it was back in 1971, at a similarly tense time between the nixon administration and the press.e pentagon papers were leaked by daniel elsberg. they showed the administration had continued to send soldiers into the slaughterhouse in ve t slaughterhouse in veelt name knowing for years the war was unwinnable. bradley and graham became one of the greatest partnerships in journalism in the united states. but their relationship wasn't always easy. >> so, can i ask you a hypothetical question. >> oh, dear, i don't like hypothetical questions. >> don't think you will like the real one either. >> do you have the papers? >> not yet. >> meryl streep, tom hanks, welcome to the program. >> nice to be here. >> incredible film. really what incredible timing. i understand it was rushed into production. its that trie is that right? >> yes, it was. i believe that steven got the script in march. >> yeah. >> we started shooting in may. he finished at the end of july. and two weeks later here, had it cut. nobody makes a film that fast. >> actually this film is even more relevant because of who was

helen: that was during the nixon administration. and president nixon was for it. i supported it. and i cannot tell you who else supported it, but we passed it, as i recall. didn't we? matt: it passed in the house and it went to the states. kathleen: but not enough states ratified it. helen: but we did do it, we passed it. what a bunch of bums. matt: where do you want to go to? kathleen: what were your feelings about the importance of women in leadership? when you are in congress, lynn martin on the republican side was one of the leaders. how important do you think that was? helen: i was very glad to see lynn there. again, it opened the door for other women. and i think that was important. she did a great job in her position, and she helped other women. kathleen: did you have any leadership aspirations? helen: no, i did not. kathleen: why is that? helen: too much work. i had enough work. kathleen: [laughter] matt: did you serve as a mentor to any women during your career? any of the younger members? helen: let me say this. no, not members here. i have been cited frequently by youn

thoughts were about the importance of having the e.r.a. >> i worked to -- that was during the nixon administration and president nixon was for it. i supported it. and i can't tell you who else supported it. but we passed it as i recall -- didn't we? >> it passed in the house and i went to the states. >> but not enough states ratified it. >> and the states didn't do it. yeah. but we did do it, pass it. what a bunch of bums. >> what did you think about lynn martin? >> i was glad to see lynn there. it opened the door for other women and that was important. she did a great job in her position and she helped other women. >> did you ever have leadership aspirations? >> no. i do not. >> why is that? >> too much work. i had enough work. >> did you serve as a mentor to women in your career? >> let me say this -- no, not members here. but i have been cited frequently by young ladies in my district who come up to me and say you were my mentor. i hear that frequently still. they tell me what i had done and accomplished they were following me. let me tell you something. just happened the other day. the baltimo

the first major test of the environmental protection agency which had been created in the nixon administration and grew out of the growing recognition that the environment needed to be protected. it was the geological survey and others who said you can't do that because of the poor soil conditions and you need to elevate the pipeline. so this was developed in response to environmental worries that if you wanted this to last and not damage the environment, you had to take a bath of special precautions. these are designed to help keep the soil frozen far underneath where we are standing and to keep it stable. it is set up here to move back and forth in case of an earthquake in they do move the pipeline from side to side. but it's a fairly strong and good environmental record. malcolm of the notable exception is the exxon valdez oil spill which is not a modern thing at all. it was a major catastrophe. while that was not on the land portion of the 800-mile project that was a perk of the system. to understand the time that it was built, it's important to go back and remember that in the 1970s the o

amendment, and your thoughts on the importance of having the e.r.a. >> that was during the nixon administration, and president nixon was for it. i supported it. and i can't tell you who else supported it, but we passed it, as i recall. didn't we? >> it passed in the house, and it went to the state. >> but not enough states ratified. >> and the state did not do it, yep. but we did pass it. what a bunch of bombs. -- bums. >> what were your feelings about the importance of having women in leadership. when you were in congress, lynn martin, on the republican side, was one of the leaders. how important do you think that was? >> i was very glad to see lynn there. again, and opened the door for other women, and i think that was important. she did a great job in her position and she helped other women. >> did you ever have any leadership aspirations? >> no, i did not. >> why is that? >> too much work, i had enough work. >> did you serve as a mentor to any women during your career, any of the younger members? >> let me say this, not members, here. but, i had been cited frequently by young ladies in my d

