is wednesday, the 29th of december. saidlectronic times samsung will spend $13 billion to produce flexible leds for iphones. finalmpanies are in the stages of talks with apple. south korea's currency may weaken, weakening 7% so far this year. a brokerage sees more to c ome.

yuan is expected to hit a seven-year low. war withf a bidding carl icahn. pep boys had accepted an offer from bridgestone, rising 93% so far this year. carl oregon said he would raise his bid further. -- carl icons said he would race is bit further. singapore shares down 3.4% after the company was cut to junk. moody's lowered its rating because of concerns about liquidity. noble suffers from low profitability from its core businesses. 60% this yearllen amid criticism about accounting practices. noble has been hit by the route in commodity prices.

tensions rising between china and japan after beijing sent an armed frigate into waters claimed by both countries. three ships now operated by the coast guard inside the east china sea exclusion zone. any potential confrontation threatens to escalate as the u.s. is treaty-bound to come to japan's defense in the event of an armed attack. let's leave you with a quick check of the markets. we are extending the gains we saw yesterday as we saw gains overnight in wall street as well. the nikkei 225 down half a percent -- up half a percent. oil is coming back as well. we see you at the top of the hour. john: i'm john heilemann. nicolle: i'm nicolle wallace. with all due respect to the president of colombia, we will get the president of the philippines ready just in case. ♪

>> we have a feature presentation tonight. viewer discretion is advised. you may have heard of this tax, -- vile a attacks, a vengeful cast and an overflow super pac. it is called the hateful eight. the characters are familiar. everyone attacking everyone but we are starting with the most hated and most loved -- donald trump. the setting is the today show when the target is bill clinton. mr. trump: they called him a racist. he did very poorly. they are bringing him out again. he is being wheeled out. he failed in 2008. he failed really badly. he frankly did a very poor job at campaigning. if you look at the different situations, we can name many of them. i can get you a list and have it sent to your office in two seconds, but there were certainly a lot of abuse of women. you look at whether it is monica

lewinsky or paula jones or many of them, that certainly will be fair game. theainly, if they play woman's card, with respect to me that will be fair game. , nicolle: with all of these attacks, will anything stick? john: he basically suggested that people call bill clinton a racist. he called him an incompetent campaigner. he called him geriatric by saying they are wheeling him out quasi sexlled him a quiet as offender. talk about monica lewinsky, that is in the stock. i think the memories of 2008 are still fresh for a lot of voters. the real question is not whether they will stick but how does , bill clinton perform this time around. we have not seen enough of him to see if we will get the 2008 bill clinton or 2012 bill clinton when he was a fantastic surrogate for barack obama, as

everyone remembers the democratic national convention. which one do we get? we will see. nicolle: ruth marcus this morning defended trump's prerogative to open up this line of attack against bill clinton. jean robinson also defended him saying there were some racial , sensitivities to his comments in 2008 about then senator obama. end to this line of attack. john: he is a former president. he has behaved inappropriately. he has campaigned in ways that have an problematic for his wife. it is all legitimate. the question is whether there is any political salience to it. whether donald trump a thrice , married man and all the troubles that donald trump has had, is he really a guy who can prosecute this case effectively against bill clinton.

i am not really sure about that. he went after somebody else last night. the second target is the rival of trump which is chris christie. yesterday, donald trump unloaded on governor christie. even though donald trump mentioned the bridge scandal, he mentioned that in an interview mur in new m you hampshire, but he saved other vulnerabilities for his evening rout in new hampshire. the economy and the bearhug of president obama. mr. trump: the george washington bridge, it's impossible that he did not know what i did. if he did not know about it that , is very bad management. if he did know about it, it is a bigger problem. how could they close down the largest bridge and most traveled bridge in the united states if he does not know about it? it is impossible to know about it. how do you back this?

you have had tremendous downgrades, nine or 11. number 50 out of 50 in terms of economic development and in terms of the economy. it is like one of the worst in the country for jobs. it is a disaster. i have property in new jersey. the taxes are through the roof, through the roof. you go through it. so you have obama -- i don't call it a hug. i call it a hug mentally. it was unbelievable. he was like a little boy. i am with the president. he flew in the helicopter and he was so excited to be in the helicopter. i could put you in my helicopter, it is nicer. john: that is a trifecta of attacks from trump on christie. which of those do think have a chance of sticking and why? nicolle: on one level, it is an honor to be attacked by trump, right? it means chris christie is in it and he is for real and new hampshire. he does not waste his insults.

