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tv   Alex Witt Reports  MSNBC  May 4, 2024 11:00am-12:00pm PDT

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students saying they were hamas next targets. that to me is blatantly anti- semitic. you also, i had many students showing me, first of all, telling me stories of their yamulka being knocked off. student run text chains where they were to say that, "no zionist allowed at social events." the issue here, of course, now you have is this difficulty in defining anti-semitism. i think is absurd and unfortunately, it lends this, it creates this empty space for students to say that it is not violence and has nothing to do with calling for violence against jews. we all know that they were a deliberate expression of
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violence. how are jewish students supposed to feel when they walk by that sign. that was everywhere. that was even after the negotiations with the administration. i saw the anti-semitism for myself when you talk about the students that were part of the encampment, it is large. maybe they did not see it. maybe they were part of that specific piece. they had students showing up phone with the hamas flag. maybe the student did not see it in that moment is no question you had anti-semitism. some individuals, but the minority, somewhere in favor of hamas but that's the minority of the students. >> it is a sobering time on campuses across the country but particularly at columbia university. thank you so much for joining us we will see you again. in moments we will impact the testimony of hope picks and how prosecutors are creating a narrative of michael cohen.
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welcome to alex witt reports. we have new reaction to riveting testimony from hope picks, the former spokeswoman for donald trump. she testified friday about how she and her former boss managed scandal after scandal. here is part of the report from von hilliard. >> reporter: hope hicks walked into court as a prosecution witness in her old boss's hush money scheme trial. mr. trump without smiling stared on. first directly at her before turning his attention to a monitor and papers in front of him. hicks admitted she was nervous. at one point becoming emotional, tearing up and needed a break. she told prosecutors the release of the access hollywood tape weeks before the election was a crisis. i was concerned. very concerned, she said.
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everyone was just absorbing the shock of. adding, its impact on women voters was a major concern. prosecutors say the release of the tape helped to propel the hush money scheme. trump said none of it is related to his charges. that he disguised reimbursement payments to michael cohen hush money payments to stormy daniels at legal expenses. mr. trump who has pleaded not guilty slamming a corrupt and highly political attack which he says has nothing to do with the case. >> this is front-page fodder for some but not all newspapers. new york newsday has this headline. the washington post has this. former president trump's hometown paper the pumping the palm beach post has stories about israel and gaza, six potential bp pics attending a retreat today and also a
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feature about a mountain lion. joining me now is suzanne craig and charles coleman. here in studio we will start with you. you've been in the courtroom since the beginning of the trial. give me a sense of how you interpreted hope hicks's testimony. >> first of all we should just talk about the mountain lion. hope hicks was an interesting witness. part of the reason for that is the last two weeks we've been hearing a lot from the scoundrels of all of this. we've heard a lot from david pecker, the head of the inquiry and his relationship then we heard from keith davidson, a lawyer that brokered the deal between the payments between both stormy daniels and karen mcdougall. the details were very sordid.
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the backgrounds are pretty sordid. it felt like every day you are being pulled through the gutter. hope hicks came in and was a different witness. it's not to say that the other ones don't have it especially focusing on david pecker, who still has some affinity for donald trump. hope hicks is paying for her own lawyer but still has a lot of affinity for donald trump. and that since she was a powerful witness. there was some hurtful information that came out to donald trump in her testimony. >> we will get into that a little bit with you. hope hicks was there under subpoena. she made it very clear she did not want to be there. she said right off the top she was nervous. did her testimony at all reveal a reluctant witness? what role do you think her testimony had showing donald trump's alleged motive in this case?
