tv Justice With Judge Jeanine FOX News December 1, 2018 9:00pm-10:00pm PST
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ju judge jeanine: welcome to justice, i'm jeanine pirro. thanks for being with us on this somber night in america as we remember our 41st birthday. george herbert walker bush will lie in state in the united states capitol for a public viewing beginning monday 5:00 p.m. until wednesday morning when a funeral service will be held at the washington national cathedral. president and mrs. trump will be among the dignitaries in attendance. president bush will be moved
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back to houston where he'll lie in state and he'll be laid to rest at his presidential library in dallas. i'll be joined by the threat president bush's late chief of staff, john sununu, the son of billy graham, franklin graham, and george strait who had his own personal relationship with president bush. joining me on the form, former advisor for the '92 campaign, charlie black. charlie -- >> it's my pleasure on this sad day.
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judge jeanine: throughout the hour we'll talk about the president and his amazing accomplishments and his legacy. tell us something about him that no one knows. >> well, he was -- some people know this, but he was an incredible man. a man of personal courage and political courage. he believes in public service for the sake of service, not just for political ego gratification. but the thing i would say is he was uncommonly kind and courteous. i worked with him for about five years, you know, closely, almost daily. and of all the people i have worked with in politics. president bush thanked me more for helping him out than all the others put together. during this presidency -- during his presidency i did hundreds of
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tv interviews on his behalf. i testified his tax pledge when he broke the pledge on television. he would call me and say you have taken many bullets for me and i have to thank you for it. i said it's an honor and privilege to work for you, mr. president, you don't have to thank me. judge jeanine: he clearly is a refined and elegant man. but you seemed to indicate that he was and the man who put his fingers to the wind and tested for the political calculus or decided things based upon polls. >> he had -- he was almost a political junky in terms of his interest in polls and politics. he had in his private office in the white house residence he had four televisions. he just had four networks and he
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would watch all of them at once. he was interested in politics. he liked it. but he saw the job of being president as distinct from politics. you were supposed to do what you thought was right and work across party lines and be civil by the. two of his best friends in the world were democrats. two congressmen he served in the 60s, 20 years before he was president. he kept it that way. he had has been friend on the democrat side as republicans jean require was his friends on the democrat side who pushed him to go back on his promise. you were there during the calculation as it related to the read my lips, no new taxes. tell us what happened on the inside. >>ed the president was very concerned about the federal deficit. if you look at it today, it's 20
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times as high. he felt the economy was in danger of slowing down because of the size of the deficit. the economy did slow down in 1991 and '92. but the congress was controlled by the democrats. so any budget arrangement had to be a compromise. it had to be a deal. they insisted on a tax increase. he eventually made a deal and governor sununu when he's on later can give you more details than i can. $3 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax increases. he thought this was the right thing to do for the country. he asked me about it once as a political advisor, and i said yes it will hurt you politically. and he said, there is any way i can win? i said if the economy gets really good, then people might be able to overlook it.
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it will probably hurt your reelection. he did it any howe because he thought it was the right thing for the country. judge jeanine: he realized the the risk associated with going forward with a deal with the democrats and going back on his promise. he understood it? >> he understood it. he understood that it might well cost him his reelection. judge jeanine: let's talk about him and his interest in politics. his kids were underred in politics obviously. two of them running for governor in the same year. how did he and barbara handle the politics of their children as opposed to the politics of their own. >> they were always very proud of all their children. and especially those who ventured into politics. george w. and jeb when they both ran for governor in the same year, they were keeping up in
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detail and talking to their sons on a regular basis. the interesting thing was as we approached election day in 1994, it looked like george, president bush 43, had a better chance to be elected governor of texas than jeb did to become governor of florida. he was behind in the polls. even though the bushes were in houston and prepared to be in austin with george w. bush on election night. they got on a private plane at the last minute and flying to florida to be with jeb. jeb lost and george won. that's how much they cared about their sons. judge jeanine: in the last few seconds. what do you think the president will be most of remembered for? >> he should be and i hope he's most of remembered for his masterful diplomacy and foreign
