with us tonight, celebrated author and presidential historian michael beschloss. ave the president calling inflation his stop economic priority, certainly a priority for american families. your thoughts on his decision to acknowledge this ongoing investigation? >> first of all, wonderful to see you, as always, alicia. i think he was absolutely right. you know, you can think of all the things the president has done bad in life, they got us into the wars that they shouldn't have. people have died as a result of bad decisions. some of them have wrecked the economy. that doesn't come anywhere close to what happened on the 6th of january. increasingly, we're finding out, thanks largely to the january 6th committee, that donald trump was behind that effort to destroy our democracy, and take it away. joe biden was elected president in november. we elected him. we had the right to have joe biden serve, whether you voted for him or not. donald trump, on the 6th of january, by instigating this attack on congress and the capitol, tried to take that away from us. we could have

michael beschloss is our resident historian as well. i'll let you go at it, because these are the parallels, right? both presidents wanted to remain president, wanted to cling to power. they had two very different method, but, you know, i personally feel that setting up your vice president for execution takes it a notch higher than watergate but i'll leave it to you. you're the historian. >> no, i think it does take it a notch higher than watergate, and, you know, i grew up always thinking that watergate was a terrible scandal and maybe the worst american political history and until donald trump it probably was. but richard nixon never dreamt of doing things like disrupting the peaceful transfer of power which as both of you well known is a foundation stone of american democracy and also he didn't like spiro agnew, and i'm not going to call him michael steele's favorite republican. michael has evolved since he was in maryland politics at that day, long after spiroing a, new but the point is nixon didn't like him, wanted to get rid of hi

we'll talk with michael beschloss about that, coming up tonight. will tell you just logistically, one thing to note about these hearings, in terms of making your plans to watch the primetime hearing, this week, and to stay up on these hearings, as they continue through next week. we, of course, we'll be covering the genuine sucks hearings, live, right here on msnbc. as i mentioned, the first prime time will start at 7 pm, this thursday night. i will be helping anchor that coverage, joined by many of my colleagues, including chris hayes, nicole wallace, joy reid, lawrence, already, lots of different folks from nbc. it will be a team effort in covering the january 6th hearings, starting with our special coverage this thursday night at 7 pm eastern. but i also wanna let you know, on top of that, not only are we gonna be airing the hearings live here on msnbc as they happen, so you can plan ahead. i want to also to know that all of the hearings are also gonna be available on the podcast feed for this show. the hearings themselves and the hearing analys

to paraphrase our esteemed nbc presidential historian michael beschloss, never before have we heard testimony this shocking about a president of the united states. and we begin tonight with donald trump's determination to personally lead the insurrection at the capitol on january 6th. to hang on to power, no matter the cost. this is what was revealed in bombshell tome by cassidy hutchinson, a former top aide to mark meadows. it was made clear that trump knew the dangers that existed on the day of the insurrection. hutchinson testified she heard the names of the extremist groups the oath keepers and the proud boys brought up during planning meetings for the january 6th rally. quote, when mr. giuliani would be around. and she said the justice department's national security division warned that some maga supporters were going to try to, quote, occupy federal buildings and invade the capitol building. most alarming, trump was made aware the very morning of january 6th that many of those at his rally were carrying an array of dangerous weapons. >> i remember tony mentioning knives, guns, in the fo

and michael beschloss joins me now. it was shocking from beginning to end.mp throwing food was like the least shocking thing. i can see nixon throwing food, right? expound upon your tweet. what did you find the most jaw dropping today? >> well, that this is -- this president, who is such a hypocrite for five years plus even before he was president, he said on the 1st of june, 2020, at the time of the protests and the wake of the deplorable death of george floyd, he went in the rose garden and said i am your law and order president. that's only under certain circumstances, like dictators in history loves to unleash violence when it is in his interest. you and i remember the rallies of his in the 2016 when he encouraged people in the crowd to rough it up and said to the police, you know, don't be too easy on them. this is what dictators, this is what authoritarians do. so, trump's claim after 6th of january was i may have given a fiery speech at the ellipse, but that was it. and i watched this on television. and these people went up to the capitol on their own