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>> i think everything you are talking about, it only makes her a better witness for the prosecution in as much as she did not appear to be a witness who particularly wanted to be there but was going to be there until the truth while she was. the nervousness she described in the beginning is something that the jury likely picked up on. at the same time, none of it, i have any reason to believe, affected her truthfulness. ultimately if you're a prosecutor on the case you will argue that this may not have been the someone who was happy is to have been here but they can before you and the told the truth. they did not have an ax to grind or a motive to advance but they still came and gave you what they knew based on what they had seen and experienced. that's the time of witness you want as a prosecutor which is why her testimony may be more damaging to donald trump than you think. >> there was this key exchange when hope hicks testified that michael cohen told her trump
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page stormy daniels out of the kindness of his heart. did the idea that he would have made a $130,000 payment out of the kindness and his heart was that consistent to your knowledge of him. she said i would say that was out of character for michael. the prosecutor asked, why would that be out of character? after another objection, i would say that would be out of character for michael. i did not know him to be a charitable or selfless person. he's the kind of person who seeks credit. why was this an important exchange? >> it places donald trump in a conversation. first of all, talking about the payment that he was aware of it and michael cohen paid it. he said all along it was legal fees. as we get to the back end of the case we will be talking
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about the falsification of documents. his claim all along was that it was for legal fees and not a payment for stormy daniels. i think that was pretty critical. another piece of the conversation with the interaction between hope hicks and donald trump in 2018 and he said better it comes out now than during the election. i just think in the end it is not going to look good. >> at any time would hurt the family. >> he had a recognition that it was good that it did not come out during the election. >> the point there on cross- examination defense attorneys asked her if cohen ever went broke. she said yes. she said he used to say he likes to call himself mr. fix- it and it was only because he first broke it. charles, do you think this will be how the defense frames the case to the jury that michael cohen went rogue and paying off
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stormy daniels? >> absolutely. you have seen the defense do that when they have the opportunity is try to separate legal cohen or other witnesses from donald trump as much as possible. for example, in the questioning of different witnesses they may ask, but you never met donald trump and never spoke to donald trump? donald trump never told you to do this. you can anticipate that will be a large part of the strategy. in addition, they will try to muddy up the waters so everyone seems as dirty as possible. the jury may say ultimately i don't know what to believe. it seems like everybody here was all crooked. that is definitely a strategy to try to make michael cohen seem as if he is the parts of a guy who can't get everything right but wants to do so for the purposes of impressing a boss that never entrusted him to do these things in the first place. that would be the best way to get donald trump closer to an acquittal or at least a hung jury.
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>> what happens if the jury does not find michael cohen credible when he takes the stand? >> that is a great question. in another case i would say the prosecution needs to be extremely worried but what it does, quite frankly, is highlights the important of other testimony like david pecker and hope hicks. even if you don't like michael cohen and you think everything he said was a lie you still have the testimony of other witnesses who have laid out the entire scheme in front of you and then you have the documents, the evidence of the actual documents themselves that you are going to see entered into evidence over the course of the next week that will substantiate everything that has already been told to you. even if you disregard michael cohen as someone with no credibility there is still mountains of evidence supporting what we have said to you donald trump is guilty of
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and that's why you should find for us. >> i am curious how donald trump handled himself in court listening to this formerly close aid, someone described as being like a daughter to him. did she manage to humanize him or the jury, particularly when she said the part like, i did not want the newspapers to be delivered to the home, to the residence for fear that melania would see them and get upset. >> it's interesting because you imagine melania in this tower with no other information so we won't drop up the newspapers. that did not add up to me. when i think about donald trump's behavior in court for the most part he's sitting there and he has his eyes close. he is trying not to have any reaction to what is going on in the courtroom. occasionally he will pay attention and be watching a witness. for the most part, we are not
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seeing that. i'm interested in how that is playing with the jury. they are watching him and seeing that. i can't imagine that is helping him. we don't know but that is why i'm interested in what he's doing. you did not see any sort of outburst or facial expression, anything out of the ordinary while hope hicks was testimony -- testifying even when she started crying on the stand. >> trump did make some confusing comments when it comes to his ability to testify. he did so outside the courtroom. let's take a listen to that. >> i'm not allowed to testify because this judge is totally conflicted and has me under an unconstitutional gag order. nobody's ever had that before. we don't like that. it is not fair. >> the gag order is not to testify. the gag order stops me from talking about people and responded when they say things about me.
