war on poverty program started being passed. host: when they ring the bell on wall street and make record highs, from whom are they ma

people. >> i want to getto melissa on that, but as she mentioned the numbers and lyndon johnson declared the war on poverty, it dropped by 43%, a faster rate than before johnson did that. the 26 to 16% number, others say it was 19 to 15% today. it seems to show this helped a lot of people. >> i can't comment on the numbers that melissa pulled out. they sound encouraging the government statistics show more are in poverty today than before. the poverty rate was coming down. then in the mid '60s, it stopped coming down. the improvement stop exactly at the time the government, the federal government and washington got massively involved which suggests that maybe we should learn a lesson from bill clinton, and the successful welfare reform. the program was kicked back to the states and we got better all. >> as dan is saying you could argue that the economy would have improved a lot of poor americans. if it's that four percentage point drop, the number used when talking about the war on poverty, that that is virtually decades. >> the official poverty rates don't take into account poverty achie

as i said, that was the lesson of president lyndon johnson. that's what we should take from this 50th anniversary moving ahead. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. murphy: thank you mr. president. when the history books are written about those who fought hardest against poverty who stood up for those with no voice with very little power in an increasingly unfair comirks unfair economy l.b.g. and hiseconomy,l.b.j. and his war on poverty will be a pretty big place in that book. i salute the role that senator march kin has played. it is just an inspiration to many of us who have sought this office to try to stand in his shoes and in his place. mr. president, i want to talk about the same subject because over the holidays, i had the chance to spend a day in new haven, connecticut with a 40-year-old homeless man who up until last spring had been employed for the better part of the last 20 years but a as has happened to millions of americans ove

he kept championing, trying to push lyndon johnson. obviously in the end the war in vietnam won out. i think johnson, himself, was deeply disappointed. this was a person who grew up poor, who understood and who felt that he wanted that to be his signature piece and instead the other war took him out. >> there is something deeply tragic about that transition. joining us now, economist betty stevenson, member of the obama administration's council of economic advisers. you, like maria, i imagine have been hearing the rhetoric of the war on poverty having failed. you did a report for the white house about the war on poverty. what's your response? >> that's exactly the question we wanted to look at is see how government programs affect poverty? what we needed was a measure of poverty that included the value of government programs, of taxes and benefits, transfers and benefits. and we needed then to look the at what would happen if we took those -- the value of those programs out. and what we saw is, perhaps, a little bit surprising. we foun

kennedy just seven weeks earlier, lyndon b. johnson, 50 years ago this week, stood in front of a joint session of congress to deliver his state of the union message and he made huge news in that state of the union. he made huge news when he said he wanted to cut back on some of our massive, expensive uranium production. >> telling congress he will put the output of uranium by 25%. this is the first cutback since invention of the atomic bomb in 1945. he doesn't say specifically that this will cut down on weapons, but he applied it. >> that was part of the nbc news post state of the union roundup the night of the speech. the same kind of roundtable that we do now. that was 50 years ago this week when lbj gave his first state of the union as president and looking back at that contemporaneous coverage now, you would think that that state of the union address in 1964 would be remembered as the oh my god, he's slowing down our uranium production speech. i mean, that's pretty much how it was greeted at the time. a cut in uranium produ

one example, prove some social programs work. 39% of seniors lived in poverty a few years before lyndon johnson expanded benefits. today 9% do. >> if you redistribute hundreds of billions, trillions, you can lift people, the income level up. the question is what is the cost to the economy, peep's self-reliance and independence. there are three things that will keep anyone out of poverty, finish high school, get a job. if you do those three things, the poverty rate will be small. a lot of anti-poverty programs encourage the wrong kinds of behaviours. this is what i talking about, the risks that the programs are trapping people in intergenerational poverty and dependence, we have better numbers. >> a lot to talk about. but we are running out of time. thank you both for joining us. >> turning to the run-up to the 2016 elections, the hillary clinton camp looks to be preparing the ground work for a presidential campaign. not only did the 2008 campaign organization release its email list to prohill larry, a claim has to be settled between that group and another. some of the aidese melt over t

lyndon johnson would have supported that.me ways, programs of the reagan administration, a sense of self responsibility, and lyndon johnson would have support that. he was not for giving away money without any kind of responsibility being exerted by those who received it. i think that is an important ask but i want to bring about. host: this is from one of my viewers, -- one of our viewers, wow, 25% in poverty when johnson took office and that was rogue poverty. -- that was real poverty. no safety net. programscial security were very modest, nose for retired persons who had paid into social security, but for example, medicare was part of the war on poverty, and medicaid, if you were an older person and you had medical problems, there was really no safety net for you at that time. that is why medicare came into effect. there really was very little social safety net in the 1960's until the war on poverty program started being passed. host: when they ring the bell on wall street and make record highs, from whom are they making t

