>>> WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON A SLAVE OWNER?
SO WILL GEORGE WASHINGTON NOW LOSE HIS STATUS?
ARE WE GOING TO TAKE DOWN -- EXCUSE ME.
ARE WE GOING TO TAKE DOWN -- ARE WE GOING TO TAKE DOWN STATUES TO
GEORGE WASHINGTON? HOW ABOUT THOMAS JEFFERSON?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THOMAS JEFFERSON?
DO YOU LIKE HIM? GOOD.
ARE WE GOING TO TAKE DOWN THE STATUE BECAUSE HE WAS A MAJOR
SLAVE OWNER. SO YOU KNOW WHAT?
IT'S FINE. YOU'RE CHANGING HISTORY.
YOU'RE CHANGING CULTURE. >> THIS MORNING PRESIDENT TRUMP
TWEETED, SAD TO SEE THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY
BEING RIPPED APART WITH THE REMOVAL OF OUR BEAUTIFUL STATUES
AND MONUMENTS. YOU CAN'T CHANGE HISTORY, BUT
YOU CAN LEARN FROM IT. ROBERT E. LEE, STONEWALL
JACKSON, WHO'S NEXT? WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON, SO
FOOLISH. ALSO THE BEAUTY THAT IS BEING
TAKEN OUT OF OUR CITIES, TOWNS, AND PARKS WILL BE GREATLY MISSED
AND NEVER ABLE TO BE COMPARABLY REPLACED.
OF COURSE, EVERY CONFEDERATE STATUE COULD BE REPLACED BY A
STATUE TO A SOLDIER OR A DISTINGUISHED GENERAL WHO
ACTUALLY FOUGHT IN BATTLE FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
INSTEAD OF AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF WAR HEROES ON THE UNION SIDE OF THE CIVIL
WAR OR WORLD WAR II WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN RECOGNIZED WITH
STATUES IN THE UNITED STATES. VETERAN JOURNALIST BILL MOYERS
IS A SON OF THE SOUTH. HE WAS BORN IN OKLAHOMA AND GREW
UP IN MARSHALL, TEXAS. HE LATER WORKED IN POLITICS AND
GOVERNMENT, SERVING BOTH IN THE KENNEDY AND JOHNSON
ADMINISTRATIONS. HE WAS A SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON. WHEN THE PRESIDENT SIGNED THE
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IN JULY OF 1964.
ON THE DAY DONALD TRUMP WAS INAUGURATED, BILL MOYERS SAID
THIS ABOUT DONALD TRUMP'S ORIGINAL POLITICAL LIE, THE LIE
ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S BIRTH. >> HE RODE TO POWER ON THE WINGS
OF A DARK LIE,LIE, ONE OF THE M MALIGNANT AND UGLY LIES IN
AMERICAN HISTORY. WE MUST NEVER FORGET IT.
>> JOINING US NOW, BILL MOYERS, PEABODY AWARD-WINNING
JOURNALIST. HE SERVED AS PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S
PRESS SECRETARY FROM 1965 TO 1967.
BILL, THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO COVER WITH YOU, BUT I
WANT TO JUST START WITH YOU'RE SOMEONE WHO HAD THAT JOB, PRESS
SECRETARY. YOU STOOD AT THAT PODIUM IN THAT
BRIEFING ROOM. WHAT IS IT LIKE FOR YOU WHEN YOU
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS IN THAT ROOM NOW, THAT ROOM THAT WAS A SACRED
PLACE FOR YOU? >> WELL, IT WAS A SACRED PLACE,
BUT WE COMMITTED A LOT OF SINS IN THAT SACRED PLACE.
WE WERE NOT PERFECT. NOW, I WAS NOT A PERFECT PRESS
SECRETARY. LINDEN WAS NOT A PERFECT
PRESIDENT WHEN IT CAME TO DISPOSING OF THE PRESS.
BUT HE NEVER ASKED ME TO LIE. SOMETIMES I LIED, I'M SURE IN
CONTRADICTING SOMETHING HE HAD SAID OR SOMETHING I HAD SAID.
BUT WHEN I BECAME PRESS SECRETARY AGAINST MY WILL, MY
FATHER SENT ME A TELEGRAM SAYING, BILL, TELL THE TRUTH IF
YOU CAN. BUT IF YOU CAN'T TELL THE TRUTH,
DON'T TELL A LIE. AND THAT'S WHAT I TRIED TO DO.
BUT AS I'VE OFTEN JOKES, OUR CREDIBILITY WAS SO BAD, WE
COULDN'T BELIEVE OUR OWN LEAKS. TODAY I MUST SAY WE WERE BETTER
THAN THEY WERE BY ANY MEANS, BUT WE MADE AN EFFORT NOT TO
DELIBERATELY DECEIVE THE PUBLIC. NOW IT'S JUST ONE LIE COMING OUT
AFTER ANOTHER. I DON'T BELIEVE THEY HAVE THE
CAPACITY OR THE FREEDOM UNDER THIS PRESIDENT TO SPEAK THE
TRUTH. >> YOU STRUGGLED WITH THE FIRST
PRESIDENCY IN THE MODERN AGE THAT WAS EMBATTLED IN AN
UNPOPULAR WAR, WHICH IS WHAT MADE ALL OF YOUR STRUGGLES IN
THAT BRIEFING ROOM WERE PRETTY MUCH ALL ABOUT THAT.