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people are saying things about me and i'm not allowed to respond. >> apparently the wrong interpretation because the judge clarified the gag order does not prevent donald trump from testifying. what went on there. >> donald trump made that up to rile up the space. the judge came into court and said very calmly that there seems to be a misunderstanding and that is not the case. donald trump can take the stand if he wants. he is welcome to do that. he just completely put that to bed and said, let's get the jury in here. donald trump did this once before this trial. he went out at the beginning and asked for whatever it was one or two days off. one of the days he wanted off was so he could attend his son's graduation. there was no immediate ruling on that when he asked for it so he turned around and went outside and put out a
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fundraising note or whatever he did and said he's not allowed to attend his son's graduation. he's just making stuff up. it's not the first time we've seen that and would not be the last time. these are the games he's playing to rile up his base. >> the judge said it was a bit of a misunderstanding. he could have used the word calculus. >> when he started talking it was almost like he did not know where he was going. he set the record straight very calmly and said let's bring in the jury. >> i am curious. why would the judge be so adamant to clarify that the former president is allowed to testify. is he signaling to them, get him to stop saying this? >> i really thought we were going to talk about the mountain lion but since we are still on donald trump, it was really judge merchan being abundantly clear about the
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record and how things were being used, not necessarily that he's paying a ton of attention to what donald trump is saying in the press and responding that way. i do think that making the record clear about his rights and abilities is something that his attorney should know. in the interest of preserving any notion of an appeal or any sort of sense of wrongdoing on his part, judge merchan really did go far above and beyond what he needed to do in this instance and set the record straight on the record in court where it actually matters. i think that is really what it was. in terms of sending a message to his attorneys i think at this point he has little expectation around what his attorneys can actually do to control their client although it will not stop him from holding them accountable when he does it. >> i think the other thing that is going on his donald trump
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has been saying he will take the stand. he probably won't. part of this is just messaging that they won't let me take the stand. >> okay. i am sorry about the mountain lion. i will say one thing about mountain lions in california. they are building a crossing over big freeways to allow mountain lions to go from one place to the next so they don't get hit by cars. that is a good story so we could do that and have you back to talk about it. thank you so much. it's graduation day at several colleges across the country. whether campus protests will take center stage instead of the students when we are back in 60 seconds. second
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today a delegation from hamas's in cairo for negotiations in the latest attempt to reach a cease-fire and hostage release agreement. israel has yet to decide
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whether it will send a delegation. the biden administration indicating there have been signs of compromise in recent days with hamas signaling it's open to and of israeli approved cease-fire agreement. joining me is megan fitzgerald. what are the details of this latest proposal that you are aware of and what are you hearing about both sides agreeing to the terms or at least getting israel to the bargaining table? >> reporter: a senior u.s. official tells nbc news that a deal is not likely to happen today but they are close. hamas said yesterday they were heading to cairo with positive spirits and determined to reach a deal. it did not appeal it -- appear as though they had shifted their position. they are calling for a complete withdrawal of idf forces, a complete end to the war and for people who have been displaced to return to their homes. the idf has said they have no plans to withdraw troops. a u.s. official tells us that
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israel has softened their stance and indicated that they are open to a more than six weeks cease-fire. that is very significant but we are also hearing from an israeli official. he said israel will under no circumstances agree to the end of the war as part of an agreement to release hostages. of course, prime minister benjamin netanyahu said they will do this ground incursion in rafah deal or no deal. here is what secretary blinken had to say. >> hamas has put forward a proposal that is extraordinarily generous on the part of israel. in this moment the only thing standing between the people of gaza and a cease-fire is hamas. they have to decide and they have to decide quickly.
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>> reporter: alex, both american and egyptian officials have said that there have been positive signs of compromise. israelis have said at this point there is no deal yet. >> thank you very much. right now colleges across the u.s. are weighing how they will handle ongoing protests against the war in gaza. a bit earlier today protesters briefly disrupted the university of michigan commencement. this after more than 2400 people have been arrested in campus demonstrations over the past two weeks. george police is at the university of pennsylvania where the encampment has entered its 10th day. give me a sense of the state of the protest there with graduation a couple weeks away. >> reporter: the rain certainly not dampening the result of the students here at this encampment which is in its 10th
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day. students asking for much the same of what we've heard across the country. they are asking the university to divest or cut any ties they have with israel. across the country we've seen this play out much differently. that has been the topic of discussion especially now that we are in graduation season. a lot of's students wondering about these encampments including charlottesville where there may be activity going on right now. police may be moving into dismantle that encampment. one of the things we learned overnight, columbia saying they may not go through with commencement. this is obviously a very big deal. usc is now in talks with the colosseum told their commencement there. keep in mind as we talked about this before, this is also the graduating class that did not have a graduation because of the pandemic. it's a very big deal for so many people as this is playing out.
