"cnn special report: remembering 41" tonight, 8:00 eastern. you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm ana cabrera in new york. thank you for being with us tonight from all corners of the

world. tributes, condolences, fond personal memories and prayers for the family of the 41st president of the united states. this wreath now gracing the entrance to the houston home of president george h.w. bush who passed away there last night. plans have been set for his funeral and veernts -- events to honor his life. he was 94 years old. his service to this nation was vast. it began when he was a teenager volunteering for the navy, becoming a fighter pilot. afterward, a congressman and an ambassador, head of the cia, vice president and then the white house. i want to show you what's happening overseas to pay tribute to president bush right now in kuwait. a nation that holds him in especially high regard for leading a coalition that evicted saddam hussein's forces after his 1990 invasion there. and right now, over the white house, the american flag lowered to half-staff. in honor of the man who once told cnn that he has fears but

dying was not one of them. >> it doesn't scare me. it used to. when i was a little kid, thinking about dying, i was scared of that terrible. when you get older, larry, you know, you don't think about it a lot. i have too much to do. too much to live for. too much happiness. no regrets about anything. no regrets about one single thing in my life. i made mistakes. >> when he was the president, the cold war was pitting east against west and not many had heard of saddam hussein. all that changed during his term. here is cnn's jake tap per. >> reporter: historians say that george h.w. bush's international dealings set the gold standard for the modern presidency. >> it's a big idea, a new world order for diverse nations that are drawn together in common

cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind. >> reporter: president bush promoted eastern europe's peaceful emergence from communism, the breakup of the soviet union, and the end of u.s./soviet proxy wars in nicaragua and el salvador. >> some felt we were so infatuated with the change in eastern europe we were in the process of neglecting this hemisphere. that's not the case. >> reporter: president bush used u.s. military power to remove a drug dealing strong man, noriega, who was turning panama into a narcostate and the biggest u.s. military operation since the vietnam war, president bush put together an international coalition that liberated kuwait. >> the skies over baghdad have been illuminated. >> reporter: after five weeks, the coalition ground forces pushed the iraqi army out of

kuwait. in just three days. >> we stood our ground. because the world would not look the other way, ambassador, tonight kuwait is free. >> reporter: it started after "time" magazine declared george bush the men of the year. the two george bushs still sums up his presidency. the uplifting world leader on the international stage. and the one in washington, d.c., weighed down by a sputtering economy and d.c.'s endless political wars. president bush tried to be bipartisan from day one. >> i'm putting out my hand to you, mr. speaker. i'm putting out my hand to you, mr. majority leader. >> reporter: democrats who controlled both houses of congress and sometimes even his fellow republicans slapped that hand away. alarmed by then record deficits, the president broke his most memorable campaign promise. >> read my lips -- no new taxes.

>> reporter: convinced it was in the national interest to compromise he agreed to the bipartisan deal, cutting spending and raising taxes. he broke a major campaign pledge and then saw the deal shot down by house conservatives. a second attempt passed. but did not stop the recession in time. bush's nomination of clarence thomas to the u.s. supreme court provoked another acrimonious fight. democrats dug up claims of sexual assault. >> this is a circus, a national disgrace. and from my standpoint, as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks. >> reporter: bush's approval rating an unheard of 91% by the end of the gulf war slowly eroded. the recession he could not stop ended up costing him a second term. but president bush left indelible marks on the nation and the world. he signed the clean air act of

1990. he signed the americans with disabilities act, opening buildings and public transportation to millions of americans. it is no wonder that modern presidents from both parties looked up to him. >> mr. president, i'm one of millions of people who have been inspired by your passion and your commitment. we are a kinder and a gentler nation because of you. we can't thank you enough. >> reporter: jake tap per, cnn, washington. i want to show you a couple of tweets. this one first from former first lady michelle obama. she attached an amazing photo of herself and the former president in her words here. his spirit, his service and decency will be missed by many including our family. i hope his memory will be a guiding light for our country and those around the world. and this today from the president's son former florida governor jeb bush. he writes simply i already miss the greatest human being that i will ever know. love you, dad.