. >> 50 years after president lyndon johnson declared -- >> unconditional war on poverty. >> unemployment insurance has been a vital economic lifeline. >> it is a new agenda of classic warfa warfare. >> if you extend it beyond 26 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetually unemployed group. >> these are your neighbors, your friends, your family. >> we lost. we should stop fighting. >> we are concerned about those who have had a difficult time. >> we would consider extending emergency unemployment benefits. >> we may be walked into a cul-de-sac by our colleagues. >> theif there were provisions could agree to. >>> it is a busy wednesday and we're following several developing and important stories this afternoon. the white house pushing back against startling claims against the obama administration in a new book by bob gates. and then time for some traffic problems in fort lee. those are lines you're going to hear again. some shocking e-mails that link a chris christie aid to a scandal. >>> we begin today with lyndon johnson's war on poverty. an agenda that the president sa

. >> 50 years ago today president lyndon johnson declared a war on poverty. that led to several programs to help poor americans including medicare, medicaid, head start and food stamps. but five decades later some say the impact. >> and this administration today here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in america. >> reporter: the speech came less than two months after the assassination of president kennedy. >> our aim is not only to relief the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and above all to prevent it. [applause] >> reporter: poverty had been a major concern of president kennedy, with a country still grieving with one in five americans living in poverty johnson declared war on poverty. university of texas professor wrote a book of how poverty undermines the united states. he said johnson's war on poverty speech was one of his best and the timing was perfect. >> he realized he was not going to be a loved president, therefore it's much easier to continue the line of a president that was more than admired, he was loved and whatever, and take his a

lyndon johnson gave mrs. johnson at the camera for her wedding gift, and she became a photojournalist. capture home to movies. hours and hours of her home movies. as well as the recorder here where mrs. johnson every night at the white house would record her daily observations. and this became the basis of the "ook, "a white house diary, which is a chronicling of the tumultuous years of the 1960's. mrs. johnson wrote for 34 years 34 years after the president's death. she loved to sit at this desk and keep up with her correspondence. also in this space, we have mrs. johnson's closet, with all of the clothing. her formal wear, the ranch clothing with the boots and the hats. a lot of her colorful outfits, and her shoes. one and then all of the photographs and those who mattered so much to her. to her grandchildren and great- grandchildren, she was known as mimi, a special person in their lives. lady bird johnson had a great sense of history. and during her years in washington, she would often be a tour guide for

in 1964 the university of michigan president lyndon johnson used soaring words to commit america's great wealth and power to solving it's d domestic problems. he said a great society depends on its abundance , and end poverty to which we're totally committed in our time. he told the audience to picture an american where the cities are beautiful, environment is cleaner, schools are better and people healthier. he talked in economic and spiritual terms of what a better and healthier america would look like. now it's 50 years later. did the great society programs hit their mark? did we get close to johnson's vision? or did it put a tax burden for the next 50 years. >> our task is to help replace their despair with opportunity. >> january 8, 1964, president lyndon johnson's state of the union address. >> this administration today here and now declares un unconditional war on poverty in america . i urge in congress and all americans who join with me in that effort. [applause] it will not be a short or easy struggle. no single weapon or strategy will suffice. but we shall not rest until that w

. >>> 50 years ago president lyndon johnson declared war on poverty. we take a close look at poverty in america. it's a problem that effects 50 million americans. we go to one of the poorest neighborneighborhoods in floride the su sun shines on everythingt their future. >> reporter: surviving o requirs shuffle, paying some bills, ignoring others and always worrying. >> with this income, where are we at? will i be at the door? will out be out of the door with my kids. >> reporter: the 32-year-old is a single working mom. she's a nationally certified medical assistant. but she can't find work in her field so she's waitressing, earning $4.33 an hour plus tips. >> it kind of makes me feel discouraged. but when i look at my kids i can't get discouraged. i have to do something. >> reporter: she pays $130 a month for her public housing argument and relies on food stamps. it's a life she shares with her four daughters ages 4 through 10, and her fiancÉ who helps pay the bills. she did not grow up in public housing. she does not want this to be anything more tha