THIS IS A DIFFERENT STRUGGLE THAT WE'RE SEEING.
THIS IS A PRESIDENT WHO IS THE STRUGGLE.
THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF STRUGGLE IS WITH THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF.
>> YOU KNOW, LAWRENCE, DURING THE CAMPAIGN LAST YEAR, I KEPT
THINKING THAT DONALD TRUMP HAS GIVEN A BIG BULLHORN TO SOME OF
THE MOST MALFURIES IN LIFE. SOMEBODY SAID TODAY HE HAS TO
GET AWAY FROM HIM. HE CAN'T GET AWAY FROM HIMSELF.
THIS MAN DOES NOT SEEM TO BE TO HAVE WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY
THINK OF AS A SOUL. HE HAS AN OPEN SORE.
EVERYTHING ANTAGONIZES HIM. HE'S CONSTANTLY AT WAR WITH
EVERYBODY, AND HE DEGRADES EVERYTHING AROUND HIM.
HE IS THE MALEVOLENT FURY THAT IS ATTEMPTING TO PROVIDE A
RETURN TO MANY OF THE PRACTICES AND BEHAVIORS THAT WE HAVE SPENT
250 YEARS OVERCOMING. >> YOUOU WORKED FOR A SOUTHERN
PRESIDENT WHO SIGNED THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AND KNEW POLITICALLY
WHEN HE WAS DOING IT AND SAID PRIVATELY TO YOU, NO DOUBT, WHAT
THIS WOULD COST HIM. >> HE SAID THAT EVENING, I THINK
WE'VE JUST DELIVERED THE SOUTH TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FOR MY
LIFETIME AND YOURS. WHAT HE MEANT BY THAT IS THAT
FOR 100 YEARS, THE DEMOCRATS HAD BEEN THE PROTECTOR OF SLAVERY,
THE DEFENDER OF SLAVERY AND OF WHITE POWER.
NOW WITH THE VOTE COMING, THE DEMOCRATS WOULD MOVE AWAY FROM
THAT, AND THE REPUBLICANS WOULD FILL THE GAP.
THERE WOULD BE A WHITE FLIGHT TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND THERE
WAS. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BECAME THE
PARTY THAT PROMOTES RACISM AND WHITE POWER IN AMERICAN POLITICS
TODAY. >> THE PRESIDENT WENT FROM A
COUPLE DAYS AGO SAYING, CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS ARE A
LOCAL DECISION. LOCAL COMMUNITIES SHOULD DECIDE
WHETHER THEY WANT THEM OR NOT WANT THEM.
NOW, TODAY, HE'S DECIDED THEY ARE ABSOLUTE NATIONAL TREASURES.
WE MUST NEVER TOUCH THEM, AND WE CAN NEVER POSSIBLY BUILD ANY
STATUES AS BEAUTIFUL AS THOSE AGAIN TO REPLACE THEM.
>> THE PARADOX IS -- I MEAN WE'VE DONE THAT AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. THE CONFEDERATE STATUES HAVE
BEEN MOVED TO A MUSEUM. BUT THE PARADOX IN WHAT THE
PRESIDENT IS SAYING IS MOST OF THE STATUES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
WERE BUILT -- CONSTRUCTED, ERECTED AFTER 1,900, AROUND THE
TIME THAT JIM CROW LAWS, THE LAWS OF ENFORCING SEGREGATION
WERE ESTABLISHED. AND THE TERRORISM THAT BECAME
JIM CROW WAS BEGINNING TO BE
IT WAS NOT TO HONOR THE SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
IT WAS TO REMIND BLACKS AND WHITES THAT THE FORCE OF THE
STATE WOULD STILL BE USED TO SUBJUGATE THEM TO A DIFFERENT
FORM OF SLAVERY. ALL OF THOSE COULD COME DOWN
WITHOUT AFFECTING HISTORY AT ALL.
YOU COULD PUT THEM IN THE MUSEUMS WHERE TEACHERS COULD
EXPLAIN WHY THEY WERE PUT UP IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 1900s.
>> BUT JUST THAT E RAT CITIZEN MANY ON HIS PART FROM A COUPLE
DAYS AGO, IT'S A LOCAL MATTER, WHICH IS KIND OF A RELATIVELY
SAFE POLITICAL THING TO SAY, TO NOW COMING OUT TO SAY AND
SAYING, OH, NO, NO. THEY MUST ALL BE SAVED.
I MEAN HOW IS THE COUNTRY SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW A PRESIDENT
LIKE THAT? >> BY LOOKING AT THE CONSISTENCY
OF HIS INCONSISTENCY. THIS IS A MAN WHO IS UNABLE TO
FINISH A SENTENCE IN THE WAY HE OBVIOUSLY INTENDED IT WHEN HE
STARTED. LYNDON JOHNSON WAS A MAN OF
CONTRADICTIONS. LYNDON JOHNSON COULD BE AS
PERPLEXING AS DONALD TRUMP WAS. BUT LYNDON JOHNSON KNEW WHAT HE
WAS DOING. HE KNEW GOVERNMENT.