cnn's suzanne malveaux is near the bush family home. another one of the sons, george w. bush was also elected to the white house some years later. what can you tell us about that relationship between the 41st and 43rd presidents? >> well, certainly, ana, one of the things that both of these men shared is they talked about each other, they most certainly got very emotional and usually cried when referring to each other. they're extremely close and i really had an opportunity back in november of 2014 to see the unveiling of the book, "41, a portrait of my father." this was in college station, texas, and george w. bush said to his father it was less of an autobiography or a biography, rather, and more of a love letter to his father. george h.w. bush was in the audience in the front row. he was wheelchair bound at that time, unable to speak. his mother, they both sat there and smiling and laughing as he revealed the family secrets in

the book and he was serious in the defense of his father. he told numerous stories about what he wanted people to remember. of course, a part of that was defending his father and his position to go after the iraqi forces in kuwait, but to stop short of getting saddam hussein. he talked about the fact that he was not trying to finish the job his father had started and rather his father gave him a blessing in a conversation they had over the phone about the difficult choice of going to war. they talked about as well the fact that there was a lot of pain in their family. those personal stories around the loss of his young sister, robin, at 3 years old to leukemia. then he talked about the fact that these two men as grown men and as presidents really leaned on each other in their time of need. take a listen. >> so here's a guy who runs for senator of texas twice and loses and runs for president of the united states in a primary against ronald reagan in the state of texas and loses.

he ends up being president. and all of the time was still a great father. in other words, defeat didn't define george bush. there's something greater in life than, you know, chalking up political victories or losses. it taught me and i'm confident it taught jeb that, you know, you don't need to fear failure. >> and ana, he also talked about how he would pick up the phone and talk to his father, both of them really lamenting over sometimes the criticism, the bad press they got and would try to of course fortify each other in that. another really interesting story, he kind of was joking a little bit. teasing his dad, saying, look, this was a guy who graduated phi beta kappa from yale and he was told he could do anything, but instead moved his family to odessa, texas. they were in seventh street, they had a duplex and it was one of the few places on the street that had an indoor bathroom.

that they shared what he called two ladies of the night and then made a joke about so much for that silver spoon. that was what he ribbed his father about. but clearly the two men always very emotional and very close. ana? >> so much to admire about that family dynamic that the bush family has had over the years. suzanne malveaux, thank you for sharing all of that. news of president bush's passing has been met by an outpouring of tributes from colleagues and admirers who worked alongside the 41st president throughout his decade -- decades i should say of public service. those tributes almost universally paint a portrait of a man who was steadfast in his principles and led a life of devotion to his nation. one offered by john sununu, an adviser who served as the first chief of staff from 1989 to 1991 and john sununu is joining us

now. governor sununu, i know you have a heavy heart tonight. thank you for being here. >> thank you. it's a sad day but a day as we look back where we can at least relish a little bit some of the great president's accomplishments. >> not just his accomplishments but the person that he was. you write in "the washington post" today when he entered the white house he faced many issues that had been lingering for decades. budget deficits, the struggle against communism, instability in latin america, social inequality, threats to the environment and struggling schools throughout the country. but he faced them as any former fighter pilot would -- telling the american people i am a man who sees life in terms of missions, missions defined and missions completed. governor, what were the missions he completed that he was most proud of, do you know? >> well, he certainly was extremely proud of having guided the western powers as we handled the collapse of the soviet

union. and the fact that he was able to do that as effectively and as efficiently as it turned out and even ended up with the reunification of germany and their admission into nato with a nod coming on that issue from the soviet union. i think that was one of his biggest satisfactions but he also contrary to the very wrong "time" magazine cover you showed earlier, he also was a great domestic policy president. he passed more major domestic legislation than any president except lyndon johnson or franklin roosevelt. and although his foreign policy achievements were so great that they sometimes overshadowed that, i think he was very, very proud of the fact that he focused both on foreign policy and domestic policy. >> you and the former president were close. you were his chief of staff as we mentioned. you call him a dear friend. what's something you know about president bush that not many others would?

>> that he loved to laugh. he was a very fun loving person. willing to drop a joke in the middle of the most serious issues and conversations. when we were at nato meetings in europe, there were long speeches going on and on and on and the president kept writing things down and handing me these notes that i had to receive with a straight face and nobody realized that he was writing pretty bawdy poems and limericks an we struggled to keep a straight face. he loved a good laugh and mrs. bush even commented on that in her biography. she said she walked past the white house morning meeting, all she heard was raucous laughter