. >> it's been nearly 50 years, lyndon baines johnson evoking the memory of jfk. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. here are the top stories. the supreme court putting a stop to same sex marriages in utah, giving the time for appeal of the rulings. >>> 2014 is an election year and shaping the elections there, an extension of jobless benefits and confirmation of janet yellen to head the federal reserve. >>> tribal allies have retain ramala, the iraqi military is set to regain control of fallujah from fighters connected to al qaeda. >>> wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the landmark speech of lyndon johnson declaring a war on poverty. >> and this administration today, here and now, declares ununconditional war on poverty n america. >> the speech came less than two months after the assassination of president kennedy. >> our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty but to cure it. and above all: to prevent it. [applause] >> reporter: poverty had been a major concern of president kennedy and with a country still grieving, and almost one in five americans livi

. >> woodruff: fifty years after president lyndon johnson's call to arms. we look at the progress that's been made and what still needs to be done. >> part of the problem is that not only do we have people who are poor and unemployed, we have so many people who are employed and poor. >> we've done well on the safety net part, but not well on helping people achieve success in america. >> woodruff: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: there's a saying around here: you stand behind what you say. around here, we don't make excuses, we make commitments. and when you can't live up to them, you own up and make it right. some people think the kind of accountability that thrives on so many streets in this country has gone missing in the places where it's needed most. but i know you'll still find it, when you know where to look. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more informa

lyndon johnson gave mrs. johnson a camera for her wedding gift.she became quite the photo journalist. she had an eight millimeter camera to capture home movies. we have hours and hours, as well as the recorder where mrs. johnson every night at the white house would record her daily observations. this became the basis for the book "the white house diary" a very insightful chronicling of those tumultuous years of the 1960's. in her later years, she kept up with her correspondence here at this desk. we also have mrs. johnson's closet with all of her lothing. her formal wear a. with the the ranch clothing, boots, hats, her colorful outfits. one of my favorites, her straw hat with the bluebonnets ainted on top. and then her private bathroom which is very reflective of family with all a of the photographs of those who mattered so much to her. and to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren she was known as mimi, a very, very special person in their lives. lady bird johnson had a great sense of history. and during her years in washington, she would ofte

this was all done on the anniversary of lyndon johnson's declaration for war on poverty.hat do you think of this idea of the promise zones across the country, the first five of which were unveiled on thursday? >> the president, i believe this is the program he made reference to in his state of the union a year ago. so there doesn't seem to be much of an urgency here since it's 13 months after he first mention e it. the devil is in the details. there wasn't a lot of details that came out. as you know, president reagan had the enterprise zones. if it's patterned after that, that encouraged school choice. i do believe tax incentives to move the economy forward. and so we're going to be patient. we're going to look at what the president is offering and but again, the devil is in the details. >> congressman van holland, i think many people were appreciative of the idea of the promise zones. ted cruz came out and said all of america needs to be a promise zone with reduced barriers to small businesses creating private sector jobs. do you agree or disagree with the premise that t

that began to click to lyndon johnson went to him and said it's time for you to do something on civil rights. lyndon johnson we think of as a southerner, or more progress on we spend president kennedy was initially. lyndon johnson spent a lot of his life teaching in segregated schools, mexican-american kids in texas and he said you need to put the moral authority of the presidency behind civil rights. finally, the last thing that happened was that the federal government was able to pressure the university of alabama to integrate peacefully, unlike the situation in mississippi the year before. and weren't riots that killed people. george wallace made a big show but then stepped aside and let the students enroll in alabama. that they can decide i want to go on tv tonight and i want to propose civil rights that the. >> been bugging me about. they hadn't even written a speech to the speech was being written as he was on live tv and they were handing in sheets of paper. at that point he said this is a moral issue. it's as clear as the cost vision is as old as -- it was a moral issue and th

the poverty that was so grinding at the time, lyndon johnson made the pronouncement. a safety net is something that is a real accomplishment. something we should be proud of. that said, we haven't expanded an opportunity society for people at the bottom. i'm sure jared would completely agree on this point. that if we actually don't expand opportunity, we haven't won the war. >> you do agree with the basic points at this point. you both have slightly different takes on how we should fix the problem or improve the sich wtun from here. arthur, what it the way you think this need to happen? >> key thing when you talk to advocates for the poor and poor people lifted out of poverty. number one is transformation. personal transformation. people in poverty. that means policies that don't get in the way of the precursors of success and happiness. faith, family, community, work. the government is in the way of those things too often. that's, that stops personal transformation and relief. relief is kind of what we talk about with welfare programs. most importantly, opportunity.