at that level this is good news , for the christie campaign. the only one of the three lines of attack that could have a revelation for voters is the attack on the new jersey economy. you talk to folks in new jersey, and they are not big fans of what christie has done. john: what is interesting about this is trump does not think bridge gate is his vulnerability. nor do most other republicans. a lot of republicans do think that just how bad the jersey economy is. the number of downgrades it has suffered, how unpopular chris christie is at home. they think there is an achilles heel. as chris christie rises in new hampshire donald trump will not , be the only one making these arguments and not just that rallies. you will see those in ads. a lot of republicans think he is really vulnerable on that score. nicolle: moving on to some other duals. poor marco rubio.

the immigration started off in the last debate. he is now being pinched by other adversaries. first, it was jeb bush's friends at the right to rise super pac. they are spending over $1 million on this tv ad. >> days after the paris attacks senators came together for a , tough secret meeting. marco rubio was missing. fundraising in california instead. two weeks later, terrorists struck again in san bernardino. where was marco? fundraising again. over the last three years, marco rubio has missed important to national security hearings. mr. moore total votes than any other senator. politics first, that is the marco rubio way. right to rise usa is responsible for this ad. nicolle: he said this at a town hall in iowa. mr. christie: only in washington can you say you have the guts to stand up to say you were against something and not go vote. then put out a press release after it gets past and say this

is why i was opposed to it. dude, show up to work and vote no. right? if you don't want to, then quit. nicolle: in iowa, rubio responded to both attacks, calling the right to rise at a false and said this about the harsh words. mr. rubio: i have had 90% attendance record. chris christie has been missing in new jersey for half the time. candidates get a little desperate and nasty in their attacks. that is fine. nicolle: will any of these attacks stick? john: look, i think there is something here. i think it is not just about his attendance record, spending too much time politicking. of course there is a weird , irony. there are other people attacking marco rubio for not spending enough time out of washington. he is getting in both directions. i think the main thing that this is trying to get at is the

notion that rubio is callow and shallow and somebody who was not really serious enough to be president. i think that does touch a nerve and could be a problem for him. nicolle: i think it touches a nerve because it is really preposterous. he is the one guy running that sits on the foreign relations committee, a breath of experience on the hot button issues we are talking about. i think as a campaign, they find themselves exasperated that they are not further ahead in the minds of voters on questions about foreign policy. john: do you actually think that rubio is impervious to these criticisms? do you think voters hearing that rubio is out politicking, raising money, blowing off committee votes that does not , matter to voters? nicolle: in his defense, chris christie is a governor of a state being attacked in iowa. we have a republican electorate

who is really sort of upheaved by the notion of any establishment figure. bestot sure that it is the line of attack to say he is not showed up for his job. john: fair enough. could be true. we have a fourth and final topic, negative mano a mano. it is the filibustering fiend himself, ted cruz. he is the one that people generally, truly hate, particularly in washington dc the line coming from his opponent is he is very unlikable and grossly opportunistic. curt anderson has questioned his authenticity, calling him the biggest narcissist in the race , that is a race which includes donald trump. this super pac supporting mike

huckabee is running ads in iowa with east coast donors. he is downplaying his opposition to gay marriage calling him a hypocrite. there are a lot of attacks on ted cruz coming from every direction. which of these, do you think of any, has a chance to slow him down? nicolle: if you trust the reporting, and i do because it has been verified by a lot of people who know ted cruz, he is really hated. if you trust the polls in iowa, they are loving that about him. the voters are not looking for someone who wins a congeniality contest. i think both things can be true in the case of ted cruz. he is truly despised, not seen as a team player. i worked with him on the recount in florida and that was ground , zero for the biggest egos in both parties in the whole country. he rose to the top in terms of hubris and egomania. he is at the top of the polls in iowa so i think voters are , saying we do not care.