and couldn't understand how the people ran the world that way. >> it's not hard to find a picture of him smiling or laughing. we have been showing them all day long. we have talked about that letter he left president clinton. the man who defeated him in his bid for a second term. and the deep friendship that i ended up forming over the years. how was he able not just admired but truly loved by an opponent of a different party? >> because he showed respect for president clinton when he defeated him. when president clinton won that election. his letter shows that respect. and over the years, they interacted face-to-face and on the phone. and i think there was a mutual respect there which is so important. i think the country has had a great tradition of past presidents not giving their successors a real hard time. and george herbert walker bush was a firm believer in that. and honored that to the letter. >> what will you miss most about

him? >> the chance to go up and visit. when he was in maine in the summers my wife and i used to drive up and see him and barbara two or three times. and it really was a fun time to go and reminisce. never really heavy conversations on the politics of the day. but always good memories and those were really great times. >> governor sununu, thank you for being here. we appreciate your stories and your service as well to this country. >> thank you. so the last president to serve in world war ii has passed. up next, i'll speak live with another hero from that conflict, former senator bob dole. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." oh!

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with george h.w. bush's passing, we have lost the last surviving president who was in the world war ii. bob dole ran against the president in 19 88. the last time we spoke it was after the death of john mccain and i'm grateful to talk to you about the life and the legacy of president george h.w. bush. you both served in world war ii. as we mentioned with his passing, he's now the last world war ii president. what does that mean to you?

>> well, it means that it's the end of an era and, you know, world war ii veterans are -- well, i'm one of them, but most -- there are not many left. so i think president bush as you indicated was the last world war ii veteran president. >> yeah. as americans, what does that mean? what have we lost with his passing? >> well, i believe there are certain qualities that veterans have and when bush was president i think about three-fourths of congress were veterans and we'd stick together and work together across the aisle. and president bush was a bipartisan president. so we got quite a lot done. >> give us a sense of what it

was like to run against him. you were his republican opponent in 1988. >> yeah. i think i could have beaten president george, but i couldn't beat barbara. [ laughter ] she was pretty tough. >> well, we know they were a couple of partners throughout life, through ups and downs. through in and out of different service positions that the former president held. you served alongside him for a time in congress. what kind of statesman was he? >> oh he was -- well, he came into the house, i was in the house. but then he later of course was the vice president. so then he was president and i was his republican leader for four years. so we had a lot -- we were foes but that was a long time ago. we have been friends for 30, 40 years, i guess.

>> do you have any memories you want to share? >> well, one. when the president lost in 1992, i was the leader of the republicans in the senate. and we knew he must have felt terrible, so we thought we'd invite him for dinner. and he finally agreed to come and we all were in tears and he was in tears. i was in tears. when i introduced him. but when he got back to the white house, he wrote me a note saying i didn't want to come but you convinced me and i'm now very pleased that i did. because we tried to cheer both he and barbara up a little.

but, you know, he moved right ahead, kept busy. did a lot of public service, a lot of charity. and was a very good friend. we became fast friends the last, i don't know, 15, 20 years, 30 years. >> tell us more about your friendship. what was it that made him such a good friend? >> well, we were about the same age. i'm just a few months older and we both had the same ambition. and we both wanted to go to the white house and of course only one was going to do that. then we had to -- he got the nomination, of course, he had to win the general election. but, you know, he won, i lost.

he became president. i served as his leader in the senate. we got along very well. >> well, senator bob dole, we appreciate you reflecting with us. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. bye. >> good night. these are pictures now of flags at half-staff outside the former president's home in kennebunkport, maine. his old home in washington, the white house. there you go. up next we'll look at how the former president drastically changed the republican party when he came into office and how history looks back on it. this is amazing. with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay? even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. so i talked to my doctor about humira.

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"cnn special report: remembering 41" tonight, 8:00 eastern. ingenious space- neat nest™ by fasaving design. all designed to stack and protect the lids, and the pan surface. farberware neat nest™. stacked & intact™ we're looking back at the life and presidency of george h.w. bush who passed away last night at his home in texas. he was 94 years old. one of the most defining moments of his time in office happened when iraq invaded the tiny oil-rich nation of kuwait. president bush led a coalition through what's now called the first gulf war. and the impact is being felt today. here is cnn's wolf blitzer. >> i'm sending a signal.

a clear clarion signal to saddam hussein. we are deadly serious about seeing you get out of kuwait. >> reporter: it was a signal backed up by half a million u.s. troops. the largest u.s. military operation since the vietnam war. the 1991 gulf war was a sweeping victory that then and later george h.w. bush saw as a moral imperative. >> you have to do it sometimes. good versus evil. when we're fighting saddam hussein i thought it was that clear. >> reporter: in the summer of 1990, the iraqi leader desperate for money after a disastrous eight-year war with iran invaded his much smaller and oil rich neighbor, kuwait. president bush ordered u.s. military deployments to the region to prevent iraq from going further. it was called operation desert shield. >> this will not stand. this will not stand this aggression against kuwait. >> he said it will not stand.