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students also have their opinions. yours one of them. >> we will be here in definitely until they meet our demands. i cannot really say what the administration or the chancellor is going to do. what i do know is that they proved yesterday that they care about property over people as they were willing to use violence to take down the tent and injure their students and faculty and community members. i think that speaks for itself. >> reporter: the other side of all of this, as we have seen some of the police interactions there are some critics about the use of force in all of this. at ucla some students and faculty raised concerns. at columbia police saying an officer accidentally discharged their weapon. they say nobody was hurt so that is drawing some criticism. the president of columbia also issuing a statement saying obviously there was a lot to
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address with this particular encampment and the involvement of who was there and we learned a lot of the people that were arrested were not actually students. that is another component. it is a very complex situation with graduation season already underway here. whether or not there will be some kind of agreement here remains to be seen. at other places we have seen there has been no move from the administration to say they are going to divest. that is a point of contention whether or not that happens here also remains to be seen. >> let me make one clarification because i'm an alum of usc. they are not holding a commencement ceremony at the coliseum. the president has said a lot of families have said look what we've done. we supported our children and paid to put them through college and they want a celebration. it will be a family celebration but as far as i'm aware, the actual commencement has been
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canceled. satellite commencement ceremonies for different schools will happen. as you have reported some of the speakers scheduled for those ceremonies are dropping out. it is a mess anyway you look at it. thank you very much for all of that. joining me is virginia representative gerry connolly. is a member of the foreign affairs committee as long as -- as well as the committee on accountability. we were just showing some pictures. the university of virginia campus in charlottesville has a bunch of police there holding back any sort of crowd movement. there does not seem to be any melee at this time. give me a sense given that this is your backyard in virginia. your take on how college administrations and police have responded to these protests. do you think the students are accomplishing their goals of
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development? >> first of all i guess i should say, i am a child of the 1960s. i have protested against the war. i've rallied for and marched for civil rights. i was a draft counselor. i would be a hypocrite if i were to say i object to peaceful protest for students in the current war. i think it's a god-given american right and should be respected as long as other people's rights are also respected and the law is not broken. if you protest and you choose to break the law, you have decided that you are willing to be arrested and pay the consequences for that. you cannot have it both ways. if you are breaking the law as part of your protest you are subject to arrest and prosecution and you will have
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to accept that as the cost you are paying for the choice you made. >> thank you for talking about the past. i totally understand where you are coming from. we will have doris kearns goodman on shortly to talk about her book which is really about the 60s and those demonstrations. let me ask you, is there a line that you think that is where a student or protesters of any sort cross and that's where the law needs to come down? >> yes. i think occupying a building is illegal. that building is for -- at a public university a public purpose to educate others and you are denying them that right and that access. hate speech, it may not always be a crime but i do not inc. that is part of peaceful protest. it is provocative and menacing and threatening to others. i also believe counter protest
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as we saw in california, they have to also be peaceful and abide by these rules. what happened in california the other night was despicable. it was a mob premeditated set of violence against peaceful protesters by all accounts because they did not like the particular pro-palestinian message. the police tolerated it. they stood aside and allowed it to go on for hours. that is very reminiscent of what happened sometimes in peaceful protests in the 1960s against the war and civil rights movement. i would hate to see that revisited. i think we have to make sure the rules are clear and applicable to everybody. >> you are referencing what happened there. we are showing our viewers what happened at the ucla campus in westwood. you signed a letter with 57 other members of congress calling on the biden
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administration to do whatever it can to dissuaded surreal -- israel from invading rafah . saying that would be catastrophic. using withholding offensive weaponry and military support including that already signed into law. if israel does fully invade rafah, and there already have been airstrikes, how severe of a change should there be an u.s. support? >> given the humanitarian catastrophe that is and has unfolded in gaza already, the idea that we will inflict even more in jews with one point five -- rafah with 1.5 million people is unacceptable, repugnant, unthinkable. i believe president biden needs to use his presidential discretion to withhold any and