helen: that was during the nixon administration. and president nixon was for it. i supported it. and i cannot tell you who else supported it, but we passed it, as i recall. didn't we? >> it passed in the house and it went through the states. >> but not enough states ratified it. helen: but we did do it, we passed it. bums. bunch of >> where do you want to go to? what is your feeling about the importance of women in leadership? how important do you think that was? glad. i was very door for opened the other women. and i think that was important. she did a great job in her position. and she helped other women. did you have any leadership aspirations? helen: no, i did not. >> why is that? helen: too much work. i had enough work. serve as a mentor to any women during your career? any of the younger members? helen: let me say this. no, not members here. but i have been cited frequently districtladies in my who coming up to me and say, -- say, youup to me and are my mentor, and i hit it frequently still. they tell me that what i had done and accomplished, they were following me. somethi

charged with keeping up the target list up to date, keeping it constantly updated, so the nixon administration could maximize the fact of our incumbency, maximize the fact they controlled the presidency to persons known to be opposite to our administration. john dean wrote that memo at the white house on tomorrow's date in 1971. less than two years later in the summer of 1973, john dean decided he was going to let the whole world know about that. not only the plan in general but specifically the constantly updated lists of enemies. >> i do, of course, know and as i have submitted in documents other agencies were involved in seeking politically embarrassing information on individuals who were thought to be enemies of the white house. i might also add in my possession is a rather -- very much down the lines of what you're talking about, is a memorandum that was requested by me to prepare a means to attack the enemies of the white house. there was also maintained what was called an "enemies list" rather extensive and continually updated. >> i'm not going to ask who was on it. [ laughter ] >> i'm

chairwoman of the federal maritime commission which made her the highest ranking woman in the nixon administration. she also discussed her run for congress. much of the winning election to interview focused on her career before the house. a second conversation was planned, but the former congresswoman died in august 2016, just months after this was recorded. u.s. hou o

chairwoman of the federal maritime commission which made her the highest ranking woman in the nixon administration. she also discusses her run for congress. much of the interview focuses on her career before winning election to the house. a second conversation was planned, but the former congresswoman died in august 2016, just months after this was recorded. the u.s. house of representatives' office of the historian conducted this interview which is about one hour and 20 minutes. >> my name is kathleen johnson. i'm here today with matt wasniewski, the house historian the date is march 21, 2016. we are in the house recording studio in the rayburn house office building, and we're with

, with nixon administration in 1964, watergate becomes another blow to that trust in institutions. i'll leave it there. thank you for coming. >> tonight at 8 pm eastern, a 1968, america in turmoil. we look at the presidential campaign. we will discuss the cast of characters and events dominating 1968 presidential politics. we will discuss the cast of characters and events dominating 1968 presidential politics, robert f kennedy's assassination, televised clashes between chicago police and protesters during the democratic national convention and richard nixon's decisive victory. watch 1968, america in turmoil, tonight at 8 pm eastern on american history tv, on cspan3. >> senate confirmation hearings for brett kavanaugh to be a supreme court justice are to be expected in september. senators are likely to question brett kavanaugh about roe versus wade, tonight at 8 pm eastern, cspan3's landmark cases presents an in-depth look at roe versus wade. we will also hear from los angeles times supreme court supporter david savage. >> cspan, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, cspan was creat

>> no, it's far worse than anything that occurred during the nixon administration. xon did not attack the press as a group. he did not do anything which intended to incite violence against the press. he did many things which were inappropriate, and i think he would have been and should have been impeached if he had not resigned. but donald trump is a far more evil and dangerous man, and he is, i think, trying to intimidate the press. he is encouraging his followers to conduct violence against the press. the great shame is that the rest of the republican party, which spoke out against nixon, is, with a few exceptions, not doing what they should be doing, which is defending the constitution and siding with the rest of us and saying this man has to go. >> so, you know, i guess part of the media, you know, and you are now sort of de facto, right, by extension, so you're enemies of the people. i'm wondering what it was like living as someone he pointed out specifically, one person as an enemy of the president of the united states. >> you're asking me how i felt to be on t