now, that meant he was going to work diplomatically and bring out a huge coalition of political leaders together to force saddam hussein to leave, but it was also clear in my mind if that didn't work we'll go to war. and that's what we were prepared to do. >> reporter: president bush assembled 39 countries, 28 of them supplying troops. >> they had the kind of relationship and reputation with everybody that they all trusted him. they all wanted to be on board. and then guess what? he got other people to pay for it. that's the way to fight a war. >> reporter: the united nations set january 15, 1991, as the deadline for saddam hussein to leave kuwait. >> i could tell he was apprehensive. i could tell he was worried and anxious. he said i know what i'm doing -- i'm convinced at what i'm doing the right thing. >> then he was shot down over the pacific so he had probably

as much as anybody involved in the operation. first hand personal experience on what we were asking people to do. >> reporter: a cnn crew covering the last minute diplomacy in baghdad witnessed what happened next. >> the skies over baghdad have been illuminated. we're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky. >> reporter: in washington, it was the evening of january 16, 1991. the president went on national television to announce the beginning of operation desert storm. >> some may ask why act now? why not wait? the answer is clear. the world could wait no longer. >> reporter: after five weeks of air strikes the president ordered ground troops to push iraq's army out of kuwait. in just three days, coalition tanks and troops swept across southern iraq and encircled kuwait and the occupation collapsed even though the iraqis remained in power.

>> we wanted to get the iraqi army out of kuwait, to restore the government of kuwait and to get our troops home. >> we all felt that going to baghdad would have been a violation sort of of the agreements we had made. >> reporter: less than two months after the war started president bush declared victory. >> now we can see a new world coming in to view. a world in which there's a real prospect of a new world order. >> if you design a president to deal with that kind of a situation, a military crisis, massive use of military force, global operation, you'd be hard put to find anybody any better designed if you will than george bush. he had it all. >> reporter: wolf blitzer, cnn, washington. now the gulf war and the defite of saddam hussein one -- defeat of saddam hussein that happened under president bush's watch. let's bring in a presidential

historian, tim neftali right now. bush was only in office for one term but he got a lot done, especially when you look at foreign policy. >> well, he wanted to stabilize that period and he helped the soviet union have a soft landing. now, it would be wrong to say that george bush ended the cold war. but he was the exactly right partner for mikhail gorbachev. gorbachev was going to be making very tough decisions and what bush understood was bush didn't want to make those tougher. he underthat will -- he understood that gorbachev was a politician, if he lost face, looked like a loser he would be overthrown. he is thinking how can i move him in the right direction without pushing him so far that the people will overthrow him and when they finally did, it was too late. >> it's interesting that was one of the moments and yet how he

handled the conflict even after he was overthrown. that delicate dance. you know, we talked about in the last segment with bob dole about his service to this country and the navy and how he served in world war ii. we know he was shot down during his service and he was the last president elected to have served in world war ii. the last from that era. do you think his experience being in the military itself informed him as a commander in chief? >> you know, it's so interesting how people are described. you know, if you don't like someone's biography, you call them a cv, a curriculum candidate. his experience informed the way in which he looked at the world after the cold war ended. he was a pragmatic man. he understood power but he was a touch of a rooseveltian idealist. he believed in the possibility of collective security. he believed that the u.n. could do good works so he thought with the end of the cold war, let's make it clear to small countries especially that this is not the

time for them to use force. to change borders. which is why he was so tough on saddam hussein which is the reason that the coalition was simply designed to liberate kuwait. it wasn't designed to overthrow saddam hussein. sure, if saddam hussein had been overthrown by the generals george bush would have been happy. but the coalition was to show the world you don't invade your neighbors. it was a way of laying a marker down for a new system of international relations following the cold war. only somebody with a world war i i experience, only someone who remembered roosevelt, who actually still believed in the possibility of collective action would have pushed as hard as george w. bush -- george h.w. bush did at that time. >> because there was so much going on in the world, and his focus on foreign policy, did that hinder him in some ways in domestic policy? >> well, you know, some of our presidents have preferred foreign policy. john f. kennedy much preferred foreign policy. richard nixon preferred foreign

policy and george h.w. bush was in the same category. it was more intellectually interesting to him. he liked the problems but it would have been dereliction of duty at that time in world history not to have focused on world events. look, the soviet union it wasn't clear the soviet union would chance peacefully. it wasn't clear that europe in response to the collapse of the soviet union wouldn't start having these minor fights. the hungarians were upset with the yugoslavs. the yugoslavs were falling apart. there was unresolved border disputes. it could have been a time of more fighting in europe than we saw. so you couldn't have neglected -- >> what do you look at and see as his domestic policy legacy then? >> well, the tough call in dealing with reaganomics. they had failed. the whole idea that you could cut taxes and revenue would increase, that was disproven.