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all offensive weapons that could conceivably be used in such an assault. an assault he has already told netanyahu not to pursue. that is the u.s. position, don't do it. so let's not support it. >> follow through on that is what you are saying. let me ask you about marjorie taylor greene pledging to force the vote to oust speaker johnson this past week. we have minority leader hakeem jeffries who said democrats will help him keep his job. is that simply to keep the peace or could that bring some kind of leverage for the rest of his term if democrats support in that way. >> let me say as a disclaimer this democrat will not vote to help mike johnson. i am not going to support him or vote to table a motion to vacate. i want hakeem jeffries as the next speaker and that's how i
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will vote. i think it is a mistake for democrats to find themselves supporting the most ideologically conservative right wing speaker in american history. why would we align ourselves with that. having said that, i think what hakeem jeffries has done is really quite cleverly machiavelli and. he may not have intended it that way but from a political science point of view it sure looks like it. so he is basically saying with one hand we will help you, but with the other hand he's also not saying but it's quite obvious, proving you cannot get anything done in this congress without democrats including holding onto your own job. it's a pretty delicious political statement and move by hakeem jeffries and very powerful. >> it is good to see you. thank you so much. so who wants to be donald
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right now in palm beach, donald trump's potential running mates are auditioning at a fundraiser. they include marco rubio, jim scott, elise's to phonic and kristi noem. alec hernandez is in west palm beach. first of all, is trump in any rush to pick a running mate. is there any conventional wisdom suggesting that kristi noem is permanently on the outs because of the bad pr she's gone? >> reporter: it is certainly not helping her chances. over the weekend there was a veritable who's who of trump potential vice presidential candidates at the rnc spring
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donna retreat. kristi noem was long seen as a potential vice president of those here that are rising to the top at the moment our senators tim scott, jd vance, and marco rubio as well as north dakota governor doug bergen and former hud administrator ben carson. we should still take the list with the big grain of salt. over the last several days several sources have told us that the trump campaign is still in the early phases of the vetting process. the list of candidates i just mentioned have not even made it past the first phase of the vetting process. alex, trump himself has also said he does not expect to make a decision on who he wants to be his next running mate or at least announce the decision until we get closer to the republican national convention which is slated for mid july. >> of course, he does not have
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to until then but this event will help campaign coffers which have certainly been drained by legal fees. how much does he expect to raise? >> at the four seasons last night we saw about 300, 350 people in attendance. the lowest tier of donation to be able to participate in the retreat clocks in at about $25,000. that limit goes all the way up to $2.5 million. we expect a pretty serious son to be raised between the campaign and rnc. since we are talking about that it is important to mention that ability to fund raise might be a key component of what trump is looking for in his next running mate, especially as he mentioned he's going through these legal troubles entering the general election and the cayman -- campaign is looking to build their war chest. as all these contenders are here at mar-a-lago right now and in palm beach over the weekend
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pro-palestinian protests happening today at campuses across the country calling for schools to divest from israel. this includes kent state which today marks a somber and timely anniversary. 54 years ago the ohio national guard fired on unarmed students protesting the vietnam war. four were killed, nine were injured in what came to be known as the kent state massacre. the current protests have seen more than 2400 arrest nationwide . demonstrations have erupted around the world in what some
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are calling the largest student movement yet of the 21st century. joining me as presidential historian and author doris kearns goodwin. her latest book is an unfinished love story, a personal history of the 1960s. i am very proud to call you my friend and say all that i have read so far is so good. we will get to the book in a moment but i want to compare and contrast the protests we have seen the last few weeks with those of the 1960s. there is one reporter who points out the current protests have faced swifter suppression. in one example, the university of texas called in police in riot gear despite no signs of violence. put today's protesting historical context. will the students protesting be seen as being on the right side of history? >> it is really interesting. when i look back at the 60s which i was living in for that
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book i was working on with my husband before he died. there is really two parts to the 1960s protest. in 1967 and 68 antiwar protesters were peaceful and disciplined. they joined the mccarthy campaign and kennedy campaign so they had a channel for the protest. they cut their beards. the girls wear long skirts. they were out there knowing the public sentiment and that it mattered. they were disciplined, the message was clear and they made an impact. march 31, 1968 lbj started negotiating peace. he called for an end to the bombing and withdrew from the race. then what happened his fate intervened. bobby kennedy was killed, mother king died. the riots and the peace talks stall. by the time we got to the convention there was frustration. i was there and so was my husband. it was one of those times where we have not met. he always said he was looking for me this whole time but nonetheless besides the majority were peaceful some people had come just for frustration, mayhem, disturbance.