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policy expertise. after the cold war cleaning up and leaving a unified europe took a lot of work. president bush 41 had all the relationships around the world to make that work. and freeing kuwait. that's what he should most of be remembered for. his expertise in world affairs. judge jeanine: joining me now, former new hampshire governor john sununu who served as chief of staff for the late president bush. i know you are personally very, very ohful tonight. i want -- very sorrowful tonight. we know he was a man who
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excelled at everything. he excelled in sports and education he excelled at yale. he signed up to go into the navy. and he had 58 combat missions. one his plane is hit and he end up being picked up in the pacific by a submarine. this guy is a hero that we don't often hear about. >> he was a great man, an easy person to be a friend with, and he was always a lot of fun. even in the toughest times we had, we always found a few moments to have a good laugh. judge jeanine: in addition to having a sense of humor. he was a man liked by everyone. and was have much a diplomat. tell us about the man you call the quiet man. >> he had a style which was not
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pushy. a style which was -- had a great component of listening to it. he developed relationships over the years. but he had a great capacity to put himself in the shoes of the person he was trying to deal with. he put himself in gorbachev's shoes when he was trying to work out the collapse of the soviet union and he nursed it along magnificently. he put himself in the shoes of his opponents when he was trying to do the budget deal. and he certainly was a man who understood there was a lot of value in getting agreements that were win-win. judge jeanine: the fact he very often had an opposing party in the legislative branch with 260 democrats, 275 republicans in the house. >> not often, always. judge jeanine: he was able to
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get incredible legislation that will be part of his legacy, including the american with disabilities act. >> i said it earlier today. he passed more domestic legislation of import of any president except lyndon johnson or franklin roosevelt. it was the only budget that produced surpluses in five decade. the americans with disabilities act, the civil rights bill, civil rights legislation. the energy policy that opened up the energy independence and the crime bill and i can go on and on and on. judge jeanine: you realize this is a man with military accomplishments and he apparently likened the diplomacy to a mission. he said i'm a man who sees life
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in terms of missions. missions defined, and missions completed. i guess that philosophy carried him through the war and his political life as well. >> it is. and he had the capacity to understand just how much had to be done and what kind of a pace to put on it. it was reflected in his campaign. it was reflected in his dealing with congress on these various issues. it was a one-term presidency. you add up all the things he did in foreign policy and domestic policy and recognize these were all going on simultaneously. we were doing all of this every day. this president was smart enough to be able to handle those details to be able to work with folks on a one-on-one basis when it was required. and as i said earlier, mart enough to take time out through the whole process and join us in
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a few laughs. judge jeanine: there is also' talk about the fact he loved sports, he loved football. we have people he plays golf with, the country music he loved. he was a man who was able to do it all and also have a fabulous family he spent time with and reared in a very, you know, not just religious, but in a very elegant and sophisticated and patriot you can way. >> you talk about his love of sports. he was captain of the yale baseball team. there is an iconic photo out there. people can find it online of george h.w. bush in his baseball uniform as captain of the team with babe ruth about six months before babe ruth died, accepting from babe ruth his memoirs for the yale library.
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it's an amazing photo of these two iconic figures. one from baseball and one from eventually american politics. to get the two of them talking to each other has always brand-new one of my great historical coincidences. judge jeanine: governor john sununu, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the president. we know your heart is filled with sorrow. ref van franklin graham and george strait will be with us. john solomon spent some time with mr. bush and shares this amazing story with you next. stay with us. you will like this. >> we are americans. part of something larger than
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judge jeanine: a country in mourning as we remember president george h.w. bush. my next guest has quite the story to tell about the president's incredible bravery. award-winning investigative journalist john hole man joins me now. you spent several days with the president as i understand of the and were able to discuss a situation that was classified for decades. when reagan was fighting communism in central america specifically supporting el salvador's military. reagan needed someone to go into the jungles of el salvador and warn the out of control commanders of the military to end their death squads which in some cases even included catholic nuns.
