so robert kennedy in south africa in 1965. >> there were places for whites. there were places for what the government referred to as non-whites, and never the two -- the twain mixed. and there we all were gathered in johannesburg awaiting his arrival. >> they arrived at the airport that said non-whites only and whites only. he chose to go to the non-white area. that's where they put his podium. >> i don't think anybody anticipated that hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of people made their way to that airport, which was a long way outside johannesburg. there was no public transportation. the black south africans, very few of them had access to automobiles. >> when kennedy came, this person almost from out of space really, when something like that happens to people who are boarded up and oppressed, it sends through an electric shock through the communities of the coming of freedom. >> the airport was swarming with white, black, brown, indian, every hue of skin. i don't think i had ever seen anything like that in my life. so that very first night, we began t

robert kennedy talked about this in 1967 when i worked for him. it was not helping people to get on their own 2 feet. and that was a problem. but that is not with the clinton bill did. it just said to people, go get a job. it was a kick in the pants bill. on top of that, you don't have a legal right to get it anymore and you have a time limit of only five years. in those first four years, yes, people went to work, but what nobody talks about is that 40% of the people who left welfare, even between 1996 and 2000, ended up with no welfare and no job. it was not so marvelous even then. but there was that increase. that increase went from 49% of the single moms on welfare who had been on welfare to 64%. it is now going back down to 54%. it started going in the other direction in the year 2000. so we have been seeing for some time that the thing was not working properly, that it was not really helping enough people and it was really hurting some people. then comes the recession and we definitely -- if we needed proved, people say to me, it turns out yo

as a practical matter, the position provided robert kennedy with a daily opportunity to consult white for advice on campaign tactics and strategy as well as for twelter personnel judgments required by a national campaign. after senator kennedy was elected, white was named deputy attorney general. his first task was to recruit assistants attorney general who would be the front line officers m department of justice. white finished the task and one distinguished legal scholar declared it was the most brilliantly staffed department we had seen in a long time. the quality of personnel was a vision of public service that would have done anyone proud. in addition to making staffing decisions, he was responsible for supervising the vetting for more than 100 judges nominated during the administration's first year. he received national recognition during the freedom writers crisis in may of 1961 when he organized and directed an ad hock contention of here owe ebbingic federal officers to protect dr. martin luther king and his supporters when their lives were threatened for protesting racial seg

>> the book on robert kennedy -- did you already know that? >> i didn't speak to robert kennedy.f on the phone with washington. the white house switchboard travels with us. i was connected to the dallas white house from washington and according to my boss the operator cut in an attorney-general wants to talk to you and he got on the phone and said what is happening? what is going? i tried to explain the governor had been shot, the president had been shot and was in the emergency room and he had no knowledge how serious this was. j. edgar hoover had placed a call and simply said the president has been shot and gave some information. when i talked to him he was curious what the situation was. so how serious is it? i didn't want to tell him that his brother was dead so i said it is as bad as it can get and i hung up. that is how he found out. >> in very young man in the eisenhower detail. how did you get recruited? >> when i came in there was an intelligence agent so i had the background of investigative experience. that gave me the opportunity. during my first -- first year i was i

time the head of a corporation, which was a, i think a community help organization founded by robert kennedy. i believe. but i think that's where he was or had been there. anyway, clearly then we did -- clearly he started to catch our attention. certainly caught my attention and others, because of his background. turns out he was, he was appointed by president eisenhower. hired by president eisenhower. he was a republican from the midwest. he had this incredible reputation while at the justice department. so he started to get on our list. and i started to feed these names to the congressman as -- and there were maybe ten that we decided that had reached the place where they would meet congressman rodino's criteria and that it was time for him to start meeting these people and we began the interview process. i think john doar remembers that -- i think i called him. i think that's how he remembers it. that i'm the one who called him and had him come in, and i can't remember the time. i think i talked to him first. you have to think about that for a minute, for people who are watching this. her