brian williams, michael beschloss, melody barnes, welcome and thank you so much for being here. now of course we want to play some of these types get your reactions to them. but let's talk a moment about what these are and why they were made they have come to light over the year. and michael, i think your experience with the case back at least in the 1990s if not further back pretty can you talk a little bit about how you first discovered the tape and little bit about how they came to light over the years that followed. michael: yes, i was having dinner with my friends and i always say, with joe dimaggio of presidential library directors i think markey would agree with that read and this was about 1993 or 1994 as having dinner with him and the jockey club in washington. and the owner date longer time aid in public service in other ways. caribbean talking to me about these types they said know they existed and i said, i had heard that he had made some of those conversations but how many could be actually taped. and harry said, will over 700 hours and they go from the beginning of

michael beschloss is nbc news'presidential historian. that history of rebellion. and we have former obama adviser chai komanduri on the rhetorical and communication challenges of holding the nation's attention in the coming hearings. michael, i begin with you on your thoughts on that bit of history the chairman shared and how it applies. >> i am so glad he mentioned it and i'm so glad you mentioned it, ari. here's a case where what people were saying at the end of the civil war -- people from the north, the victious side -- said we've won the civil war. but we are in danger. because without an oath like this that will keep these people out of positions of public trust, who is to say that old confederate senators will not run for the senate again and get elected? and they will use their purchase in the senate to try to have another civil war? and another offense against the federal government, just as happened in fort sumter, with the firing on fort sumter of 1861. and they were absolutely right. because, as you both know, there was a con

please join me in welcoming melody barnes, michael beschloss, ryan williams and the director of the lbj library, mark willens. >> thank you, mark. thanks so much to the miller center for this wonderful partnership, that has resulted in this terrific new website that makes available more widely, and with more contacts than ever for these remarkable telephone recordings from the johnson presidency. i now have the huge privilege of welcoming three extraordinary individuals. who are going to help us think about these conversations and think about the 36 president of the united states and the times in which he lived. it is truly a dream team of commentators to help us with this task. i want, first of all, to welcome melody barnes, who is that dorothy danforth professor and co-director of the democracy initiative at the university of virginia. melody served as a senior domestic policy adviser to president obama, and in 2020, hosted the award winning podcast, lbj and the great society, a project that made very extensive use of the lgbt recordings. next, i would like to welcome michael beschlos

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at some point a hard act to follow in these partisan times for perspective tonight, historian michael beschlossnbc news contributor michael, 2022 is no 1973 how in many ways will this be different tomorrow >> well, in more ways than one, shep glad to see you. 1973, if you were someone who watched tv, and i did, i was 17 years old that summer, 1973, there are basically three networks, nbc, abc, cbs. very fledgling pbs would rerun the hearings in the evening. the point is if you turned on your tv, you were likely to see those hearings during the day. >> what can the committee learn from how those hearings were prosecuted there was less showmanship, more focus on the evidence. >> it was in a time that was long ago and far away. both parties voted for this committee. both parties more or less supported this investigation and both parties at the endof it when it revealed that richard nixon had done things that might have violated the constitution, could have sent him to jail, three republicans went to the white house in 1974 and told their president, you have to go. >> i want to read you a short exc

jennifer palmieri, tim miller, michael beschloss, also with us. al precedent for a decision this unpopular? >> sure. but we have to go back to 1857, dred scott decision, that actually did lead to civil war. and by no means suggesting that this decision is the equivalent of dred scott, but sometimes, there is a decision in the supreme court that is so shocking to a majority of americans that it leads to consequences that we do not want. this was almost naked leak rule, the way that this was done this morning. it's essentially saying just two thirds of the american people, just as we've been saying, my dear friend, stephanie, that even though a vast majority prefers to have abortion rights available much more easily, you know, we are talking on the ballot, on the supreme court, we are now in charge, so we're only having but more couple of years. but at the earliest opportunity, we're gonna do this in the most angry and overwhelming way possible. that's not the way it's been done usually in history. and when it's done this way, just like 1857, it make