he got sued by the nixon administration. nixon came up with the southern strategy.ions to be attorney general, jeff sessions was too racist for republicans 30 years ago. well, in his explanation, well i have not said these words. at the end of the day we don't need a tape to know that donald trump is racist. i was in washington, d.c., i diplomat hear anybody says the "n" word but i am sure those guys are racist. the idea that he can hide behind this and makes a distinction of educated or non educated black people are why. >> franklin knows him very well and said to me today that no doubt that donald trump pulls his move on john brennan today to change the subject from omarosa and make sure that the questions today were not about is there a recording of donald trump using the "n" word. >> of course, he did. this is time and time as we see something happens. they have it on file now and ready to go and undated and ready to release and i am sure we'll see it more time. >> it was dated july 26th, we actually see on the document that they have been sitting with this sinc

nixon. he could go places johnson could perhaps not go. what do all new administrations have? >> a grace period, a short grace period to do something without too much judgment. >> oh, yeah. and nixon believes -- go ahead. >> the original question was what do all new administrations have. you have a campaign plan of promises you made to the american people to carry out. so whatever his platform was, it is his responsibility to carry out. >> oh, yeah, this is johnson's war and you have to end it before it becomes nixon's war. and he believes that the vast silent majority of americans back him. in fact, after those large moratorium marches where the newspapers and the tv show, all these people marching against the war, immediately following that he gives that speech. i know the vast majority of you guys don't like what's going on in america. it's interesting after he gives that speech the polls say 68% of the electorate follow him, 68% approval rating. and that's -- think about approval ratings today. it's hard to get americans to get a 68% rating that kicking puppies is bad. so h

nixon saying this may have a blackjack in it. he can go place that is johnson, perhaps, could not go. what do all new administrations have? >> a grace period. >> what's that? >> a grace period. a short grace period to do something without too much judgment. >> oh, yeah. and nixon believes -- go ahead. >> i think the original question was what do all new administrations v you have a campaign plan that you made a promise to the people. so whatever his platform was, he has a responsibility to carry out. >> it is johnson's war and you have to end it before it becomes nixon's war. and he believes that the silent majority of americans back him. want peace with honor. in fact, after those large moratorium marches where the newspapers and tv shows, all these people marching against the war. and immediately following, he gives that speech. i think the majority of you guys don't like what is going on in america. it's interesting that after he gives that speech, the polls say that 68% of the electorate follow him. 68% approval rating. think about approval ratings today. it is hard to get americans to get a 68% approval rating that ki

chair of the federal maritime commission, which made her the highest ranking woman in the nixon administrational histories sunday mornings at 10:00 eastern. >>> american history tv every weekend starting at saturday morning until monday morning at 8:00. >>> saturday at 11:00 a.m. eastern on cspan, live coverage of the democratic national committee's summer meeting in chicago to decide on changes to the party's presidential nominating process, including the role of superdelegates. watch live saturday at 11:00 a.m. eastern on cspan, cspan.org, or listen on the cspan radio app. >>> university of connecticut professor manisha sinha teaches a class about the reconstruction era after the civil war. she outlines the different ways historians have interpreted this period, either as a success of the rights granted under the constitutional amendments or as a failure since it did not achieve equality for african-americans. this hour 15-minute class is from our lectures in history series. >>> why is it called reconstruction? because we are talking about the

the 1971 or 72 period there was much more encouragement and help to the families is by the nixon administration than there had been before. there was more help for the families at that time. military people have a tendency to be more conservative. >> we have a map and it shows end of china and vietnam. where was the carrier you were flying from? >> we were further north than that. -- they unfairly some bombing missions we went on shorebe 15 minutes to the and drop and return. because there was no threat to the ships, we sometimes stayed fairly no -- close to the coast. >> want to show them for perspective where it is. china is right here. you come down in your into the hanoi area. laos, and ife is you move over to thailand, the air force bases were up in the vietnamese border. and andike eudora others. and we force would find would have to flight missions and they would be off of the coast. for a long time during the war, vietnam was divided through the air force had the responsibility for those on the thailand side and the western side and eastern side. later in the war, we went on coordinated