saying like are curt andersen said he is the biggest narcissist, you are saying among all of your colleagues in the recount effort that he was the biggest ego? is that what i heard you say? nicolle: he was a contender. these are good republicans who work in the bush administration who say they would have a really hard time voting for ted cruz if he was the republican candidate. john: that is incredible to say. i will say that i think that the one that has the most chance to stick is the notion he is a hypocrite. i think that has a real potential problem for him. coming up, we will talk about ivanka and chelsea and more in the category of family fun, the family circus. when we come back in 60 seconds. ♪

john: we have a little breaking news right now from our friend at the boston globe. he says former new york governor george pataki who has been struggling for the nomination fight is calling his supporters in new hampshire today to say he is getting out of the race. nicole i would not say that is a , huge surprise given the way he has been polling throughout but , what about your thoughts about

the guy who was at one point a huge figure in new york state politics? nicolle: i have enjoyed the undercard debate far more than i expected to. i think he has been an important voice. the reality is we are now five weeks out from iowa. an undercard debate does not have that much relevance. i think it is taking away from the guys at the front of the pack. i think this is overdue. i do think he made some contributions to the conversation. john: he is a serious person who had serious views about the country and the world. and had a very different view of what the republican party should be today. i think it is a sign of how much the republican party has changed over the past couple of decades. pataki could not get a hearing in the modern republican party, let alone be a first-tier candidate. if it is true that he is stepping down, governor pataki, we wish you well. let's move on to what we were talking about which his family and the campaign trail. we did not see much of the

candidate spouses over the course of 2015. in 2016, we will see more of them and their kids as well. ivanka trump says her father is a great advocate for women. we had images today of a pregnant chelsea clinton walking with her parents. sanders, she jane is getting the new york times profile treatment. think about all of these guys -- first on the republican side and the democratic side -- pick one spouse or family member that you think could be a real asset, a surprising big asset for their candidate as we go into iowa and new hampshire. nicolle: i'm slightly obsessed with trump's disapproval number of among women. 61% of women disapprove of donald trump. i personally think it is the greatest hurdle for his ability to win a national election. i see his daughter who was

-- is universally respected and admired my people who know her as a link to, not just women, but younger women. she could actually bring people into the republican party who have not given the party a look , and who certainly would not give donald trump a look. i think her potential to me is the greatest. john: even people who do not like donald trump, they love his daughter. there is no doubt she could be an asset. just like i think mary pat christie who is someone who was a huge figure in chris christie's life as governor of new jersey, she is very politically savvy. she has been out on the campaign trail more. i think she will have a big role in this campaign. nicolle: she is important considering some of christie's vulnerabilities were his rough edges. i think the whole family is an important part of the chris christie story. my next one is chelsea clinton , because if you look at

hillary clinton's vulnerabilities it is preventing , herself as someone who is a human being. when she says that she has not driven herself in over a decade. she does not come across as particularly relatable. i think it is a tremendous opportunity for her to connect. john: the real question about chelsea is how big of a role she wants to play. if she wanted to be a big figure, she could be as important or more important than her mother's husband, bill clinton. she could be a huge figure but i don't think she wants that role. i think the one in who was covered in the new york times today, jane sanders, could be a big figure in this campaign, in the late stages. we had her on the show not long ago. she is incredibly funny, charming. she does something to husband desperately needs, which is to soften him and show his more human side. bernie sanders needs that. his wife is probably the easiest way to get that done.

-- the past with us year of 2015 started with our tour of hillary clinton's brooklyn headquarters when we come back after a word from our sponsors. ♪ nicolle: as much as we all like going out on the campaign trail, sometimes it is nice when the trail comes to us. this summer when hillary clinton opened her camcorders in our backyard in brooklyn. mark was given special behind the scenes access which included michelle kwan, a mysterious

refrigerator, and all the people who make a campaign run. mark: how are you, sir? ♪ volunteerssee our worked hard to make the space look like a real campaign. absolutely. on any given day, it depends. maybe 20-30. everybody on our team has taken the best from washington dc. mark: they are relatively senior officials here. you have to have proof that they have ridden the bus? >> it is a badge of honor to have your name on there. >> my name is not on there. i'm sure it will be there sooner than later. mark: charlie baker, senior officials have ridden the bus.