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the police were already waiting for them before they had done a thing. police forces responded overwhelmingly in force. the disorder and mayhem meant that even that night teddy white the great reporter said democrats have lost the election this very night. nixon's campaign became the law and order campaign and the war went on and on and on. it was a sad ending but there was real idealism at the beginning. >> there's a comparison to be made with campus protests against apartheid in south africa. those did have some success. 155 university cities -- universities ultimately divested. how do you see the comparison? do you think the current protests can be as successful as that incident? >> that incident had a specific goal in mind. the divestment about apartheid. there was a worldwide feeling
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that was developing. this one is so much more complicated because both sides are more complicated. the question will be how much goes forth in the fall. it will depend on what happens. the war was in our control. this is a war where other people have control of what is happening even as students are protesting. >> let's get to the book. you have this book about the 1960s decade through the lens of both you and your husband. you both stood on the front lines of history. you've created this narrative from 300 boxes of letters, photos, documents that your husband richard gathered. he had hoped to write this book and unfortunately passed away before it could happen. you as an aid to jfk, president johnson, senator robert kennedy. he also helped to name johnson's great society initiative. there were a few other names but this was the one.
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talk about how huge of an impact it has had on so many of the programs we take for granted today. >> you are so right. one of the reasons he carried these boxes around for 42 years and did not want to open them was that the decade had ended so sadly. because the riots and deaths and assassinations we relived it suspending our knowledge of what would happen later. it was an extraordinary decade. all around us is the results. civil rights, voting rights, aid to education, there was so much that was accomplished during that time. the wonderful thing was as he remembered the good parts he was so resentful of the war. he thought it had destroyed the great society. of course, d. -- it hadn't.
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gave him a sense of fulfillment and purpose. at one point he wondered what will be finished first, me or the boxes. he looked forward every day to being able to go back and say i remember this, i remember this, lady bird and jackie kennedy and bobby kennedy. they all were part of his life and my life even though i was younger. it was a decade i will remember in some ways has the most vital one of my public life. >> i am sure he was right there with you as you are writing this because you did so much of this together. i am curious as a historian. what is it like to write something so personal and what do you want readers to take away from this book? have you looked through all of the photos? i stayed up way too late last night reading it. you wearing these iconic outfits while working in the white house. after we spent an extraordinary day together in your beautiful
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home talking in your incredible library, i see the thousands of books that you have and i am so glad you have created the goodwin room in the concorde free library with all these books you were not going to move with you. that is a huge gift for concorde because the library was inspiring. >> it means so much to me to know. we had 10,000 books. i could only bring 2500. it was sad to know what would happen but now i know they are in a room where high school kids come and they are alive. my buddies are still there but what i think was so extraordinary was i had been used to going through archives, studying presidents. i used to call them my guys because i spent so long living with them but now this was my guy in the same room. i never used to get an answer when i spoke to lincoln or roosevelt but he could argue with me. we really did have that last
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time together. i think about people who have memorabilia from their families. it is often in the basement or attic and they do not go through it until the person dies. it is such a great thing to be able to record those memories. that's how people live on. forget the people on mount rushmore or on current see, you want all the people that you love who are going to die to be able to tell their stories to the children and grandchildren see you can remember that is how people live on in the stories we tell. i'm so glad to be able to know that my husband will live on. i was worried when he died i would not be up to work on it alone but then i realized this is what i have done my whole life. he has lived with me even more in these last year so i'm so grateful for that. >> i am grateful on your behalf as well. can i just say it is a story about the 1960s which will include stories that befit the 1960s.