anniversary of president lyndon johnson's war on poverty.he supplemental poverty rate in 1967 was 20%. if you look at why it has to do ,ith a lot of the tax credits the food stamp program, medicaid, medicare, all of those great societies that provide us opportunities for people. we are a long way to go because we squeeze all of these initiatives and policies. primarily the tea party republican congress creating the job opportunities of people who are living or want ,o be lifted from the poverty they had those opportunities to get job training and jobs. what are the democrats solution? need to immediately extend unemployment, taxation. when you look at the fact that 11 million people have been killed -- have been kept from the ranks of the poor just by the emergency unemployment policy and programs, this is extremely important not only for those people to not fall into the ranks of the poor, but also for our economy and the economic benefits for people to receive unemployment compensation until they are able to sign for the job. we also need

it's 50 years since president lyndon johnson called for a war on poverty. we look at the successes and failures of that fight. >> in iraq the government in anbar says it has retaken the city of ramadi, a day after it was seized by militants linked to al qaeda. they remain on the edges of ramadi and fallujah, as local tribal leaders consider their next move. both cities are key regional centres and witnessed fighting. we have more from al jazeera's imran khan. >> after a standoff lasting days the iraqi army is ready to go to the city of fallujah, and fight the al qaeda-linked group i.s.i.l. the agreement to do so was heartfought. sunni tribes insisted they be part of the situation. others disagreed saying i.s.i.l. fighters were protecting fallujah. the standoff is an indication of the sunni tribe and shia-led government disagreements. nouri al-maliki now has an agreement to act. >> translation: there's increased coordination between the army and tribesman. the army provides the tribes with weapons and everything they need in the battle against the terrorists

>> well, when lyndon johnson announced it, there were several government programs that came into effectnt there was going to be health care the a elderly, early education for poor, and food aid. but here at this food bank, where people come, they say they are serving record numbers of people and they don't expect it is going to get better any time soon. this is the america u.s. politicians like to talk about, one of upward mobility, promise and wealth. >> the wealthiest nation on earth. >> reporter: but 50 years ago lyndon johnson has a different perspective when he declared a war on public defender's officerty. >> and we shall not rest until that war is won. the richest nation on earth can afford to win it. >> reporter: that was five decades ago when 19% of the nation lived in poverty, but then the war was working, the rate started to fall down to just about 11% in 1973, but since then it had climbed now back to 15% of the population. that translates into 46.5 million people who struggle for the basics of life, including 16 million children. this is one big reason for those numbers acc

senator rubio boldly gave that speech in the ram named for -- room named for lyndon johnson on capitol hill but has or anybody given a specific proefpl. gwen: they talk about income mobility. they don't give specifics. >> right. senator rubio got he talked about a flex fund, the taking the feds aid and turning it all over it the sort of a h is popular concept in the epublican party that the federal government should be doing less and states more. e also talked about a wage subsidy for low income folks. gwen: but that is about all he got to specifically. right. gwen: we will be waiting to see if it continues to be an argument. thank you all very much. to leave you for now. the conversation continues on line. tackle all the topics we didn't get to including the farm overhaul the spy program on the "washington week" 8:30 eastern and if that is not enough you can join e online next thursday at noon for my monthly "washington week" web chat. that is pbs.or pbs.org/"washington week." keep up with me and we will see ou here next week on "washington week." good night. funding for "washington w

you were the press secretary of lyndon johnson.was elected be there what was it like to be there? voice, thewant that voice that wanted to integrate, to be heard. what a dramatic and traumatic moment it was, a riveting moment. by the way, i did not become secretary -- press secretary for two years. that year i was the domestic policy advisor, working on politics. it was a dramatic and unfortunate moment because, i wish in retrospect, we had hamer,d fannie lou realized that that was where the future of the democratic party lay. >> could it be like north carolina democrat today? >> yes. his predicament was he wanted to carry as many southern states as he could. he wanted to bring progressive moderate democrats along with him in his campaign. had he embraced fannie lou hemmer, a moral thing to do, he thought would be politically costly. so he hammered out this compromise which was not satisfactory to either side, in order to preserve his political prowess and political opportunity to carry the south. and we did carry several states in