HE LOVED GOVERNMENT. HE KNEW HOW TO MAKE IT WORK, AND
HE ALSO KNEW THAT IF YOU CONTINUALLY CONTRADICTED
YOURSELF THE WAY TRUMP IS DOING, AS JOHNSON WOULD DO LATER IN
VIETNAM, YOU'RE DESTROYING YOURSELF.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH DONALD TRUMP IS HE'S
DESTROYING HIMSELF EXCEPT WITH THAT ONE-THIRD OF THE E
ELECTORATE THAT THINKS HE CAN DO NO HARM.
>> I WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT SOME STUNNING MAGAZINE COVERS THAT
CAME OUT TODAY FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
WE HAVE THE ECONOMIST, WHICH SHOWS DONALD TRUMP BASICALLY
BLOWING INTO A BULLHORN THAT LOOKS LIKE A KU KLUX KLAN HOOD.
"TIME" MAGAZINE CAME OUT WITH ONE TODAY THAT PUTS HIM IN THE
POSITION OF GIVING SORT OF A HITLER SALUTE WITH THE AMERICAN
FLAG. WE HAVE A COUPLE OF OTHERS.
BUT THESE ARE THINGS -- THIS IS A KIND OF COVERAGE WE HAVE NEVER
SEEN IN THIS COUNTRY. >> RIGHT.
THE SADDEST PART TO ME OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, OTHER THAN THE
DEATH AND THE INJURY THAT OCCURRED, WAS THE FACT THAT
THERE'S -- IN FACT I SAW THIS ON NBC NEWS LAST NIGHT, THE NIGHTLY
NEWS. THERE'S A SYNAGOGUE THERE, THE
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE. ABOUT 40 OR 50 PEOPLE COME
REGULARLY TO WORSHIP. AND DURING THE TROUBLES DOWN
THERE LAST WEEKEND, THREE MEN ARMED WITH AUTOMATIC RIFLES
STOOD ACROSS FROM THE SYNAGOGUE EYEING IT SUSPICIOUSLY.
PARADES OF YOUNG MEN CAME BY WITH SWASTIKAS, AND THEY'D SAY
THERE'S THE SYNAGOGUE. SEEG HIEL.
THIS COMES FROM THE RABBI ZIMMERMAN, WHO TOLD THIS STORY
ON NBC LAST NIGHT. AND THEY WERE CARRYING THE
SWASTIKA, THE NAZI FLAG, AND I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE
TODAY CAN MARCH OR SALUTE -- MARCH UNDER OR SALUTE THE NAZI
FLAG WITHOUT RECOGNIZING WHAT THE NAZI REGIME DID TO EUROPE,
TO THE WORLD, AND PARTICULARLY TO SIX-PLUS MILLION JEWS WHO
WERE ROUNDED UP, MURDERED, SENT TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS, STARVED
TO DEATH, BURIED ALIVE. THAT'S WHAT THAT SWASTIKA FLAG
MEANS TO THOSE JEWISH CONGRESS REGATS IN THAT SYNAGOGUE WHO
WATCHED THEM COME BY, SALUTING ADOLF HITLER.
>> BEFORE WE GO TO THIS BREAK, AS A SOUTHERNER TO SOUTHERNERS
ABOUT THESE CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS, I MEAN THEY WATCH
PEOPLE LIKE ME, NORTHERNERS FROM BOSTON WHO COULDN'T CARE LESS
ABOUT THESE MONUMENTS TALK ABOUT THEM AND WANT TO SEE THEM BEING
REMOVED. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY AS A
SOUTHERNER TO SOUTHERNERS ABOUT THESE MONUMENTS AND WHAT THEY
MEAN NOW? >> THAT IS NOT YOUR HERITAGE.
YOUR HERITAGE IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT HAPPENED UNDER SLAVERY.
YOUR HERITAGE NOW -- ALL OF YOU ARE FREE.
YOU SAID IT VERY WELL WHEN YOU BEGAN THIS DISCUSSION.
GEORGE WASHINGTON RISKED HIS LIFE TO LEAD AN ARMY WHOSE
MISSION WAS TO CREATE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
THOMAS JEFFERSON RISKED HIS LIFE BY WRITING THE DECLARATION.
BOTH WERE SLAVE OWNERS. GEORGE WASHINGTON FREED HIS
SLAVES. JEFFERSON DIDN'T.
BUT THEY -- THE STATUES ARE COMMEMORATING MEN WHO FOUGHT IN
AND LED ARMIES DESIGNED TO DESTROY THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA. AND I WOULD SAY TO EVERYBODY
TODAY, THE CIVIL WAR FAILED. IT DID NOT DESTROY THIS UNION.
BUT THE LOSERS KEPT FIGHTING UNTIL THEY'RE STILL FIGHTING
TODAY. LET THEM GO.
YOU LOST THE WAR. LET'S MOVE ON.
>> WE'RE GOING TO B