Donald Trump's Threat To James Comey Of 'Tapes' Draws Nixon Comparisons | The 11th Hour

>>> PROGRAMS REGULARLY SCHEDULED FOR THIS TIME WILL NOT BE SEEN
TODAY IN ORDER THAT WE MIGHT BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING NBC NEWS
SPECIAL REPORT. WATERGATE, SENATE HEARINGS.
>> ROMANTIC TITLES BACK THEN. THAT WAS JULY 16th, 1973.
VERY IMPORTANT DAY IN AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY.
IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT'S THE DAY WE LEARNED FROM THE SENATE
TESTIMONY OF FORMER NIXON WHITE HOUSE AIDE ALEXANDER
BUTTERFIELD. >> MR. BUTTERFIELD, ARE YOU
AWARE OF THE INSTALLATION OF ANY LISTENING DEVICE THIS IS THE
OVAL OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT? >> I WAS AWARE OF LISTENING
DEVICES, YES, SIR. >> IF I COULD MOVE ON TO
TELEPHONES. ARE YOU AWARE OF THE AWARE OF T
INSTALLATION OF ANY DEVICES ON ANY OF THE TELEPHONES, FIRST OF
ALL IN THE OVAL OFFICE? >> YES, SIR.
>> UNBELIEVABLE MOMENT. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY AND THE
PRESIDENT EITHER HINTING OR BLUFFING OR THREATENING TO HAVE
RECORDINGS OF PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS IN THE WHITE
HOUSE. FOR MORE TONIGHT WE ARE JOINED
BY MICHAEL AND AMONG HIS MANY WORKS AND NINE BOOKS ON
PRESIDENTS TWO BOOKS ON THE RECORDED CONVERSATIONS OF
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON "TAKING CHARGE "AND "REACHING FOR GLORY"
AND POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE BUT IF YOU BUY THE AUDIO BOOKS
YOU GET THE JOHNSON WHITE HOUSE TAPE RECORDINGS AS NARRATED BY
MICHAEL BESHLAUS. >> THERE IS A SCENE WHEN NIXON
COMES TO THE WHITE HOUSE. HE IS GOING TOO MOVE IN.
AND JOHNSON IS SHOWING HIM AROUND THE PLACE AND THEY BOTH
GET DOWN ON THEIR KNEES. WHAT DID JOHNSON WANT TO SHOW
RICHARD NIXON? >> THERE IS NOTHING I CAN SAY
THAT IS GOING TO MATCH THAT BUILD UP.
THANKS FOR THE KIND WORD, BY THE WAY.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT JOHNSON WAS SHOWING NIXON AROUND THE
PRIVATE ROOMS OF THE UPSTAIRS OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND SAYS COME
INTO MY BEDROOM. JOHNSON GETS DOWN ON HIS KNEES
AND AS THE STORY IS TOLD SORT OF ALMOST CRAWLED UNDER HIS BED AND
NIXON WONDERED WHAT IS GOING ON HERE.
JOHNSON APPARENTLY PULLED OUT A LOT OF WIRES AND SAID THESE LEAD
TO MY TAPING SYSTEM. DICK, YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE A
RECORDING SYSTEM THE WAY THAT I DO RECORDS MY TELEPHONE CALLS,
RECORDS EVEN HERE IN MY BEDROOM, RECORDS OVAL OFFICE
CONVERSATIONS. WHEN NIXON WENT HOME HE SAID
THAT'S THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO IS RECORD ALL OF THESE
CONVERSATIONS. THE SECOND I'M PRESIDENT PULL
ALL OF THIS STUFF OUT. THEN ABOUT A LITTLE MORE MORE
THAN A YEAR IN HE BEGAN TO THINK THE IDEA WAS A GOOD ONE BECAUSE
NIXON WAS WORRIED THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR HIM MIGHT TAKE ALL
SORTS OF CREDIT FOR THINGS THAT NIXON FELT THAT HE DESERVED SO
NIXON FELT THAT TO RECORD ALL OF THIS CONVERSATIONS ESSENTIALLY
WALL TO WALL BECAUSE IT WAS NOT A SYSTEM WITH A SWITCH AS
JOHNSON HAD. HE COULD USE THIS TO PROTECT
HIMSELF. >> THE EARLY SYSTEM USED A
DICTAPHONE RECORDING MECHANISM. IT WAS PRETTY PRIMITIVE.
TODAY THE PRESIDENT SAYS TAPES IN QUOTES MEANING RECORDINGS
PERHAPS. MICHAEL, I KNOW LBJ WANTED IN
PART FOR LEVERAGE TO REMIND PEOPLE WHAT THEY HAD SAID OR
PROMISED TO HIM OVER THE PHONE HE ALWAYS HAD THE TRANSCRIPT IF
HE NEEDED IT. IF THIS CURRENT PRESIDENT IS
RECORDING PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS IN THE WHITE HOUSE OTHER THAN
MAKING HIMSELF A HUGE SUBPOENA TARGET, IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG
WITH IT? IS THERE ANYTHING ILLEGAL?
>> ILLEGAL IS A QUESTION. IN TERMS OF SHATTERING
PRECEDENCE AND SHATTERING THINGS THAT PRESIDENTS HAVE BEEN DOING
BEFORE EVER SINCE THAT DAY THAT YOU JUST SHOWED WITH ALEXANDER
BUTTERFIELD IN JULY OF 1973, NIXON HAD TO IMMEDIATELY STOP
TAPING AND PULL OUT THE SYSTEM AND LATER PRESIDENTS HAVE ALL
SAID I WILL NEVER DO SUCH A THING BECAUSE IT REMINDS PEOPLE
OF NIXON WHO BEHAVED BADLY, BUT IT VIOLATES PEOPLE'S CIVIL
LIBERTIES TO RECORD CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PRESIDENT
THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PRIVATE WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE.
AND THE OTHER THING IS THAT PRESIDENTS HAVE FELT THAT IF
PEOPLE EVEN HAD THE SUSPENSION THAT WHEN THEY GO INTO THE OVAL
OFFICE OR TALK TO A PRESIDENT ON THE TELEPHONE THAT THEY ARE
BEING TAPED

Donald Trump's Threat To James Comey Of 'Tapes' Draws Nixon Comparisons | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

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