idl mac >> i'm the one who did speak to robert kennedy. i was on the phone with the white house. they have a recall of white house switchboard or travels with us that connects us to the dallas white house to white house washington. i was talking to my boss. the attorney general got on the phone and said, what is happening down there? and the governor had been shot, president had been shot and he had really no knowledge exactly how serious this was. it is my understanding that jay edgar hoover they simply said the president's been shot and didn't give him any additional information. so when i attacked him, he was curious what the situation was. they asked how serious is that? i did one of time. i simply said, it's as bad as they can get and that's how we found out. >> yes commissary. [inaudible] >> when i came in the service i was an intelligence agent said the background of investigation. that is what gave me the opportunity. during my first year at the secret service, i was required to go back to the white house for a 30 day of vibration period, which time they put this through

your program is that cronkite was so obsessed with getting out of vietnam that he went and asked robert kennedy to run against lyndon b. johnson who was the presumed guy running, because kennedy was against the war in vietnam. that tells you how passionate cronkite got against the vietnam war. he was friends with lyndon b. johnson. they were friends back in texas. johnson had only the cbs affiliate in austin. frank stanton, his boss, was one of the closest friends of lyndon johnson. it is seen as the turning moment, it the cronkite moment when he denounced it. it could have gone either way. he started becoming a hero of liberals. >> we had demonstrations in this time. this can along in 68. what proof is there that walter cronkite had that big of an impact on changing things when the war did not end to 73? >> i do not think he had that big of an impact. i think it was symbolic. he gave a boost of adrenaline to the new left or to the anti-war movement. it encouraged the dove to say on the attack. it has been over hyped that influence lyndon johnson's decision to not seek reelection. johnson had h

robert kennedy assassinated 44 years ago today.the man who caught his killer. >> and the election, five months from now. we will talk >> it is a big day in the political world. the final big a group of primaries are today along with the first recall election in wisconsin. we want to get started with the wisconsin recall. this has been a nail-biter. >> absolutely. this race in wisconsin, if this gubernatorial recall, is looking very tight. governor scott walker could be in for a long night, although polls show him in the lead right now. >> how likely is a recap of that could drag this on for several weeks perhaps? >> it is entirely possible. both sides have armies of lawyers that are ready to go in case it is a long election. if it will probably be a relatively small turnout. it could be right down to the wire. >> it feels like we are in the general election, but today is actually the biggest primary of the season. >> right. if we are at the tail-end of primaries. if we have california at out west. in a way, it does not matter becau

correctly said that cronkite was so obsessed with getting out of vietnam all calls that he asked robert kennedy to run against lyndon johnson who was the presumed the guy running because kennedy was against the war in vietnam. it tells you how passionate cronkite got against the vietnam war. because he was friends with lyndon johnson. lyndon johnson and lady bird were friends of walter cronkite. johnson had owned the cbs affiliate in austin and a lot of properties with cbs and dr. frank stanton, cronkite's offendable boss at cbs was one of the crew of -- closest friends of lyndon johnson. it is seen as the turning moment, i call of the cronkite moment where he denounces the income and at that point it could've gone either way for him, but he started becoming a hero of liberals. >> we had had demonstrations in 1965, '66, '67, and this came on in 1968. what proof is there that walter cronkite had that big an impact in changing things if the war did not end in 1973. >> i do not think he had a big impact. it became symbolic. what it did is gave a boost of adrenaline to the new left or the anti-war

it exposes some of the accusations robert kennedy jr. made about his estranged life last year. of a confidential affidavit part of the couple's 2011 divorce are part of that "newsweek" article. according to the report, kennedy claims his wife, mary, abused his children from an earlier marriage. he says she stole from his daughter who was 9 at the time. there's been no comment from either kennedy's divorce attorney. >>> pepco customers plan a funeral outside of the company's headquarters. protesters will hold a new orleans style funeral complete with jazz ensemble and casket as part of their plan to bury a proposed rate hike totalling more than $42 million in d.c. this proposed jump comes despite the company reporting huge profits and giving executives pay raises. pepco says the rate hike is to pay for 900 million in improvements. last month protesters smeared cake on the sign and windows saying pepco can't have its cake and eat it too. >>> a raccoon to blame for knocking out power to more than 4,000 people in northern virginia. the raccoon got into a substation near the manassa