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>> no one in america knew it happened. they set up a cover trip where the vice president would go to argentina, and he would disappear on a blackhawk helicopter with oliver north, his advance man and a couple of secret servicemen and they fly on a blackhawk helicopter i to the jungles of el salvador it's george bush's mission to tell them you are going to stop killing or president reagan will cut you off. it's a 12-hour drama and if you wrote it for a script for a new movie it would be a box office hit. judge jeanine: at some point there was a showdown between the el salvadorans and the secret
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service. >> i think everybody going into the trip knew this would be a high-risk trip. the small team couldn't sleep the nightld before, so vice president bush decided to pick up their spirits so he started an impromptu game of poker to keep their spirits up. ollie north said he took him to the cleaners. they are going to a presidential villa which two weeks earlier had been the site of a slaughter where civilians had been slaughtered.d they picked that place to go to the place where they committed the crimes, and they do a quick paint job to get the blood and bullet holes out of there. the vice president is meeting with the president of el al extra doer first. in walk all these soldiers with their a.k.-47s and
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semiautomatic weapons. the secret service is concerned. there are five soldiers for every secret service member. the vice president comes out and said, guys can you keep it down? he hadan a very brief meeting. everybody who witnessed it says itss was extraordinary. he gets the military leaders assembled around the table. he said my message is simple. first he slams his hand on the table and startles the soldiers. you will stop this activity and allow an election. if you don't, president reagan will cut you off and you know what that will mean for this wall. he left with the soldiers still absorbing that message. judge jeanine:la the amazing pat of it is here is this yale graduate who is a combination of brilliance -- by the way, he
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graduated from yale in 2 1/2 years while he was captain of the baseball team. then he's telling the people in the jungle, you do it my way or it won't work out for you. he didn't have all that bravado about him. >> not at all. one of the things -- first i will tell you how risky this mission was. the helicopter pilot that brought him in that day two weeks later was shot and killed in a secret mission in el salvador. that's how dangerous the skies were at that time. but he's a very under spoken plan map when i went to see him in 2010. he didn't want to talk about himself. he wanted to talk about the state of then' world. he said three things i will never forget. h he was worried about the state of politics. he said when i was in politics you could be opponents during the day and friend at night. today opponents means enemies. and the second thing he was
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concern bodies the general vitriol in the country. he was worried about that. and the third thing he said to me which i got a chuckle about is in this world we live in there is no bush doctrine. we worry about the next 10 minutes off life. we ought to have a longer lens for america. judge jeanine: we know what he was like in the white house and wewe know about his character. but what was he like on the golf course. a man who hit the links with him hundreds of times shares some stories withes me. next, the reverend billly graham had relationships with several presidents. what was special about his relationship with president bush? aaaaaahhhhhhhh!
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robert: i'm robert gray live from "america's news headquarters." aftershocks are rattling alaska after friday's massive 7.0 earthquake. at least 11 have magnitudes of 4.5 or greater. the quakes caused extensive damage top businesses and roads. but no injuries were reported. schools are closed until tuesday until they are inspected. president trump declared an emergency. more clashes between police and protesters in paris. police fired tear gas and a water can noon.
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water -- water cannon. i'm robert pray, back to the judge. judge jeanine: welcome back to our continuing special coverage on "justice"e" remembering geore h.w.ri bush. spiritual faith are key top every president. reverend billy graham was a close confident to many presidents. franklin graham is here to share with us the relationship his father shared with president bush. i can you explain how it was that bushes got to know the grahams? where did it start? >>at my father first met. bush, the father, george h. bush in washington at a couple meetings where he shook hands but didn't know him. but he was playing golf in
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florida and mrs. bush, dorothy walker w bush heard my father ws there and asked if he would come by the cottage. she wanted to meet him. she was a devout woman. she loved gods. she knew the scriptures. she had questions for my father. he got to know george h. and the rest ofno the family and they became close friends after that. judge jeanine: you are say bush 41's mother reached out to your father, is that correct? >> that's correct. that's how it started. judge jeanine: after that a relationship developed. it understand they spent a great deal of time together, your father and president bush. >> they did. my father liked the former president very much. they became close friends.