very impressive. tell us what you're department does. >> we are in charge of political engagement. anywhere from talking to members on the hill, governors, local elected officials. also working with her allied , and coalition groups. we are coming together with an african-american engagement program and coalition groups. mark: tell us do you do here? >> i coordinate with people who are prominent figures, elected officials who could do some outreach for us. if hillary cannot be there, we might be able to have a surrogate there. >> it is named after an early state. south carolina is one of the early states. over here is tech and compliance. that is the kitchen. mark: the clinton kitchen. >> you may have read about the

infamous brown refrigerator. mark: what is the story behind the brown refrigerator? >> the story is that it has been used before. obviously, we are saving money in every way. mark: did you inherit it? >> i'm not sure what the actual story is. mark: it is old. >> it is. mark: nobody would choose that. it was donated. and in-kind contribution from somebody. what is this thing? >> i'm not entirely sure. it looks like it makes sandwiches. i'm not sure. mark: how long do you work? let's see, this morning i got in around 6:00. mark: who else was here? >> just me. mark: the first one in? >> i was. mark: you like to start early? >> i do like to start early. there is a lot of stuff to do. mark: you are here at 6:00. what time did the next person come in? >> 7:00.

mark: an hour later. what did you do? >> i planned. mark: you work until how late? >> until 7:00 or 8:00. mark: you have been around politics for a living now. a lot of younger people here have not, so what are you teaching them? >> i think it is a role reversal. they are teaching me. just like the digital team, they are all in their 30's. i just turned 35 a week ago -- i think it is a learning process. >> social media is my area of focus. facebook, twitter, instagram. linkedin is my baby-type project. that involves writing content and new ideas. many campaigns to get people involved. if you look, there is something made out of strawberries and blueberries.

i actually uploaded that to instagram as a precursor to a website i made that had ideas that i had for the digital team whether it was social media or , other things they could do to raise money and get people involved. i sent that through twitter to a recruiter here. right away, he connected me to the digital team. a week later after some interviews, i was packing my bags to come to brooklyn. mark: why berries? >> i thought it was a beautiful way to make a logo. >> so you went to the store and bought some berries? >> it was right before memorial day. we were making some pies. i was like before you make , those, could i arrange them into the logo outside? it was great because they actually shared the image. when i made the contact, they also put that on facebook and twitter.

mark: what is the culture of this office? >> we are here to work hard, have fun, openness, collaboration. >> this is the most open office to an idea than anywhere i have ever worked. >> it is like a family. we are away from our family, away from my husband, but it is driving to get hillary clinton elected. she will be the most amazing president. nicolle: the rink that trump built and more of the best of 2015 when we come back. don't forget if you're watching , us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on bloomberg 99.1. we will be right back. ♪

john: by far, the biggest mystery of 2015 was donald j. trump. what, why, how?

it is a confounding set of questions that the smartest journalist in the country are still trying to unpack, unpuzzle, and solve. last month, we tried to figure out one part of the puzzle which is when we sat down with him at an ice rink in central park. he took over from the city of new york with two proud marks. let's go back to the summer of 1986. the office is not that far from here. you look to down and saw what? why did you do decide to get involved? mr. trump: i saw for for years a mess. it was under construction for many years. eight, to be exact. i said what is going on? we are talking about a slab of concrete. it is actually much more complicated to be honest with you, but it is a very large slab of concrete.

after a number of years, i called the mayor and said what is going on? nobody was ever working. they were having a lunch break all day long. hundreds of people would be sitting. it has been a great experiment. you may want to continue with your question, but it certainly has been a great experiment. mark: what was in it for you? mr. trump: i had a young daughter at the time, ivanka. she said, dad, i want to go ice skating, but that rink is never open. seven seasons it was closed, eight years total. i said let me look into it. i look to down and i would see it right from trump tower. i would pass it, i would look at the men -- i know a lot of them because i'm in the construction business. i see a lot of the workers and they would waive to me. i would say what is wrong here, fellas? nobody wants us to work, nobody cares. i went to see the mayor, mayor ed koch at the time, and he said

