adequately deal with this issue. we will, of course, keep you posted on all of that. we're so grateful you started your morning with us. "inside politics" is up next with john king and then "state of the union" with dana bash. have a great morning. jeb bush talks poverty, immigration, and winning. >> eight years in exile is a long time. >> how his first big speech sets him apart from the gop pac. plus rand paul and chris christie stumble on the back scene questio -- vaccine question. >> we vaccinated ours. >> president obama delivers a history lesson. >> during the crusades and the inquisition people committed terrible deeds in the name of christ. >> that's true, but the president's timing and tone give his critics fits.

"inside politics," the biggest stories with the best reporters now. welcome to "inside politics" i'm john king. thanks for sharing your sunday morning. with us to share their reporting and insights, julie pace, cnn's peter hamby, and michake allen. there are issues of war and peace, taxes and spending, something unique to your family and spending. voters have a more fundamental test. is this can date ready for primetime? >> i've heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines. >> now senator rand paul's staff had to clean that one up. then the senator himself tried to for a second take. he said, quote, i did not say vaccines caused disorders, just that they were temporally related, i did not allege causation. then with that statement came

this, a tweet, a picture of the senator getting a booster shot. that's how we do politics these days. the new jersey governor chris christie did some cleanup. he had his children vaccinated. then he added this. >> i understand parents need to have some measure of choice so that's the battle the government has to decide. >> both of these men are getting ready to run for president and both were asked this question amid a serious measles outbreak. they stumbled on the measles vaccination. i'm not concerned about that but their preparation. you're running for president. you have to be ready for these questions. >> people have been saying for weeks and weeks, when the time is right, when the light is on, chris christie will be ready. he's note. on this foreign trip people didn't think it was worst to have a terrible foreign trip but governor christie pulled it off. he did the exact things he

didn't do. he wanted to look well informed, he wanted to look statesman like and he wanted to not look like a bully and he came out and you see him responding to a question from phil rucker, your colleague, about isis which he should have welcomed a question on with the other stories that were in the news. and he said, what part of no question don't you understand. that's the old chris christie. that's not what he wants to be. >> in rapid paul's cand paul's gotten this far by playing by his own rules. he feels he's too good for the rules. he can shush a reporter, play the victim, blame the media. at some point you have to enact some measure of discipline over what you're saying. rand paul has a bad habit of saying one thing in one place and saying something somewhere else and saying he didn't say it. >> at a basic level, we talk about mitt romney and the

downfalls of running for president a couple of times and not doing so well. one of the great things running for president more than ones is you have experience in it. the two candidates who are testing the waters for the first time, they have a risk of being caught off guard by issues they didn't expect to be talking about. in chris christie's case and rand paul to some degree, the experience of seeing something that you've been seeing in your home state and suddenly saying it in front of a national audience is much different. >> understanding it. understanding you're speaking at a time when the country is dealing with this in more than a dozen states. whether you like it or not, we live in the ages of you can get asked about boxers or briefs. you're going to get asked questions of war and piece. you want the nuclear football? anything. >> you saw the other republicans. most other republicans came out and said, listen, get your kids vaccinated. this isn't a matter that you want to play around with. that was an interesting contrast, too. another contrast was in the way they just dealt with the media,

particularly if you looked at jeb bush's handling of the media. this last weekend he took questions, almost seemed joyous in taking the questions and then you had rand paul and chris christie shove the media down. >> you have to wonder if christie who is, you know, contrary to what we thought about a year ago making a play to conservatives, you have to wonder to your point, instead of rising to the occasion he's thinking about tactics, strategy, these things are playing around in his head. >> pandering to people. >> anti government crowd. right. i need to throw a dog whistle in their direction. >> chris christie does that, he loses everything that people like. >> great talking. >> the amount of e-mails i'm sure all of us got from donors, voters, our parents and our friends about chris christie in this case is really damaging to him. rand paul, he's always had the antigovernment crowd a little bit in his corner. there are mainstream people, crossover voters, central right

who saw this and were turned off in a big way. >> the lunchtime conversation all around df c today was who had a worse week, rand or christie? you don't want to be in that conversation. what one republican said to me was senator paul's problem this week was he sounded like his dad and that's not what he wanted. >> sort of flirting with conspiracy theories, which has been something that his father -- >> you will hear a lot of republicans, i know you guys are getting the e-mails, a lot of republicans will predict this is the first of a lot of bad weeks for senator paul. he said a lot in a different context. people are focusing on him for the first time moving this around. we'll see a lot more. >> they have to understand even though it's a year until the first voting, they're getting more busy, more active, more are getting in. we're going to get more aggressive and treat them like political candidates. >> he's had that image of the most interesting man in politics. on the cover of "time magazine." liberals in some ways talked