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they spent time together when he was in china as the ambassador. he knew him as the c.i.a. director.he when he became vice president, he spent a lot of time together during those years. but the president was a very devout believer. he was he episcopalian. he was quiet about his faith. he didn't talk about it or wear it on his sleeve. he and my father spent many hours in discussing theological issues, doctrine, but also having prayer together. my father appreciated the president very much. we became close friends and that friendship stayed right up until when my father passed away earlier this year. judge jeanine: how did the president's faith and religion direct his politics? >> that's an easy question to answer.. first of all, he had christ-like
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character. he was humble, he was faithful, he was a man who was gentle, he was a man of compassion. all of these are christ-like characteristics. that was his faith. not only did he have his faith, he lived out his faith. he carried that throughout his presidency and after he left the presidency. he used his voice as a former president. teamed upn with bill clinton who had taken the last four years away from him and they became friends. they went out to help people, especially in hate he where i have done a lot of work. they tried to raise money for the haitian people after the devastating quake.ic the same thing after the hurricane came into texas. president clinton came down and worked with president bush to raise awareness and raise money.
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judge jeanine: last question, they also spent time together in kennebunkport. quickly before we go, how would you describe president h.w. bush as it related to his ability to do a lot of sports things? > first of all, my father expressed it this way. he was on steroids. he got up early in the morning and we a want to take a swim, tn he would want to play tennis, then play golf, then he would want to go fish. my father said you needed a vacation after a vacation with president george h.w. bush. here now to talk more about president h.w. bush's legacy, former deputy assistant to president george h.w. bush, and
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advisor to the bush-cheney campaign, brad blakeman. the president wrote your letter of recommendation for law school. but first let's talk about the president on the world stage. give us a sense what it was like working with him. >> he did his homework. he was focused. he was principled. there was a method to everything he did. he inspired people. i remember going to communist countries with him as vice president, instituting the reagan doctrine. getting the wall to come down in 1989. what was left with reagan and the wall coming down wasn't finishing the job. hehe had to budge and help these free states. now todayay we have free countrs like poland and the czech republic which are great friends of the united states. this guy was a statesman beyond. he was central casting for somebody who understood the world.
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he saw the world as it was, not what heor wished it to be. judge jeanine: the man was a congressman, an ambassador, and a military hero. there were so many parts to this man. but let's talk about his writing you a letter of recommendation toat law school. how did that come about? >> when i first started working for then ambassador bush who was running for president, it gym ronald reagan's vice presidential nominee. i was 21 years old. i was out of college and volunteered on the campaign. we traveled all over the world during the course of him being vice president. we were at a fundraiser in florida. he was going to remain for dinner. he said everybody come in and eat with us. i sat down next to the sprp and he wentf around the table and
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said what's inn your future, wht do you want to do with yourself. i said i intend to go to law school. and he said when you do, i'll write you a letter of recommendation. when he wrote the recommendation there was a note attached that says i hope this doesn't hurt your. chances. and i got in. judge jeanine: and you got in. then you ended up working with him even more. >> absolutely. i worked for the son two years in his campaign. w., 37 days in the recount and as a member of his senior staff. he was the real deal. what you saw behind the camera is what you saw behind when nobody washe looking. this guy was compassionate. he was real. he cared about people. judge jeanine:e: very similar to the reverend franklin graham.
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welcome to "justice." we are thrilled. i in particular as a country music fan are thrilled to have you on this evening. thanks for being with us. when you first met president george hurter walker bush -- >> i met him at the white house in 1989. he invited me up there to give me the american success award which i had no idea what it was. i never heard of it before. but i got to go to the white house. it was exciting. judge jeanine: but apparently you truck up a friendship with the president, he took a liking to you. and you two ended up spending time together. how did that happen and where did you two connect? >> after that time in 1989, he picked me out at the end of the ceremony, there were several of us, and he had somebody get my
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wife and i and my son and took us into the oval office. first he candidate my son, he said don't you need an excuse for being out of school and wrote him one. then he showed me a magazine, a country music magazine my picture was on and told me he was a big country music fan. judge jeanine: in deed he was. in 2002 in march the last live concert at the houston astrodome. you sang there before they closed it. and you again received an award from president bush. i have it on my album, i listen to it all the time. he talks about you being a great american. >> well, you know what? he was the great american. and it's such an honor for me for him to be there that night. you know, he came out and brought me on stage, and talked
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to the folks, and actually came on the bus before the show. and it was just an amazing night all together. judge jeanine: apparently after that the two of you continued to spend time together. and i believe it was at camp david. his last weekend at camp david in january of 1993 that you went to spend the weekend with him. tell us what that was like. >> he called me one morning, early in the morning. i had just met him. i didn't give him my phone number. but of course he's president, he calls me and wakes me up. and invites us to camp david. my wife and i and my son went and i took three band members and we did a little show for
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them one night. and so we are going to leave the next morning, that's our plan. he asked me, are you going to church with us sunday morning which was -- this was saturday night. i said we kind of want to get back early so we can watch the cowboys and the 49ers play for the nfc championship game. he said why don't you stay here and watch it with us. i said okay. so we stayed, went to church, had lunch and watched the football game. let me back up a second. the cowboys won that game. and he says, well, let's call jimmiy john sound. okay. so, you know, he picks up that read phone and gets jimmie johnson on the phone and in less than two minutes jimmie johnson called back.