better and better, and the skepticism infused politics, and then of course, with the end of the nixon administration, with nixon's resignation in 1964, watergate becomes another blow to that trust in institutions and the people who will ruling us, and a further breakdown on both right and left in this faith, authority, and organization. i will leave it there, thank you for coming. >> i will look at the 1968 presidential campaign continues in a moment. coming up, the 1968 new hampshire primary with panelists who were involved in the campaign. then, an overview of the presidential campaign, where richard nixon won the republican nomination, hubert humphrey was on the democratic ticket, and george wallace ran as an independent. we are able to show you these american history tv programs, normally shown on the weekends, because congress is on break. if you missed any of today's programs, you can see that again tonight at eight eastern. you can also listen to the programs as a podcast on spotter fire, or watch any time on c-span.org, on our 1968 page. our cspan series continues throughout the week here on

in all, dozens of nixon administration and campaign aides were convicted and at least ten major figures served jail time. nixon, of course, was pardoned by his successor, gerald ford. all this is a reminder that every administration has its scandals and bad apples but it reveals that not every administration is the same when it comes to what donald trump once called "a culture of government corruption." less than two years into his administration, trump may be on pace to equal or exceed the number set by his swampiest predecessor, richard nixon, that's your reality check. >> may get tired of winning when it comes to that race. >> not a race you want to win. >> thank you for the reality check, john. >> absolutely. >>> a whole lot of news. some new statements by the president we have to dive into. let's get to it. >> it's called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal. >> he wants to turn his life into television. >> failing to report a lawful contribution is the political equivalent of jaywalking. >> we've heard every story known to mankind from donald trump. >> the democrats are gett

>> as they say, birds of a feather flock together and the same thing that happened in the nixon administration where you had a lot of cash flowing overflowing saves in the white house. and the same thing is happening here, you have cohen, gates, and manafort all underreporting income. and the person that is missing from the list is donald trump. and that is because we haven't seen his tax returns. we know he has been in bankruptcy. and he was getting money from overseas. >> i should note there, michael cohen is being investigated for this he has not been charged with anything and that is not true of paul manafort who is on trial for this. and rick gates who admitted to doing it today. >> how we live in a world where the president's closest are under investigation for tax fraud and we still haven't seen his taxes. >> this question i have, paul manafort was able to get away with this for years. he was seen as a sketchy guy and in fact even in the opening statements, how come the irs never got to him and how guilty can he be. >> people can get a lot. one of the lessons of paul manafort if he is f

go back to the nixon administration, trump real estate companies wouldn't rent to black people, the better certificate, mexicans are racists -- rapists, a long life issues with this president, 29% of americans think he is racist according to quinnipiac. i don't need romarrosa's a book. >> you are stringing together all kinds of allegations and saying the president is racist. we have a -- >> you are saying you want to believe this book is true when you're looking at the evidence that it is not. >> build his whole presidential campaign which started with the birther issue denying barack obama is an american citizen, saying he was kenyan. your feelings are hurt. it is pretty overwhelming but if you look at the real numbers the idea of black unemployment at record low levels, black approval has doubled since last year of the president of the united states and plenty of people are starting to realize the racial politics surrounding this are being used to undermine him when he is focused not on race or going after people based on that but advancing most americans. that the message he is trying t

appointment as chair of the maritime commission making her the highest ranking woman in the nixon administration. oral history sunday at 10:00. >>> every weekend starting at 8:00 eastern through monday morning at 8:00. >>> saturday at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, live coverage of the democratic national committee summer meeting in chicago to decide on changes to the party's presidential nominating process include the role of super-delegates and watch on c-span or listen on the free c-span radio app. >>> sunday night on afterwards. economist dambisa moyo talks about why democrat is failing to deliver economic growth and how to fix it. she's interviewed by jason furman from the economic advisers during the obama administration. >> you wrote a book which is quite a lot about politics and draws a lot on political science. why do you do that? >> the most important thing i think in terms of motivation for writing the book is born out of frustration and i talk about in the book, actually write my interest and my academic back ground are in economics. but if you think about the global economy today, th