i will do this job and i will get it done. it was a huge embarrassment for the city. it was the front page story. it was eight years to open and i skating rink and i went to the , mayor and i said let me do it. if i don't do it for under $2 million and fast, i will pay for it. he was not 100% -- he was embarrassed by the whole situation. i took it over and got it done in four months. people use this as an example of what can be done, private enterprise. john: is this a story about the ineffectiveness of the public sector and effectiveness of the private sector or some especially about your capacity to get things done? mr. trump: i have a great capacity to get things done but , it does have to do with the private sector. as an example, the post office under construction right now on pennsylvania avenue between congress and the white house. boom. the most beautiful building. it is incredible. i am under budget and ahead of schedule, which is what we should be and we are supposed to

, open in 2017. we will open probably in september of 2016 which is good timing. right on pennsylvania avenue. i get things done. but, another one i'm very proud point, -- ferry point -- a big development in the bronx which was a big disaster. under construction for probably 30 years. nobody knows when it started. i got it done in one year and it is open now and very successful. mark: people say that trump has no government experiencing cannot be president, this is a government problem. the city could not get this thing bill. so what examples of things now that are not getting done that you think you can bring the same skills to if you were president? mr. trump: i will give you one example. wars. wars are not getting done. it is the same thing. you look at isis and what is going on with what we are doing. we sent our 50 best over there. why would anybody say we are sending -- why does the president have to say we are sending 50 people? those people are in great danger now because we are saying that.

first of all, either win or do not. win or get out. he sends 50 people out there. -- over there. he then makes a public announcement that 50 people -- those men and women right now are being hunted. they are looking for those men. why does he have to say they are sending them over? you know how dangerous that is? mark: your critics would say that you just compared building an ice rink to stopping wars. mr. trump: it has to do with efficiency, common sense, knowledge. look, i wrote a book in the year 2000. i talked about osama bin laden because i watched this guy talking. he was a terrorist, well-known, and i wrote about him in a book. hey, when was that book written? it was in 2000 before the world trade center came down. he goes, that is amazing.

i have a knack for things and i know what i am doing. this country is so far behind in every way. in trade, military. we are so far -- i watched the other day, the general, he said we are the least prepared we have ever been. i think he said ever been in the history of the country. now he might have said since the second world war, but i think it was essentially ever. john: is the argument you are making is the skill set required to be president is the same as the skill set to be ceo? if not, what are the differences? mr. trump: they are not the same, but i am better than those people. i will do a better job with the military. i will do a better job with jobs. i know my competition. i understand competition. see these buildings? i built numerous of them.

john: what are the differences? skills that are required to be successful ceo and successful president. what are the differences? how would you change your game? mr. trump: it depends on every company because every company is , different. to be a ceo, you have to be boom and get it done. to be president, you have to be boom and get it done, but you need to have heart. we have a lot of people that need help. we have a lot of people in this country that are not making it and they are in trouble. i always say that i'm a conservative with hard because , people think conservatives do not have heart. they hear about obamacare and people want to knock the hell out of obamacare and they should because it is horrible. as i told you at our last meeting a while ago, watch the premiums. you see what is happening. the premiums are going to the roof. it is not working. it will collapse in 2017 unless something major is done in

congress and they should not do , it. they should have a better plan. i like to say that you need great abilities but you also , have to have beautiful heart. john: when we come back, mark and i played mike and the mad dog with josh earnest. stick around. you don't want to miss it. ♪

john: as white house press secretary josh earnest faces questions from the press corps, but when he came on the show in january, he took questions from callers we probably does not have to talk to as often. josh, if you are watching today, we hope to keep you on your toes in the new year as well. warning -- this video contains some long-lost facial hair. we hope you are ready to take some questions from viewers. let's get the first caller right

now. >> hi, josh, it is dee dee from hollywood. i'm wondering if the rumors are true if you are trying to get a job in the entertainment business. mark: what do you think? mr. earnest: she would know a little bit about how to get that done successfully. i would say in the third week of december -- answering questions about the hacking of the sony e-mails, i felt like i had a job in hollywood. certainly, she has shown that good job behind the podium which could lead to great opportunities. mark: next call, please. >> it is joe from d.c. i've got two questions for you. one, have you ever had to work so hard and overslept and missed air force one? if you haven't and you did do