by the way george bush probably knew this would fail. he called it voodoo economics. in any case, he inherits this budget deficit. he's told the american people, no new taxes and he gets a challenge from the right. when he gets into office he looks at the budget information, he talks to a smart man, richard darman. he said, can we correct this problem without raising taxes and his people said, no, mr. president. he can choose country and do the right thing for the economy, or he can choose party and do the right thing for the republican party. he chooses country hoping that he can persuade republicans to go his way. then what happens, the republican party splits apart and there's revolutionary in the party because he violated the no new taxes pledge and that's the birth of newt gingrich and the contract with america and ultimately of the tea party. >> well, we have to leave it

there. i wish i could have had more time to just pick your brain. it's so interesting. there's so much to discuss about this man. thank you so much. >> thank you, ana. some other news as we hear of an impromptu meeting between vladimir putin and president trump. the russian president tried to meddle in the midterm elections last month. details just ahead in the "cnn newsroom." starts with a december to remember at the lexus december to remember sales event. lease the 2019 nx 300 for $329 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. for 36 months. missed out on this. don't worry, the biggest deal is happening right now at t-mobile. when you buy one of the latest sumsung phones you get a free 50" samsung 4k tv. seriously, no! [announcer]seriously! t-mobile is giving you a free 50" tv. you gotta be kidding me. this deal won't last long. so get your free samsung tv at t-mobile store today.

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"cnn special report:

remembering 41" next. welcome back. a stunning revelation from defense secretary mattis about russia's determination to influence the u.s. elections and how according to mattis it is still happening. here's what he said about vladimir putin during an event in california earlier today. >> there's no doubt the relationship has worsened. he tried again to muck around in our elections this last month. and we are seeing a continued effort along those lines. >> we hear this from mattis just one day after white house press secretary sarah sanders used the words russian witch-hunt hoax. meanwhile, president trump boarded air force one without speaking to reporters and he's on his his way back to the u.s. and we heard he spoke informally

with putin during the summit, even though he had canceled the formal talks citing the standoff with ukraine. cnn international's nic robertson is joining us now. what are you hearing? >> sure, the very reason that president trump said that he wouldn't immediate with president putin was precisely -- meet with president putin was precisely the ukraine. they had snatched the vessels and sailors near crimea and what putin said he put his position forward but he said that he couldn't convince president trump of his position and president trump couldn't convince him either of his position. so the two still disagree over that situation into that standoff in ukraine right now. putin also went on to say that it's important that the pair of them do have a big meeting. we know that the russians were counting on this meeting. we know that there's a lot of issues that they want to

discuss. missile control agreements is just one of them. so the indication from the russian side and putin said it's important that they meet at some point, because we know from mike pompeo talking to wolf blitzer that's not going to happen until russia hands back the ukrainian sailors. >> let's talk about trump's meeting with china's xi, we know it lasted 2 1/2 hours over dinner. any word on what they discussed? >> sure. we are getting word and it's very limited word. it's coming from one of china's state news agencies, so again, this is something that we have to look at and cross check reference with the white house. but what china's state media is saying that the agreement that think has been reached at the table here there won't be an increase on the tariffs on the 1st of january. as we know there are $200 billion worth of goods right now that the united states

has 10% tariffs on and the expectation was and the plan was to raise those tariffs to 25% now. at the beginning of the week, president trump had indicated that that's what he was going to do. also there's a question of another $267 billion worth of trade with china that president trump was considering putting tariffs on. so it seems at the moment that what the chinese are saying is no more increase in tariffs as of the 1st of january is this a major break through, absolutely not. this is really just sort of a delaying tactic and it doesn't address any of the fundamental issues that underpin why there's a standoff. just delays the situation. maybe warming for the marketing to know this, that's more certainty in these months but further down the road, the issues still have to be addressed. >> nic robertson in buenos aires, argentina, thank you. they used to be political rivals and ended up long time friends. presidents george h.w. bush and bill clinton shared something

special. more on their unlikely friendship just ahead. >> president clinton beat me like a drum back in 1992. and then we became friends and some of his friends look at him and they say, have you lost it with this crazy guy? and some of mine look at it and say it's the same thing, what are you doing with clinton? and just because you run against someone does not mean you have to be enemies. politics does not have to be mean and ugly.