the late wife of robert kennedy, jr.g heavily and devastated at the thought losing custody of her four children. interviews with the family were conducted, including with the housekeeper who was with mary to the end. robert kennedy, jr. claims he was physically abused by his wife. lawrence, what was the most shocking revelation that you learned from the affidavit, from all of these many interviewed you did with people close to the family? >> i don't think it was just one. i think the worst was abuse of the children. this was not an evil woman, she had borderline personality disorder, a very serious psychological illness. most people don't know about. this was a result of this. it wasn't anything she meant to do or cared to do. >> i want to read from the affidavit. bobby kennedy says mary's violence and physical abuse toward me began before we were with married. did you find anything to substantiate that. >> before they were married he said she was a trained boxer and she hit him in his eye ducts. if you see him now, he'l

. >> robert kennedy claims mary was abusive toward him, and the children, came on trips she was not invited to. she committed suicide last month. >>> also a warning about the next video. easily the most cringe-inducing in a listening time. >> this dirt bike rider took every precaution. but he missed his mark big-time. >> he broke nearly every major bone in his body -- neck, ribs, arms, you name it along with second-degree burns. the helmet helped him avoid traumatic brain injury. >>> and broadway's best and brightest honored their own this year. mike niche chols won his ninth for directing. you might recognize his wife, our own diane sawyer. >> he's won a tony, an oscar, an emmy, and of course, a diane. >> he's done it all. sited me? when i went surfing. i love to surf. can you imagine surfing in the middle of me? in the middle of you? oh yes! [ giggles ] nice moves! ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] our biggest sale of the year starts today. book now at 1-800-royal-caribbean. to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin cuts through wa

robert kennedy once said as long as there is plenty, poverty the evil. nearly 50 million americans are currently living in poverty. that includes 16 million children. in 2009 more than 31% of working families were in poverty. that's more than 10 million people. our safety net is designed to give those in poverty a fighting chance. temporary assistance for needy families or tanf is one of those bedrocks. tanf gives people access to job training and education, and it helps fight the evil of poverty. today we will look at tanf and the new challenges facing american in poverty. until the 1996 reform law welfare was open ended. but through reform congress gave the system direction. it now focuses on jobs and promotes self-sufficiency, figuratively speaking it aims to teach people to fish. tanf now helps some people by funding child care, transportation and job search support. in 2005, the deficit reduction act changed the way states managed tanf case loads and countered participation in some programs. those changes did not focus on serving families and helpin

they met when he worked for senator robert f. kennedy and she guided them through the mississippi delta as they investigated first-hand the devastating conditions under which impoverished children and their families lived. peter edelman helped shape legislation to ease poverty around the country, and was a top official in president bill clinton's department of health and human services. he famously resigned when clinton signed the 1996 welfare reform legislation. peter edelman teaches at georgetown university and is faculty director there of the center on poverty, inequality, and public policy. peter, welcome. >> thank you. i'm so glad to be here. >> let's indulge in a little bit of nostalgia. >> sure. >> because 50 years ago, you and i were part of the same era. i was a young white house assistant for lyndon johnson working on some poverty issues. and you were a young assistant to senator robert f. kennedy when you made that celebrated tour through mississippi. you seemed absolutely shocked, you and robert kennedy, and the party that we

much attention, in that column he said, cronkite had a meeting in the late '60s with senator robert kennedy. i sat in as kennedy's press secretary. the meeting was understood to be off the record and no one else was present. he began with an acknowledgment of kennedy's desire not to run for president. he pleaded with rfk to change his mind to seek the white house right away, even though the election was more than a year off. you must announce your intention to run against johnson to show people there will be a way out of this terrible war. kennedy listened intently and asked cronkite his opinion of the battlefields he had seen. the war can't be won cronkite told him, but we gain on the battlefields and in the daytime, we lose to the villagers at night. what do you think the reaction would have been if the public had known that? >> this was in 1967. it was pretty clear the public sentiment for the war had begun to shift, well before cronkite's editorial comment he expressed on air. by october of '67, a plurality of americans said that sending u.s. troops to vietnam was a mistake. and the gal

