decades and see the results when a government of the people extends its promise to all the people. that was president bill clinton tonight at the civil rights summit, which is taking place in austin, texas, all this week as a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act of 1964. an unprecedented piece of legislation, signed by president lyndon bayne johnson. it s also a rare gathering of all the living u.s. presidents. former president bill clinton, as you saw there, delivering remarks. president jimmy carter spoke yesterday, warning that complacency on civil rights has set in in the united states. president george w. bush is scheduled to speak tomorrow. his father, president george h.w. bush is also there, as an honorary co-chair of the event, although he doesn t have a speech. and tomorrow, president obama will give the keynote address. the effort and determination that lbj brought to the civil rights act struggle remains an an inspiring model, i would argue, fo
a government of the people extends its promise to all the people. that was president bill clinton tonight at the civil rights summit, which is taking place in austin, texas, all this week as a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act of 1964. an unprecedented piece of legislation, signed by president lyndon bayne johnson. it s also a rare gathering of all the living u.s. presidents. former president bill clinton, as you saw there, delivering remarks. president jimmy carter spoke yesterday, warning that complacency on civil rights has set in in the united states. president george w. bush is scheduled to speak tomorrow. his father, president george h.w. bush is also there, as an honorary co-chair of the event, although he doesn t have a speech. and tomorrow, president obama will give the keynote address. the effort and determination that lbj brought to the civil rights act struggle remains an an inspiring model, i would argue, for all of those presidents. and wh
an inspiring model, i would argue, for all of those presidents. and while the lbj library is the perfect place to reflect on this kind of seminole achievement. now, joining us tonight to discuss it is clifford alexander jr. he was associate special counsel to president lyndon b. johnson and played a critical role in passing and implementing the civil rights act of 1964. an honor to have you here tonight. thank you, ari, appreciate it. when we look at this achievement, and you look at all these presidents from both parties down there, what do we learn today about this period of history and tell us what you were doing when you were serving lbj at that time? at that time, i was on his staff welcome working on administration. i was there in the room, and he gave me one of the pens that he used to sign the civil rights act. and later on, i continued to work with the civil rights leadership, i was their liaison for president johnson, and he made me head of the opportunity commission in
the law is working, and this was a seminole achievement. by the way, if you count people who are going directly to private insurance companies, medicaid, children s health care, you re talking well north of 10 million people who have health care. tens of millions more have security. john barrasso doesn t see eye to eye with the enrollment claims, something the obama team disputs. i think they re cooking the books on this. people want to know the answers. if we re cooking the books, don t you think we would have done it in october and november? people who aren t enthusiastic about the law working, haven t done outreach to their constituents, haven t given accurate information, are now suggesting the enormous interest in enrolling in health care is not existing. it does exist. we did pass the 6 million mark this week of individuals who had enrolled. how fun. i love it. 6 million. magically, they hit the number, eric. so it s i spent a lot of time over the weekend thinking
administration officials say those trying to enroll today an run out of time won t be penalized. david plouffe, one of president s former advisors says the website problems is small stuff compared to what obamacare is accomplishing. the law s working. and this was seminole achievement. seminal achievement. count people boeing directly to private insurance companies, medicaid, children s health care, north of 10 million people have health care. reporter: administration officials scaled back their goal from sign-up from seven million to six. they say they re on track to enroll six 1/2 million people in the exchanges though they won t say how many of those people had health insurance canceled because it didn t meet the standards of obamacare. jenna. jenna: goal goal live at the white house. thank you. jon: but the obamacare enrollment numbers so far might not tell the full story. right now hhs says sign-ups as of a few days ago hit more than six million. but you can not forget that