, you think the president would wait for you? mark: thank you. josh, what do you say? mr. earnest: i suspect joe has a very interesting story about oversleeping and possibly missing a flight. i will let him tell that. i do feel pretty confident that if i were late for the motorcade they would leave without me. , john: let's get the third caller on the line. you are up. >> this is george from new york city. thank you for taking my question. i notice you have gotten some good sparring matches with giancarlo over at abc. john carl over at abc. which reporter in the briefing room do you learn the most from everyday? mark: george from manhattan asking a pointed question. mr. earnest: it is not dissimilar. i would say my relationship with john carl has not been the same

since i came to your program if you much ago. john: who do you learn the most from? mr. earnest: that is a really good question. you know, my colleagues at npr have a habit of asking questions that are a little bit different than the other people in the briefing room. that usually means they are better questions. not always. it often does. mark: they are taxpayer-funded. mr. earnest: that must be it. mark: back to the phones. next caller. >> this is ari calling from town ridge, new york. i heard there are four tvs in the office of the press secretary and they all used to , be set on fox news. i'm just wondering what station they are set on now? mark: what are you watching? mr. earnest: right at this moment, bloomberg. john: on all four screens? i will tell you since ari's time in my fancy

office with all the windows, we have taken those television screens and use modern technology to put them in a box all on one screen. it preserves a little desk space. mark: so you can have more knickknacks. john: i think we have one more caller. caller number five. >> hey, josh. jake hear from new york city. i understand you are married to a woman who is not only really smart and beautiful, but some people said she is even more qualified than you are to be the white house press secretary. what is the best piece of professional advice your wife has given you and what have you done with that advice? mark: good question. thank you, caller. josh? mr. earnest: that is a terrific question. like jake from new york, i married up. i'm pretty proud of that. i know that jake is as well. a little known fact -- my wife used to have a job i most wanted at the end of the 2008 campaign , which is serving as assistant secretary to public affairs and the treasury department.

it is a job that i know jake from new york knows quite well. i think the best piece of professional advice that she gave me is to make sure every time, before i come on camera and do interviews like this, that i blow my nose. i follow it every time. mark: brilliant advice. john: you were not white house secretary under george w. bush but you were the communications , director. in that job, what kind of relationships did you have with your predecessors and both parties question mark -- both parties? nicolle: i'm a huge fan of his. everybody likes him so much. there is a secret society and people who end up in those jobs lean on others. mike mccurry is one of my friends and mentors throughout the entire time. we used to sneak out for some wine and secret squirrel advice. john: up next, we have bruce riedel when we come back in 60 seconds. ♪

john: i had a chance to sit down with a former cia agent. the director of the brookings institute intelligence project -- bruce riedel. he has advised for presidents and is the author of "jfk: forgotten crisis." we spoke about politics in the middle east and fighting islamic state. bruce: everybody agrees isil is a problem but it is problem , number two or number three. we need to successfully persuade them that this is problem number one and something they should focus on. it is easy to say and very hard to do. john: even the west, only one country, france, would say isil

is its number foreign policy one problem. right? it is not exactly clear that isis is a bigger problem than russia. bruce: a lot of conflicting priorities, even in the middle east. iran and its nuclear deal is priority number one. trying to keep stability from -- in saudi arabia, priority number one. oil prices down to $35 a barrel, the kingdom of saudi arabia cannot sustain the way of life they have lived for the last 25 years. they will have stability problems. egypt, huge stability problems. isis, isil is a problem. but, is it really problem number one for all of these people? for the french, it is today. for the united states after san bernardino, it is a real problem. trying to rally the region behind that problem is going to be very hard to do and take a long time.

john: president obama has had a strategy of a kind for taking on islamic state. he has stuck by that strategy , some would say with admirable consistency, some would say with stubbornness and foolish pride. what say you? bruce: i think he has stuck by the strategy because he truly believes in it. i would describe his strategy as having two parts. one is an iraq strategy. people there tend to say yes, we are making steady progress. then, there is the syria problem. in the syrian case, the president's real policy is the stay out at all costs, to not get dragged into a quagmire. you can argue that policy but it has a logic to it. if you look at what he does, that is the logic of his position. i'm not going to get into this quagmire at all costs. john: the republicans are talking a lot about this issue. ted cruz, all about air power.