>> robert kennedy once commented that americans are not well informed but highly entertained. and i think one reason we're here now is to help the process of getting americans well informed. and what they need to be informed about is through some mechanism or another this whole process has got to be at the very minimum, delayed long enough to make it informed. right now it's not. it has the automatic dimension that goes into it. what you would like to see in a facetious way is i think every republican on the hill ought to walk around with a red lapel pin with a blue 20 in it and every democrat should have a blue lapel pin with a red 20 in it. 20 is the percent of gdp we have to get to in federal expenditures and revenue. we are at 15% on revenue, which is an all time low, since we have been keeping reliable records. that gap is quite clearly unsustainable. so at some point there has to be a serious informed realistic discussion about what the options are that are going to move you back in the direction of the new number 20. i haven't seen that yet. i haven't seen indication th

and robert kennedy asks famously, "who the hell is diane nash?" because she has -- because she has effectively defeied the federal government and continues to lead the demonstrations. and eventually, there will be the integration of the buses. that's another story. i don't have time for that. but that's another story. but that's an idea -- that's an example, i should say, of what's going on at this particular time. let me give you the stats. by march 14th, 1960 -- by march 14th, there were 17 separate demonstrations or sit-ins in atlanta alone involving over 1,000 students. yes, this is a movement. yes, these are students. these are ordinary people who are getting engaged in these kinds of protests. i love this photograph on the left. you guys should never complain again about taking an exam or studying for an exam. these are kids who are studying for their midterm while they're in jail, okay? and what they're saying is that our freedom is as important as our education. our freedom is as important as our education. the man on the right, reverend j

kennedy's life. the late wife of robert f. kennedy, jr., was drinking heavily, was severely depressed.re conducted including the housekeeper who was with mary to the end. and there's exclusive access to this 60-page affidavit filed by robert kennedy, jr., in which he claims he was physically abused by his wife. claims he was physically abused by his wife. lawrence, what was the most shocking revelation that you learned from the affidavit, from all these many interviews you did? >> i don't think there's just one. it was a magnitude of them. and, frankly, the worse ones i put in the article. the abuse of the children. i thought that was unnecessary. i don't want people to view this as an evil woman. she had borderline personality disorder. a very serious psychological illness that most people don't even know about. this is a result of this. it wasn't anything she meant to do or cared to do. >> i want to read something from the affidavit. bobby kennedy says, quote, mary's violence and physical abuse towards me began before we were married. did you find sources to substantiate that claim?

robert kennedy once said that as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil. nearly 50 million americans are currently living in poverty, and that includes 16 million children. in 2009, more than 31% of working families were in poverty, and that is more than 10 million people. our safety net is designed to give those in poverty a fighting chance. temporary assistance for needy families or tanif is one of the bedro bedrocks. it gives people access to job training and education, and helps to fight the evil of poverty. today, we will look at tanif and the new challenges that are facing americans in poverty. until the 1996 reform law welfare was open ended. but through the reform, congress gave the system direction. it now focuses on the jobs and promotes self-sufficiency, and figuratively speaking, it teaches people to fish. tanif now helps people by funding child care and job search, and in 2005, the federal deficit act changed tanif and dit not heelp people to find jobs, and in some cases, it helped some states to reduce caseloads and used its for other case. w