that would never happen though in the nixon administration is they did not execute that in the enemy attack where as the trump presidency, we are seeing the execution first and explanation afterwards. >> carl, it has been interesting to watch the reaction and many democrats have criticized the president move here, the republicans largely there has been some exceptions, they have either supported the president's move against brennan or shrugging it off as it is not important. when you hear a similar thing from admiral mcraven, he had special operation forces and he commanded the osama bin laden mission, could me be dismissed and put in the category? >> he see donald trump put in that category and acting and seeking and undermine creditability and as well as punish for those who speak the truth. there is no reason to respect and what john dean is talking about and what we are seeing here both in the nixon's presidency and trump's presidency are not authoritarian actions. we are seeing mayriad, a good number of actions by president trump and those are some of the things that the special

carterred nixon, ford, and the reagan administration. he was then based in london and was nbc's chief foreign correspondent. he became chief white house correspondent under the presidency of george h w bush. in 1984. abc news from 2001-2011, he was the network senior washington correspondent and retired at that time. thate to give a shout out john cochran is a graduate of the university of alabama and a good friend. role tied, welcome john. [applause] my next guest is christie arsons. she is the senior editor at the atlantic and director of the talent lab. it's a position she has held since may? is that right? for the besting and brightest young journalists for the magazine. if you have students that christie needs to know, come see her. house ford the white the last on his list times for a decade and was political writer for the chicago tribune for many years before that. she is -- has recorded from many different countries and most notably for our conversation rise of she charted the barack obama from the illinois statehouse to the sen

i was in the nixon administration. and during that time we have the 10% import surcharge. and it led to having a stock market. it's not the right thing to do. we get free trade as a result. it will be the biggest coup that this president has ever pulled off. and i'm hoping and wishing on getting this done. i've a couple of other things i want to get with you on. the markets are looking great. i want to ask about the breaking news that we head in the last couple of hours. it was up in the hamptons for a fundraiser. he was complaining about jerome foul. pretty slow and steady if you ask some. what was that a fair criticism of him. >> i would like to see market rates where they had cleared the markets. they were 21 and a half percent. they were way too high. they came down to where they should have done. what you need to do is have a market rate determined by demand and supply. you will have no investment in the community whatsoever. there will be no funding if you get rates to high know he wants to buy a house. it's right at the proper level. i think jerome foul is moving an

hearing looking into the obstruction of justice and other criminal activities going on in the nixon administration. this is far worse and yet congress is doing absolutely nothing. it's pathetic. >> ken, how does this week of real news undercut the pr effort led by the president to undercut robert mueller himself? >> it's much more difficult for him to do that now and part of the reason is that the investigation is in new york and it's not something that he can put his finger on the scales as it relates to the justice department and try to have his also be heard. he can't really control the investigation led in new york and so, you know, what we're seeing, i think, internally is frustration by the president and almost a sense of numbness among a lot of aids that this is just another shoot a drop in there. it's just harder for them to project a strong narrative heading into the midterm elections. he was in ohio tonight trying to rev up the state party that, you know, there's been a lot of the friction between the president and governor kasich. but this whole investigation speaks to the challenge tha

richard nixon -- i don't know the exact numbers, but during the nixon administration -- >> 28,000 americans were killed when richard nixon was president. >> it was about 50-50. i went to vietnam in 1971 after eddie adams told me all the good pictures had already been taken. it went on and on and i was there toward the end of the war when president ford pulled the plug on it. i was in the room when that happened at the white house. steve: we are joined by ed from dan barry, connecticut on the republican line, good morning. caller: reporters at the time of the vietnam war reported free and open access to the combat scenes. they would just hop on a plane and they were able to see the fighting as it occurred. as tet came along and the pentagon papers came along, and there were great surprises. i am wondering, how do you reconcile the gap between free access and yet missing the main facts of the war? steve: i will have you answer that question and also explain how your pieces came back to the u.s. >> in those days, if you were in television, you had a camera crew, a cameraman, a sound. and you w