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there was one in particular, i'm not going to give it away. but it is about the white house pool where apparently bathing suits were optional. not you, you were a saint apparently. it is something to read and it is a great story. i look forward to seeing you again soon. best of luck with this book. thank you. >> thank you, my friend. in the next hour, misinformation about migrants and boating. why this is going viral so fast with almost 6 months to go before election day. (ella) fashion moves fast.
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action. we are keeping a close eye on this as things get a little bit heated at the university of virginia. i think we have another perspective to offer, a different camera angle. it looks like the police taking down the encampments. that will, of course, riled up student protesters that have built them and been making their stand to try to get the university to divest from israeli investment. that has been the unique bind between all of these campus demonstrations across the country. we will keep watching this in the control booth for you. in the meantime, we want to get what has happened with long time texas democrat representative who said he will still seek reelection after the doj indicted him and his wife on bribery and foreign influence charges. let's go to greg hiatt who is joining us from san antonio. this all stems from cuellar's
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ties to a bank in mexico in addition to a company that is controlled by azerbaijan? what are all of these allegations? >> reporter: good afternoon, alex. these charges relate to cuellar and his wife allegedly receiving $600,000 in bribes and in exchange for the bribes he used his office to influence favorable deals for both the bank in mexico and the oil and gas company in azerbaijan. this is not the first time prosecutors have been keeping a close eye on cuellar. his home and office in laredo, texas, were rated as part of a broader investigation into azerbaijan. he denied wrongdoing back then and after this indictment was unsealed stating he did not do anything wrong and, quote, he is innocent of allegations and committed to staying in the race in november and potentially winning reelection. more broadly from a political standpoint, he is temporarily
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going to step down from his perch on the house subcommittee overseeing dhs. even so house minority the leader hakeem jeffries stated he is entitled to his day in court, and the house they are stating that he should resign more broadly. you have that aspect but more on a bigger scale from a legal standpoint. if he and his wife are found guilty of these alleged crimes he could face jail of potentially years or decades. >> more to come on that. we will turn to you, greg hiatt, or that. thank you so much. before we go to break one more look at the university of virginia campus in charlottesville. we are getting a look at some activity. what we believe is happening is police are dismantling a student encampment and it's not being met well by students that are occupying the area. it is day nine of the encampments so you see the efforts of what they are clamoring to be done in regards
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to divestment. it looks like we've seen a couple of protesters be taken away in handcuffs. again, we are keeping a close eye on all of this for you. if things get more heated we will certainly go back there live. we will be right back after a short week. short week.
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right now in louisville, the 150th kentucky derby day is underway at churchill downs. it's what many call the greatest two minutes in sports. they are buying for position in front of fans dressed in seersucker suits, floral dresses, and showstopping hats. we have a list of the favorites on the screen with fierceness sitting as the betting favorite with 5-2 on's. let's go to jesse kirsch on the ground for us there. what should we expect to see today? >> reporter: i did not bring my seersucker suit, but i have the
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pink linen. i think i'm in good company. we are just missing some mint juleps. i don't know how many times you can have a conversation with me in pink linen so i have to take advantage of it. this is the 150th kentucky derby. the fastest two minutes in sports. this goes back to 1875 and has been run every year through world wars, through the covid- 19 pandemic, through all of that and so much more. this race has gone on every year for 150 years. we have the beautiful outfits, all of the bright colors. we also have the sun. yesterday was the kentucky oaks which is another big race and there were plenty of people, tens of thousands of people, and it was rainy for a people, tens of thousands of people here at churchill downs in louisville. it was raining for good amount of the day. that makes for a tough express for watching but can change the track conditions. that is something to keep an eye on

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