at school. >>> new details on how life reportedly had spiraled out of control for mary kennedy, the wife of robertedy, jr., in the days leading up to her suicide. >>> a little later, celebrating the return of the prime time soap, filled with plenty of drama from south fork. coming up we'll catch up with the cast. larry hagman, linda gray and patrick duffy and some of the younger members of the cast are going to be joining us in the studio. >> got to tell you, i watched the first couple of episode. they have not missed a beat. >> the story continues where it left off. >>> we begin with a california man charged with child abuse after a startling video was posted on line. nbc's mara schiavocampo joins us this morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. the video is disturbing to watch. a man caught on camera hitting his stepson with a belt as they are throwing around the ball in the backyard. he's seen here in this secretly recorded cell phone video playing catch. when he dropped the ball he approaches and reportedly whips him with a belt. the video that's gone viral was shot by an outraged neighbor as

new revelations about the estranged wife of robert kennedy's jr., who guilders off last month at heredford, new york. there's a confidential affidavit filed last june in a divorce case. he husband asked the court to stop her from physically attacking him, stealing his possessions, and showing up uninvited on trips they took after they separated. the accused her of abusing his children from an earlier marriage, as well. >>a megachurch pastor accused of abusing his teenage daughter denies the allegations. creflo dollar was charged with choking and punching the 15- year-old. he addressed his congregations on. sunday on >> a family conversation with our young his daughter got emotional. she was not shchoked or punched. >> he has been charged with battery and cruelty against a child. he calls it exaggeration and sensationalism. >> a grim situation out west where a quarter million acres are burning through dry mountain territory across colorado and new mexico. >> neither firestorm is close to being under control. rob nelson has the latest. >> firefighters in colorado are desperately trying

we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the swearing in of robert kennedy, his brother. by most famous predecessor. both kennedys stressed the need for involvement in government. they pointed out government could be a force for good. president kennedy began the peace corps. he talked about government as a force that could do good things in our nation. i had a chance to win is that. i grew up when the civil rights movement was in full flower. it to see the role that the forral government platyed -- instance where a young woman walked into the schoolhouse over the opposition of her state's governor, she turned out to be my future sister in law. i watched that on tv in new york city where i grew up. to see federal marshals and the deputy attorney general there help her achieve that goal is instilled in me the notion that 7 engagement beatrix civic engagement could be interesting and worthwhile. you all are blessed with a great deal of idealism. i hope that he will not lose that idealism as you get older. i always think about ways in which you can make this nation better. whe

where cronkite led his let his liberalism effect him in a bad way is cronkite went to senator robert kennedyn for president against lyndon johnson in the democratic primaries. first of all, you can't encourage somebody to run for president, you know. you can't do that. >> right. >> secondly you can't do that and then decide you had nothing to do with him running for president. that's where cronkite's liberalism induced him to cross the line. that was one example. >> bill: thank you. in a moment, where was i last week? iceland. that's where. why did i go there? you may be surprised. the factor in iceland moments away. sometimes life can be well, a little uncomfortable. but when it's hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go, it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. >> back of the book segment tonight. reality check, we begin with president obama addressing a convention of far left americans in providence, rhode island. it's time to move forward and build an economy where everyone

guest: that time he compared very well in a similar way they were asking questions and i think robert kennedy was at least for me. he had such charisma bb from those people that what he had been ruthless and so on and so forth but by that time he had incredible charisma and his words were potent and you could see what a powerful candidate he would be war was. he was assassinated within four or five weeks and this was the last long interview he gave. he is vital in american politics which is itself duplication will be of ducking the compliments and being self mocking. at one point i said to him a lot of people say that the reason you have the reputation of being ruthless is this was a tough thing you had to do in your campaign manager for your brother in 1960, and he smiled and said that's just my friends making excuses for me. it's very attractive quality and reminds me in terms of richard nixon that it was a story apocryphal or wheel why was told by a couple of people that would come after the interviews and tell me their stories about richard nixon and lots of the more to do with small talk