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one of the most complex and remarkable relationships in president bush's life was with president bill clinton. on clinton's inauguration day in 1993 he came across this handwritten letter from bush at the white house. it reads, dear bill, when i walked into this office just now i felt the same sense of wonder and respect that i felt four years ago. i know you will feel that too. i wish you great happiness here. i never felt the loneliness some presidents have described. there will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. i'm not a very good one to give advice but just don't let the critics discourage you or push

you off course. you'll be our president when you read this note. i wish you well, i wish your family well. your success is our country's success. i am rooting hard for you. good luck. george. today president clinton wrote an op-ed in "the washington post" calling his relationship with the man he succeeded one of the great gifts of his life. here is anderson cooper with more on the two men who went from political adversaries to close friends. in the 1992 presidential election, they were bitter political rivals. the incumbent president. >> character counts. you cannot make the white house into the waffle house. you cannot -- you cannot flip-flop on all these issues. >> and the upstart governor. >> when there is no national vision, no national leadership, no national direction, a thousand points of light leaves a lot of darkness. >> the hard feelings from the election of 1992 had already

begun fading for several years when an international disaster brought the two former presidents to it. the day after christmas 2004, catastrophic earthquakes struck near indonesia, setting off tsunamis that killed a quarter million people. nearly 2 million more were displaced. >> i have asked two of america's most distinguished private citizens to head a nationwide charitable fundraising effort. >> when president george w. bush asked his father and bill clinton to reach across party lines to lead a relief effort, little did he know he was creating one of the most unlikely friendships in politics. the former presidents toured the disaster area and got to know one another. >> i've enjoyed working with president clinton. we were political adversaries. the current president and i don't always see eye to eye on issues. but what's important is we're trying to help people. >> their mutual admiration was clear for all to see.

>> you should have seen him going town to town, country to country, energizer bunny. >> later, in 2005, another national disaster, hurricane katrina, brought the former presidents back together, this time raising money to help their fellow americans. former president bush's book of letters gives deeper insight into their friendship. >> i love george bush. i do. >> after that 2006 remark at an awards ceremony, bush wrote to clinton, i so appreciated your words about our relationship, our friendship. it was from your heart. i hope you know i feel the same way. >> they've become really great friends. in fact almost like family. >> clinton joked about it at the dedication of george w. bush's presidential library. >> starting with my work with president george h.w. bush on the tsunami and the aftermath of

katrina, people began to joke that i was getting so close to the bush family, i had become the black sheep son. >> american politics at its best, one-time rivals working and laughing together and helping others. anderson cooper, cnn. as we go to break, i want to show you a more personal moment from the life of president george h.w. bush. this is in 2013. he shaved his head in support of the son of one of his secret service agents, 2-year-old patrick who was battling leukemia. he lost his own daughter robin to leukemia when she was 3 years old. we'll be right back. yep. we matk new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it? uh huh! let it go! whoo! get a dollar-for-dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover. as one of the nation's largest investors in infrastructure,

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reflected on just how much family meant to him. >> when my grandfather was president, we, barbara, i, i'm speaking to my naiveness as a child, i thought everyone's grandfather was a president. i think that speaks to how normal our grandparents were. they baby-sat us the night before a huge debate and barbara lost her stuffed animal, which she still has at 34. we are 34. she lost her stuffed animal and my grandpa, instead of prepping for the debate, went on a search with flashlights because she wouldn't fall asleep. i think that that kind of speaks to the fact that they always put -- gosh, they always put family first. so of course barbara thought everybody -- he seemed -- he is

a normal, wonderful man. >> thank you for joining us tonight. i'm ana cabrera. a cnn special report, "remembering 41," starts right now. >> announcer: the following is a cnn special report. he had the best resume in town. >> he never put his own self-interest ahead of america. >> i, george herbert walker bush. >> led the nation through tumultuous times. >> i tell people, if you want to know how to fight a war, take a look at the way george bush fought the first gulf war. >> the battle has been joined. >> driven by duty and destiny. >> the bush code was alwa