carpet bombing is the rhetorical flourish. making the sand glow. others like marco rubio say they -- there should be ground troops. is there a republican candidate who was putting forward a plan or strategy that you look at and see that is serious and plausible? bruce: what i have heard so far is soundbites, many which do not add up. bombing them -- we are bombing them. i don't think there is a lack of munitions. it is the lack of really significant targets to go after. what we are lacking is boots on the ground. very few americans want them to be american boots on the ground. i don't think it makes much sense either. been there, done that. didn't turn out so well. we have to persuade the region to put its boots on the ground. that gets back to the problem of how do we get them to see this as priority number one.

30 years in the field for the cia. four president you have served in the national security council. you see this syria problem. you have seen that over a long time transmute and fester. where do you imagine syria will be five years from now, 10 years from now? what is your vision of what that will look like? bruce: i seriously doubt the nationstate we call syria today will exist five years from now. i think that it is possible that it could still be in civil war. four years ago, very few people predicted the civil war would last four years. more likely, it will break up into smaller mini states that live uneasily with each other. a kurdish mini state and something of a rump left behind that the sunnis have, like

damascus. john: do you think disillusion is more inevitable and to manage our way through that or will that be the choices made by either the u.s. or its allies? bruce: it is hard to see how you put the humpty dumpty of syria back together again. i don't think the alawites and sunnis want to live in the same country anymore. blood thatamount of has been spilled, it is probably better off that they are not living in the same country. john: this is a book about a crisis that took place in 1962. john f. kennedy famous for another crisis in 1962 -- the cuban missile crisis. this is not what the book is about. talk about the subject of the book and why it was forgotten. bruce: everybody knows about the cuban missile crisis. it was john f. kennedy's finest hour. the world stood on the break of nuclear apocalypse. at the same time he was dealing with christoph, castro, -- nikita khrushchev, castro, and

missiles in cuba, he was dealing with the chinese invasion of india. they were in the verge of breaking india into pieces. this president, john f. kennedy, did two critical things. one, he started an airlift of supplies to keep the indian army going in the battle. second, he kept the pakistanis out of the war. this is multitasking at the -- decision-making level of an awesome consequence. simultaneously, two problems involving the largest countries of the world -- russia, china and india and he is handling it both. if you thought the cuban missile crisis was his finest hour, it is even finer than you thought it was. john: as a problem, a riddle to solve, it seems like a somewhat simpler problem than the subject of your book. bruce: the problem of china and india has not gone away. this war more than 50 years ago has still not been resolved. the largest disputed order in the world is between china and india.

it drives the arms race that goes on today. the nuclear arms race between china, india and pakistan is probably the most dangerous arms race in the world. john: i want to talk a little bit about jackie kennedy who you , wrote about in the book and played a key diplomatic role which is not really the role that most people in memory or the history think of her as ever playing in that administration. bruce: the first lady played a huge role in how the president interacted with both india and pakistan. she hosted the leaders of both. she came up with quite clever ways to host these foreign leaders. for example, the pakistani dictator was given a state dinner at mount vernon. the only time our first president's home has ever been used for a state dinner. in 1962, she traveled to india and pakistan. she was the first american first lady to travel abroad in the era of television. she was a smashing success.

john: jackie was doing the assist on this one, just like bobby was doing and assist on the cuban missile crisis. our thanks to bruce riedel, again. his book is called "jfk: forgotten crisis." we will be right back. ♪

john: we are live 24/7 on bloombergpolitics.com. if you are watching us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on 99.1 fm. for now, sayonara. ♪

>> it is wednesday, the 30th of december. we have an update of the top stories. outputorea's factory fell, down by more than expected, 2.1% from the previous month. exports remain poor because of weak local demand. rise and the slowdown in china remain the biggest risks to the economy. the government will release its latest reading soon. off,ectronics, taking while samsung awful -- also up. and lg display,