carter,ed nixon, ford, reagan, and the bush administration. he was based in london and was the chief foreign correspondent. he returned to nbc's washington bureau and became chief white house correspondent under the presidency of george h.w. bush. he joined abc news in 1994. he was chief capitol hill correspondent covering bob dole's unsuccessful bid for the president, and he was senior white house correspondent in the final years of the clinton administration. from 2001 to 2011, he was the network's senior washington correspondent and retired at that time. i have to give a "roll tide" shout out. john cochran, graduate of the university of alabama and good friend of the university of alabama. john: roll:r -- tide. [applause] >> my next guest is christy parson. she is the senior editor at the atlantic and director of the talent lab. it is a position she has held since may. she is searching for the best and brightest young journalists for the magazine. if you have students that christine needs to know, she -- to know, come see christy. she cover

what never happened in the nixon administration they didn't execute on these enemies attacks. whereas in the trump presidency, we're seeing the execution first and explanation afterwards. >> it's been interesting to watch many democrats have criticized the president's move here. the republicans largely, some exceptions, have either been supporting the president's move against brennan or shrugging it off as not important. i wonder, when you hear a similar message from admiral mcraven, he headed special operation forces and commanded the bin laden raid and oversaw the bin laden raid. can he be dismissed or put in the same category as john brennan? >> we see donald trump attempting to put everyone who opposes him into that category, and acting in an authoritarian manner, seeking to undermine their credibility as well as to punish those who speak the truth as they have seen it. there's no reason to expects the same might be true of the admiral. what we're seeing here both in the nixon presidency and worse in the trump presidency are authoritarian actions. in nixon's case with the

and the skepticism infused politics and then of course, by the, with the end of the nixon administration, with nixon's resignation in august of 1974, watergate becomes another blow to that trust in institutions, that faith in the people who are ruling us. and it further breakdown on both right and left of this faith in authority and organizations. i'll leave it there. thanks for coming. senate confirmation hearings for brett kavanaugh to be supreme court justice are likely in september and he's expected to be questioned about roe versus wade, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern c-span's landmark cases presents an in-depth look at roe versus wade and we'll hear from los angeles times supreme court reporter david savage discussing kavanaugh's nomination and the abortion issue. next, new hampshire secretary of state bill gardner hosts a look back at the state's 1968 presidential primary. the panel includes then-supporters of democratic senator eugene mccarthy. president lyndon johnson and republican richard nixon. senator mccarthy opposed the vietnam war. and his strong challenge to president john

her appointment of the maritime commission, which made her the highest-ranking woman in the nixon administrationhere's a preview. >> did you think that your earlier career as a reporter, and as he talked about, chairman of the commission, because you are one of the few women, do you think that helped prepare you? >> absolutely, yes. absolutely it did. because when i went to the fmo see, i really had never managed anything. person on some paper staff at the time, but that was me and i had to assistance -- two assistants. but all of that prepared me to run a respectable and honorable office. that myen quoted constituents service was second to none. because i knew what the constituents were calling in a bout, because i asked for every case at the end of every day. and i followed up on that to make sure my staff was following. because in my opinion at that time, and i told my staff, the largest part of the constituency didn't really care about my votes over here. respondedid care if i to a constituent's request. and that's what we had to pay attention to. >> watch the entire oral history interview s

not seeing republicans break from donald trump in the way that at around this time into the nixon administrationhen watergate was breaking, we started to see republicans move away because nixon was becoming an albatross. there's something about the politics here that's different. >> sure. look, the future of the republican party is a big gamble right now. it's become this party of trump and it's got a self-reinforcing media silo. it's got the fox news side and the breitbart and the online cheer sections for trump that now sort of terrify rank and file republicans from saying anything about this guy. they're afraid of his social media power. so you end up in a situation where the party has become subsumed by trump's fortunes, weath whether they rise or fall. it's a terrible bet, because i think my theory plays out constantly and consistently. i mean, just -- paul manafort and michael cohen on paper should now be masters of the universe but instead they're both admitted if or convicted felons. >> rick, can you ever get your party back? >> it's going to take a shock, it's going to take some serious