about rand paul as someone who could make -- possibly change the way the republican party looked but more strength needs to come. >> peter, do you agree with this, for rand paul he has to make it happen faster than for anyone else? i feel like the clock is ticking faster for him. >> 2016 and the issues there, yeah, he has to make that decision, soon. >> look. he definitely has to learn to pivot from the base to start talking to the bigger, you know, obviously all these people are in a republican primary and they're aware of that. they have to be weary of talking to the general american public. >> when he talked to the koch brothers, the comparison between marco rubio -- the one we hear from the republicans is we need a morning in america kind of message, hopeful future looking message. rand paul, i mean, he does look very low key at times. he looks dower, he looks combative. >> like a complainer, victim. >> i know these are sort of

process questions. >> christie and paul had a bad week. we'll let the town decide which had the worst of the bad weeks. jeb bush had a pretty good week. the question is what does he make of it. he gave a speech to the detroit economic club. he said, i'm a republican who cares about cities. i'm a republican who cares about poverty. but the question for jeb bush is, yes, he'd be a strong general election candidate. can he win the republican election when he counters the base on the administration. he says this one should be easy. >> this should be the lowest hanging fruit to be honest with you because this is a huge opportunity. immigration is not a problem. the immigrant experience in our country makes us unique and special and different and it is part of our extraordinary success over time. >> has he been watching his party the last six weeks? he's talking about legalism i m immigration and he's right, however, has he been to iowa or south carolina in the past six years and tried to tell an

activist republican voter immigration is great? >> that is going to be the problem. he's seen a lot of economics clubs, a rlot of us, not so muc voters. governor bush did something gutsy. he said this is where i am on immigration. you may not like it, but this is where i'm going. he said, i'm going to lead the party not just follow the rhetoric. that's very rare. that's what his candidacy hinges on. >> he's got no choice. >> that's a good point. >> given what he said before, he can't back down before. >> he said i'm going to run for president on the issues that i care about and i'm going to tell you where i stabbed. so far he is living up to that. when he's not up to a podium and walking through a diner and he's confronted by voters, how does he explain that to an angry voter? >> as much as jeb bush is

talking about a front-runner, the rules of politics still imply. you have to win one of the early states. iowa, don't know, south carolina, don't know, florida, yeah. nevada, almost like he has to win new hampshire and it's all in there for him. >> there are a lot of blue state republicans. >> or somehow convince more iowans to participate. that's the question. we'll see if he can lead the party. >> rand -- >> to that point jeb bush's soon to be campaign manager was a romney guy in iowa. what he did in iowa was he focused on 30,000 voters, they modeled the universe, that's us. ignore the noise. if that's bush's strategy -- >> get your piece, come out alive. we'll see what happens. >> that's a year from now. >> that's next month. >> that was a year away. everybody sit tight.

just ahead, a new polling milestone. you won't want to miss this. and a prayer breakfast history lesson infewer i don't remember rates people. politicians say the darndest things. >> i don't know about in your state, which i think is a crazy state to begin with, and i mean that just as i said it -- >> very deflam ma tori statement about my state and i will not stand here and listen to it. >> you can leave if you choose. i told you what i think about texas. i wouldn't live there for all the tea in china and that's how i zbleel there is no reason at all to impugn the people, governor, of the state of this country and i will await the gentleman's apology. >> you will wait until hell freezes over or for me to say anything in an apology. >> coming up next.

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welcome back. it's no secret that politics are polarizing. a new gallup poll out this week is a stunning exclamation point to that. average approval rating six years into the obama administration among republicans, democratic president, 13%. among democrats, 83%. 70 point gap between the two parties. it was polarized under george w. bush but not quite as badly. not the same number among his party. a 61 point gap. and polarization you might say got more profound during the clinton administration. again, only 56 points there. 61/70. president obama will be the most polarizing president in our history. he did something fascinating that his critics found infuriorating. just as jordan ramps up its airstrikes, the president speaking to the national prayer

breakfast delivered this message. >> lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the crusades, the inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of christ. in our home country, slavery and jim crow all too often was justified in the name of christ. >> all true. every bit of it true. the president's critics say, why now? why are you somehow trying to equate isis with things that happened in the past when not only is it a key moment in the military campaign but the president's about to ask congress for a tough vote, to authorize the use of military force? >> it's vintage obama. he gives people a history lesson. he wants to walk you through how we got here even if he's going back hundreds, thousands of years. so in some ways i wasn't surprised to hear it. i also wasn't surprised by the reaction to it given that there was some criticism some of it

justified that obama, unlike other allies, is not referring to islams and other extremists as islam extremists. on capitol hill they're saying he's not defining the enemy. tee fine the enemy for whom they're going to be authorizing this force against. >> john, at this moment in his life, he's not a history professor, he's not a constitutional law professor, he's not a pun dint. he -- pundant. he's the president. we want the president on his high horse. the press secretary saying it's the president's view that we have to hold ourselves accountable. the way we get our moral standing around the country is doing that. that's not what a lot of people want our president doing. there are other people who can be the history professor or the pundant. >> people argue that the president of the united states should be able to explain to the

public how we got here especially when he is going to be making a decision. >> bobby jindal had this statement. he said, mr. president, the medieval christian threat is under control. please deal with the radical islamist threat today. that's the point. in the middle of this urgent crisis, why are you giving a lecture. if you're a fan, this is what he does. if you're a critic of the president, read the conservative biologie blogs, you have this view a lot of it is gobbledygook. >> the average american might not want to be caught up in this history lesson or conversation about the semantics of it. they're wondering, what's going on with isis is? is isis on the run? are we equipped to deal with isis? do we need boots on the ground? do we have a stomach for boots on the ground to take on isis?