>>> this week, editorial report. 50 years after lyndon johnson declared war on poverty, president obama says poverty is still winning. and he is pushing forward with more government solutions. is there a better way? some prominent conservatives are weighing in. plus, former defense secretary robert gates making some waves with his new memoir. what it tells us about the president and his foreign policy. and new jersey governor chris christie at the center of a political scandal. are his 2016 presidential ambitions at risk? welcome to the journal editorial report. president obama marked the 50th anniversary of lyndon johnson's war on poverty this week declaring there is more work to be done. using the occasion to push a domestic agenda that includes an extension of long term jobless benefits, a minimum wage increase and a new government initiative to create economic promise zones. some prominent conservatives are coming out with anti-poverty plans of their own. and pushing back on the president's government approach. >> the current government programs that are designed to address poverty,

the war -- that lyndon johnson wanted to have it both ways. he wanted to do good things for the domestic agenda, for the great society, but he also wanted to have the war. tavis: it was a speech that asked if fear had turned americans into bullies. >> war is not the answer. communism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs and nuclear weapons. that is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. >> this speech was radical in the sense that it gave a pointed, accusing reminder of how far we had strayed from his main message, that nonviolence and democracy are a glove on a hand, they fit together, and war was corrupting our promise -- the promise of freedom. tavis: it was a speech that said nonviolence wasn't weakness, and that retaliation wasn't strength a position that remains as controversial today as it was then. there are those who think that your father's philosophy, king's philosophy, espoused in this place in 1967, woul

joy at -- george reidy who is invited by lyndon johnson 40 years ago wrote a book called the twilightf the president -- presidency and he said the biggest problem he could see coming for the presidency was being isolated from reality. i think of anything it has gotten worse since then because many of the factors i'm about to talk about. some of them are positive things in the presence day-to-day life. the president has these tremendous court -- perks of office. there is a giant white house staff to do whatever the president wants. there is a 132 household staff members in addition to the political staff. there is camp david, the presidential retreat and there is air force one and i wrote a book about air force one. i can tell you of the five presidentpresident s i have covered that's the thing they always say they miss the most and they leave office, the flying white house. you never have to wait and having traveling a lot lately it's a tremendous advantage never having your plane delayed. they clear a two-mile swath in the air for air force one so it's a wonderful way to travel and p

>> lyndon johnson and his reaction to the mississippi freedom democratic party.re's an interview we do with taylor branch's says, lyndon johnson has kind of a mini nervous breakdowns because he was so scared the mississippi freedom democratic already would disrupt the convention. johnson really thought that bobby kennedy had this whole plan if the convention was disrupted, bobby kennedy was gone a step in and take the nomination from him. . >> this is a year after -- that even a year after the assassination of john kennedy. >> anyone around at that time knows that is preposterous. lyndon johnson was the hero at this point because he took over the presidency but he really felt that would happen. so he is behind the scenes trying to destroy the party. even more amazingly, he has tape-recorded all of his phone calls when he talks about this stuff. candidly and openly about how he is going to maneuver and don't put my name in, don't let them know i'm doing it. his role in that is something that is hard to be believed. >> gives the speech when fannie lou hamer gives h

i think it is a sign that president obama, the first time since lyndon johnson has made this a centralart of the political discussion with his speech. the president obama speech about the inequality is the challenge of our time. which we have not heard a president say since johnson 50 years ago and i think that when we see the republicans now trying to do it where they have it both ways and they distort history is laughable, other than it's so sad you have 50 million americans today that does need what president obama's trying to do, what we must do now is generate that kind of movement around that inequality, which king died trying to do and some of those with him tried to continue, but they ran right into the nixon, reagan, bush backlash, which was the majority of the last half century. >> is there political appetite in the constituency on the right in the republican party for any kind of determined effort to get something done about poverty? >> i don't know if there's a political appetite among the republican rank and file, but there's a political need, because many of them are livi

president lyndon johnson war on poverty.n 1967 the federal government sent 490 million to detroit to fight the 36% poverty rate, funding low income housing and social programs. in the summer of that year, this. a domestic rebellion, rioters destroyed blocks, dozens killed, thousands injured. >> 1967 was first and foremost about police brutality and violence against people in the neighbourhoods in the inner city of detroit, and the lack of economic opportunity. they were the two things that the poverty program was not set up to address. sheila was an activist and member of the detroit city council. the fiction is it was a model city. >> it was a fiction that exploded. autoplants and middle class jobs moved to the suburbs. a tide the war on poverty could not stop. >> we thought we'd be a model of good race relation, we weren't. once the riots destroyed that notion, the population left the city. >> many that stayed did not trust the top-down approach. some programs worked. the mum and totsic -- tots clinic was one of them. moth