john dean was a rat in the nixon administration, he's calling people in the mueller team thugs, the idea that paul manafort is getting it tougher than al capone. does in a serve the president well? >> no, no, i don't think so. what it may serve the president is contributing to an exhaustion factor. people are tired of this tore ant of insults. and doing everything except being president. even so, the clock is ticking now, you remember rudy giuliani has said that we're not going to testify after labor day. it's only two weeks away. mueller doesn't have much time to act. otherwise this all could be put off until after the first of the year. i think that would be driving a lot of us crazy. >> the idea of it being put off about if there was a decision by mueller not to have anything that could influence the election for 60 days could he still continue. he could still continue his investigation in all this stuff. it's not as if he's releasing information. >> he would continue his investigation. but he wouldn't do anything that could be public. >> you wouldn't be serving subpoenas? >> he would

chairwoman of the federal maritime commission which made her the highest ranking woman in the nixon administration she also discussed her run for congress. much of the winning election to interview focused on her career before the house. a second conversation was planned, but the former congresswoman died in august 2016, just months after this was recorded by the u.s. house of office of thetives' historian conducted this interview. it is about one hour and 20 minutes. >> my name is kathleen johnson, i'm here with the house his taurean. the date is much 21 2016. we are in the house recording studio and we're with helen

john dean, of course, was the nixon administration's counsel, a whistleblower. is his decision to drag john dean into this a warning to mcgahn? >> i thought it was very telling that donald trump used the word rat in his tweet. an innocent person would not view a cooperating witness as a rat. but a criminal mind would. as a former prosecutor, i've dealt with lots of different criminals. this is how criminals think. they think anyone who cooperates with law enforcement is a rat and is somehow going to rat them out. again, this is another statement that is inconsistent with actions of an actually innocent person. >> since don mcgahn is a white house counsel, not the president's personal attorney like rudy giuliani, did he have any choice in testifying and agreeing to q&a with the mueller team? >> i think ultimately if robert mueller had subpoenaed him, he would have had to do so. according to donald trump himself, he gave don mcgahn permission to go do these interviews. now the president appears to regret it. again, if you're actually innocent, you wouldn't regret

his reporting with bob woodward during the nixon administration helped expose the watergate cover-upt led to president nixon's resignation. carl, thanks so much for joining us. i'm anxious to get your perspective on what we're seeing right now. let's start with the latest offer from robert mueller, the special counsel. he says he'll limit the number of specific questions on obstruction of justice if president trump will talk to him in person and not simply do it in written form. do you think this means mueller isn't as interested in obstruction or more interested? what's your analysis? >> i think we shouldn't read too much into that exact language. of course he's interested in obstruction. of course he has and has been preparing a case for obstruction of justice as far as any of us who have been covering this can tell. it's not 100% certain. but more important, and if you read today's "new york times," and i think it's generally accepted that the story in "the times" says he's also, mueller, looking into possible coordination between the russians and trump associates. that would incl

his view of loyalty and perhaps the fact that he doesn't have a terribly strong view of the nixon administration's wrongdoing. >> john dean is having a total renaissance. we've said the name john dean more in the past 24 hours than 24 years and he is everywhere because so many different people are comparing current figures to john dean. then there's the joseph mccarthy comparison which, frankly, josh, i've lost the thread on because so many different people are pointing in every which direction, making that comparison as well. strange times. >> there is but it's -- look, it's a valid point of comparison. we just learned over the weekend through the "new york times" that the white house counsel don mcgahn has spent 30 hours talking to robert mueller's investigators. this is echoes of nixon. john dean turned on nixon. i think the fear in trump's mind is that don mcgahn might turn on him so it's really the best historical parallel and that's why it keeps coming up again and again and again. >> and guys to be fair to president trump there is no evidence of the find of wrongdoing and conspiracy that th