>> no, no, yes, no. >> you know, i think that's the backdrop and the more pressing back drop in these sort of other debates that have been going on forever with this president in terms of the language he uses and whether he believes in american exceptionalism. >> it is going to be another talking point to throw into red meat speeches in iowa. the president is drawing the moral equivalency between christianity and radical islam. like bobby yi jiby jindal and o will be talking about. >> the one central part of this president's legacy is that the president who ran for office being able to actually bring people in iowa together is probably going to end his presidency being more divisive. >> the most polarizing president in history. maybe the next one will be more polarizing. that seems to be the trend. >> we talked about this this week. this is what academics call sorting. this is natural party alignment.

the gap for richard nixon was much smaller but the parties were different then. you know, you had reagan democrats voting for republicans. >> it's the world we live in where you get news in facebook, you have your ideological silos. >> almost as if there's no middle. >> right. >> it's sort of proof that it is the environment. on the poll the last ten slots for most polarizing president, six go to obama, four go to bush. >> sit tight. up next. tomorrow's news today. our great reporters share from their notebooks including one senator's efforts to increase his clout in the 2016 presidential process. your pocket right now?ave in i have $40, $21. could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement? i don't think so. well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years, that retirement challenge

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welcome back. let's go around the "inside politics" table and get you out ahead of the political news. there were few people in washington more disappointed that mitt romney wasn't running than democrats. democrats feel like they are still going to be able to revive their romney playbook because they want to equate jeb bush with mitt romney. they opposed the auto bailout. after jeb bush makes his speeches you get notes from democrats saying, oh, look how similar this is to things that mitt romney said. the obvious advantage is that he's seen this playbook before. >> if he's to succeed, he better. >> we know scott walker,

wisconsin governor and likely presidential candidate has had a few good weeks. he's bumped up in the polls because of good speeches. what's interesting is what he's done with that. he has been as aggressive in jeb bush in making phone calls, hiring staff, digital feel, fundraisers. he hired a big deal fund-raiser from the nrcc, jenny druker. the invisible primary is not just about poll numbers, who's up, who's down, it's what you're doing with it. he's done a lot especially with the departure of mitt romney in the field going after donors and staff. they've had a lot of people coming to them with resumes in the early weeks. >> early infrastructure matters. >> somebody we should watch, tim scott. tomorrow he will have an education forum and talk about school choice. bobby yi jiby jindal will be th. he will be very important come 2016. that state will be so important

he has said he will bring the potential candidates to his state. he'll tour with them. not certain yet whether or not he'll actually make an endorsement. they'll ask him whether or not lindsey graham runs. he said maybe, maybe not. >> he didn't endorse last time. >> vice president scott? >> yes, yes. we'll see. >> one of many maneuver. >> yeah. yeah. >> mike? >> we may have a surprise appearance of some of the republican candidates together. we saw them together out in palm streets at the koch event. coming up, cpac. i know you're counting down the hours. >> absolutely. >> two weeks and three days from today. they are doing a little different format this year. they say they don't want it to just be a talk a thonn. any major speaker will have to answer questions. they're going to do it in a few ways. they'll try to have as many candidates on stage with maybe an anchor asking them questions, a board member asking questions,

people from the audience ask them questions. that's part of the conservative political action conference trying to say to republicans, we're going to play a role in vetting these people. here's what they look like without a teleprompter. >> it will be interesting if it doesn't violate the we pick the debates rule? >> that's why they're not calling it a debate, a forum. >> a conversation. just a conversation. >> i'll close with this. ted cruz is still officially just testing the waters. let's be clear. he's without a doubt running for president. he's making adjustments to his schedule and payroll. he's appearing at the conservative gatherings, cpac, the club for growth meeting. cruz has now agreed to deliver the keynote address next week in jacksonville, florida, at the duvall center. long time newt gingrich spokesperson nick tyler joining the cruz team as it begins to beef up. he's running.

that's it, folks, for "inside politics." thanks for sharing your sunday morning. we'll see you soon. "state of the un onft uof the u right now. a triple threat to u.s. security. atrocities from isis, a land grab by vladimir putin and washington politics that could shut down the department charged with keeping america safe. this is "state of the union." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. good morning. i'm dana bash. we begin with the war on isis. jordan carrying out new airstrikes on isis targets inside syria. on the ground there's a tense standoff between the isis fighters and the kurdish pe peshmerga. what's the latest. >> reporter: everything we have seen and been