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and he said congratulations. and he said i have another george that wants to talk to you. the next day, judge, he gave a speech to the troops. that was his last weekend at camp david, and he gave a speech to the troops there in a bing hangar, and the troops loved him than was not a dry eye in that house with it was over. it was an amazing time. judge jeanine: thank you, george strait, and thank you for providing the music he loved. president bush on the links. his long-time golfing buddy shares some great stories in just a ♪ do you want to take the path or the shortcut? not too fast. (vo) you do more than protect parks when you share the love.
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to have the ability to play hundreds of rounds of golf with the president of the united states, i have got to ask you a few questions. did he ever take a mulligan? >> only off the first tee. and the no last rule. if you hit a bad shot the first try. he just loved being out there with his fellow players and members and the camaraderie on the golf course. judge jeanine: there is a full screen up of you, the president and jack nicklaus. the three of you. what was it like? you are a golf pro, right, ken? >> arnold palmer and phil nicholson, david love and we are blessed he loved the game as
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much as he did and we got to enjoy it together. judge jeanine: did he ever throw a club and get upset with the game? >> golf is a game of love and hate relationship. we love our good shots and hate our bad shots. he did a lot of chipping and putting. but he loved being out there with his family and friends. judge jeanine: fishing. i understand you used to fish with him as well. >> people on the golf course at ken bunk poasht where i was a golf professional. we used to spend time there. it was his getaway from getting away from the pressures of the office. on the golf course and on the river, we used to spend time there. then we we go to ne
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newfoundland-labrador. judge jeanine: we just had franklin graham on who said the president would start the day by swimming then tennis and fishing. he apparently had a lot of energy. >> don't forget the power walking on the beach in the winter when he couldn't golf or go fishing. judge jeanine: i understand when he became president, he appointed you to a special position with a special title. do you want to share that with my viewers? >> well, a lot of people in the secret service used to wonder whether i would be appointed to any office in the cabinet. judge jeanine: you got a title of? the secretary of swing? >> secretary of swing. which just goes to show what a
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good humor he had. we had lots of jokes. judge jeanine: thank you, ken raynor, the secretary of swing. a tribute from president bush a tribute from president bush from his most of every insurance company tells you they can save you money. save up to 10% when you bundle with esurance. including me, esurance spokesperson dennis quaid. he's a pretty good spokesperson. ehhh. so when i say, "drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of $412," you probably won't believe me. hey, actor lady whose scene was cut. hi. but you can believe this esurance employee, nancy abraham. seriously, send her an email and ask her yourself. no emails... no emails. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless.
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you. i'm in enemy territory here. they consult me with will begin posters, it looks good. judge jeanine: finally, tonight as we begin a week of mourning for our 41st president, a moving tribute to george hw bush from the man who became famous making fun of him. media dana carty whose impression of bush was one of saturday night live's most famous is reacting to his death night. years ago president bush actually invited him to the white house to do his famous impression and the two stayed in touch over the years. tonight of the man carty is best known for impersonating he says quote -- we all will. thank you for watching.
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i'm jeanine pirro advocating for truth, justice and the american way. see you next saturday. >> i think historians will say we did pretty well. twitter @ m canc kelly, thank you for joining us. i'm megyn kelly. this is "the kelly file." >> we met at a dance, he was the first person who ever kissed me. i almost fainted from excitement. >> he packed up mother and me and moved out to odessa, texas. and i always have admired him for his pioneering spirit. >> our dad is probably the sweetest person you would meet. he is very kind andoo
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