is the sentiment, jamil that is coming from the president when he tweets a reference to the nixon administration attorney john dean and calling him a rat almost says that, you know, maybe a warning to don mcgahn that, you know, you should only say but so much. what do you interpret from that coming from the president today? >> well, fredricka, it is hard to know what the president is thinking when he puts the tweets out there. and on one hand, he is admitting that i pulled don mcgahn to the tell the truth and the whole truth and if the president's story varies at all from don mcgahn's, that is a problem for him and talking about john dean and others with a parallel to nixon and -- >> why does he do that? >> it is inexplicable and he needs to get off of twitter right away and listen to lawyers and stop talking about the investigation, and going after robert mueller and jeff sessions and anybody else, and anybody working for the president has to think that this is a train wreck. >> and there is baron, and we have not seen him a long time, and the first family there, you know, getting off of marine

poppy, that i actually thought the thing that ought to happen now that is analogous to the nixon administrationdent ought to be talking with his god and his family and his self about the possibility of a resignation. what is different between now and then is that we had a couple of very principled republican members of the united states senate, notably barry goldwater and howard baker who went to him and said, it is over, mr. president, it is time for you to resign. but the walls are closing in on president trump. i confidently suggest to you that tuesday, august 21st, 2018, will go down as a watershed day with the guilty convictions of manafort and the michael cohen plea bargain deal. we now have the most corrupt administration in modern history. this is a factual statement. i don't think it's a subjective interpretation. >> because you bring up howard baker, i mean, i have heard very little from many republicans in congress right now. you know, especially on the senate side. and, you know, i get that the house is on recess, but you're still doing an interview. i mean, who is there someone tha

the administration has said to me that the story of the nixon administration is one of people who were in over their heads. there may be something to that, but that does not explain it. there was a fanatic quality to some of the nixon men. a weaving together of their public piety and their venom. which may have deceived even them. and one cannot escape the thought that the president set the tone. my feeling throughout this is -- and you can look at any -- many situations, and say, well, you don't have to know who knew what when. who set the tone? how did this come about? one cannot escape the thought that the president set the tone. lonely and suspicious. a man with a striking lack of deep human connections. he seems to have gone through life as if in constant combat. he confused legitimate opposition with vendetta. and so did his staff. most of us have worked a friend of mine calls an inner jury, people's whose judgment we trust and whose esteem matters to us and who we count on to level with us. nixon does not seem to have an inner jury. he was also very -- well, he was very interest

and, you know, you have to really go back to the nixon administration and during the saturday night massacre, of course, at that point in time when nixon was trying to give the order to elliot richardson, who was the attorney general at that time, to fire the special prosecutor, archibald cox, richardson stood up to nixon and said, no, i'm not going to do it. so nxixon fired him. ru ruckleshouse was the next person in line and went 2to the third person in line, mr. bork, who issued the order. it's unusual to have this kind of fight between the attorney general and president of the united states. >> everyone, stay with me. there's much more to discuss. >>> more breaking news, the "the wall street journal" reporting a longtime crony of president trump has been granted immunity in the case. david pecker, head of the publishing company that owns the national enquirer the latest to make a deal with the feds. >>> also president trump making the case against his own impeachment. warn whing what would happen toe financial markets and personal finances if he were to be forced out. we'll discuss. now

dean has said on his part, he's making comparisons and contrasts with what happened in the nixon administrationuse, which he was a part of, and what's going on right now. he says that watergate was not a carefully planned crime and cover up. it was one bungled event after another. i see the same thing happening with trump. i mean, can bungling lead to the downfall of a president, chris? >> well, it can. you know, the late charles krothheimer wrote bungled collusion is still collusion. even if you think the guys weren't smart enough to collude with the russians, it can still wind up as an impeachment offense at the end of the day. of course, if all of this feels n nixonian, but it is 2.0, in the sense that richard nixon, in his wildest dreams, would never have said out loud the kinds of things that trump is tweeting, the stripping of john brennan's security clearance being a brazen political vendetta. there was nothing to suggest that brennan is a greater security risk than donald trump himself, who famously leaked top secret israeli intelligence to the russians. as i say, this is a political po