with me to discuss, michael beschloss. >> always glad to see you, chris. >> thank you.brits, even those who might not consider themselves fans of the royal family, there is great admiration for the queen, her longevity, her consistency through a lot of turbulent times. without eulogizing her prematurely, talk about the queen. >> she bound together the love and she knew eleanor roosevelt, advised winston churchill. just think about it, chris, this week in 1944 she was 18, saying good-bye to british parachute jumpers who she knew were going to die on d-day. people love the queen but we don't know whether they love the monarchy and that remains to be seen. >> that brings me to my next question. world leaders and presidents and prime ministers come and go. what do you think will inevitably be part of the change of the monarchy? is it going to be a question about not just can it survive but how it survives? >> well, take a look at the poll numbers at england right now. you look at younger people, they don't have the feelings about the monarchy that older people do. not many

good to have you all on board. >> we had michael beschloss, talking about the tyranny of the minority. you just start stacking all of this up, and it shows what -- where we are as a country right now, where the united states government is. you have on roe, a case that 73% of americans believed needed to be upheld. you can go back years looking at gallup polls. rarely be one-third of americans want roe v. wade to be overturned. in the past weeks since babies were slaughtered in uvalde, we told you about the same thing we have told you since sandy hook, that about 90% of americans want universal background checks. 90%. and yet republicans ignore the 90%. and they protect the extremists that make up the, oh, i don't know, make 5, 6, 7% that are against universal background checks. you look the at united states senate and look at the fact that the republican party hasn't represented a majority of americans in the united states senate since the 1996 election. i've talked about madeleine albright's funeral, you look on the front row, and there you see joe biden, barack obama, hillary clinto

jennifer palmieri, tim miller, michael beschloss, also with us. michael, is there historical precedent for a decision this unpopular? >> sure. but we have to go back to 1857, dred scott decision, that actually did lead to civil war. and by no means suggesting that this decision is the equivalent of dred scott, but sometimes, there is a decision in the supreme court that is so shocking to a majority of americans that it leads to consequences that we do not want. this was almost naked leak rule, the way that this was done this morning. it's essentially saying just two thirds of the american people, just as we've been saying, my dear friend, stephanie, that even though a vast majority prefers to have abortion rights available much more easily, you know, we are talking on the ballot, on the supreme court, we are now in charge, so we're only having but more couple of years. but at the earliest opportunity, we're gonna do this in the most angry and overwhelming way possible. that's not the way it's been done usually in history. and when it's done this wa

joining us now, presidential historian michael beschloss.ave been wanting to talk to you about a couple of unusual historical precedents. obviously, unusual because they are precedence. a president pressuring his vice president to overturn an election that the president lost, when did that happen before? we have evidence. we will hear more today about what trump said to mike pence that morning. we know what he tweeted. we know he agreed hanging mike pence was a good idea along the way, at key moments. also, just how unusual it would be to interview and subpoena the wife of a supreme court justice. >> well, yeah. we are seeing things, andrea, we have never seen before in american history. as you know, i have sons who are in their 20s and people younger, i'm a little worried that people who have not lived for a lot of american history, who haven't studied it think this is a normal thing. we are looking into the coup that almost removed the incoming president of the united states joe biden or a vice president urged to cheat and steal the electi

lawrence o'donnell, michael beschloss, could not have found two better people to talk to us tonight.be right back. u tonight. tonight. thank you very to help prevent bleeding gums, try saying hello gumwash we will be right back. it kills 99% of plaque bacteria and forms an antibacterial shield. try parodontax active gum health mouthwash. i've lived in san francisco for 20 years. i'm raising my kids here. this city is now less safe for all of us. chesa boudin is failing to hold repeat offenders accountable. he prosecuted zero fentanyl drug dealing cases, even though nearly 500 people have died of overdoses. i'm voting yes on h to recall chesa boudin now. we can't wait one more day when people are dying on our streets. what a world, in which we will regulate machine guns to keep mobsters from slaughtering each other but cannot legislate to keep our children alive, and make sure they are still breathing when we pick them up. that is tonight's reidout, all in with chris hayes starts right now. good evening, chris. all in with chris hayes good evenin. we appreciate it. i'm chris hayes. as

joining us now nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss.ed this very composed, 26 years old, former white house staffer who literally sat right at the gates of the power center of the trump white house. we know that that is what she did. that was her job. everyone came to her. rudy giuliani came to her to get trump to go to the capitol on the 6th. cipollone came to her barreled down the hall to stop the president from committing crimes. what is your sense of how -- what we learned yesterday will either change or endure through time? >> oh, i think it's going to endure, first of all, honored to be with you as always, nicolle. thank you for asking me. i think -- i can't see any way that this is not an historic day what happened yesterday unless you can believe that this investigation is going to stop with our witness yesterday and go no further. you know, to use the watergate parallel, i hesitate to say that because what trump has done is just about the worst thing an american president can do. as we now know, unleashing potential violence in

so, michael beschloss, thank you so much for your knowledge in asking the tough questions. >> my pleasurealways, thank you. >> always a pleasure. thank you. >> my country is litigating already firmly establish rights from over 50 years ago. about who has access to the ballot box, and whether a woman has agency over her own body. before roe v. wade, before the constitutional rights to an abortion, and next we will look back on the fight for women's liberation, and the new fight ahead. we will be right back. we will be right back. (coughing) ♪ breeze driftin' on by ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ copd may have gotten you here, but you decide what's next. start a new day with trelegy. ♪ ...feelin' good ♪ no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trele

to paraphrase our esteemed nbc presidential historian michael beschloss, never before have we heard testimonymination to personally lead the insurrection at the capitol

michael beschloss, thank you very much. >>> still ahead on "morning joe" house select committee member join us to weigh in on the significance of yesterday's hearing. they have more hearings they're preparing. >>> plus, the committee wanted to speak with ginni thomas, wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas. but her lawyer is throwing cold water on the prospect of a voluntary interview. >> oh, i thought she wanted to testify. i'm confused. >> she has so much to say. >> but i'm confused i thought she wanted to talk. >> i guess not. >> politico joins us with the new reporting on that. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. g "morning " we'll be right back. isn't that right phil? sorry, i'm a little busy. what in the world are you doing? i'm in the metaverse, bundling my home and auto insurance. why don't you just do that in the real world? um, because now i can bundle in space. watch this. save up to 25% when you bundle home and auto. call a local agent or 1-888-allstate for a quote today. psst. girl. you can do better. call a local agent or 1-888-allstate ok. wow. i'm

joining us is presidential historian michael beschloss.trying to use it as its own arm to overturn the election. >> we've seen nothing like this. it was the two years that william bar was attorney general. i've heard people say that because william bar resigned a paltry 14 days before the january 6th coup and insurrection against the united states and federal government that he's some kind of hero. if i might say the idea that bill barr is any kind of hero, that idea is bull, i guess b.s. i'm allowed to say but it's a word that bill barr loves to use and use in those videos shown by the january 5th committee. this is a guy who removed the wall that's supposed to be there between the justice department and the presidency, he garbled the mueller report and went after political enemies in the justice department and used it as a personal law firm to help friend and a hero other than bill barr wouldn't have issued a telegram, a message to trump saying he was proud to work for him and that person, unlike bill barr, would have held a press confer

michael beschloss and kim wine-banks assistant to the president during watergate.capitol. joining me now senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake. >> willie, good morning. this was the centerpiece of the case the committee is trying to make about a vast conspiracy to overturn the election results. yesterday we heard from witness after witness who described this public and private pressure campaign which was really setting up donald trump and mike pence on the other side with a constitutional crisis right there in the middle. in its most explosive hearing yet, the january 6th committee zeroed in on former president trump's extraordinary pressure campaign against his own vice president to overturn the 2020 election. >> what the president wanted the vice president to do was not just wrong. it was illegal and unconstitutional. >> in newly revealed testimony close aides and advisors detailing a private phone call between the president and vice president the morning of the 6th. >> the conversation was -- was pretty heated. >> remember hearing the word "wimp." eith

. >> joining us now is nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss.f anyone better to talk to today. chairman bennie thompson said our democracy remains in danger. how close did we come to losing our democracy on january 6th? >> we came as close as we ever have in more than 200 years on a day like this. when have we seen a coup d'etat like this? a plot to destroy our democratic system at the center of that system is peaceful transition of presidential power. the question is, was president trump behind this? was he at the center of it? we will probably know by the time we finish watching these hearings. if he was, he violated his oath to defend the constitution. this was just about the worst thing that a president -- presidents have done some pretty terrible things over 200 years. i can't think of anything much worse than a president waging a coup to try to keep himself in office even though he was not elected, and the result of this could be to dismantle our democratic system. that's not what a conservative who leads in law and order does. >> michael,