tv Fox News Live FOX News December 5, 2021 10:00am-11:00am PST
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community at large. eric: brooke, we're out of time. thank you. thank you for the work you're doing. calling for jewish civil rights movement. brooke, thank you. arthel: hatred is ignorance. we're back at 4:00 eastern with more news, right here on fox news. mike: long career of public service, three decades on capitol hill, horribly wounded in world war ii, legendary senator bob dole has died at age 98. here is a look at his historic life. >> i've never been prouder in my life than to have been the republican nominee for president of the united states. >> as the 1996 republican nominee bob dole came as close as he ever would winning the presidency, a dream he chased 3 times. he made his concession speech in
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russell, kansas to the people who had known him from his birth there in 1923. world war ii took dole from kansas to italy and just before the end of the war nazi machine gunfire shattered his upper body and destroyed his right shoulder. >> about 11 months before i could feed myself. i think i could have done to be honest about it 8 months but the nurses were very attractive. [laughter] >> after recuperation russell elected dole to county prosecutor and in 1961 its voters sent him to house of representatives and reelected him there four times. in 1968 dole ran for senate and won and spending 3 decades in the u.s. senate. he became the senate majority leader in 1984 with self-deprecating whip he established himself as tireless power broker, pragmatic and able to work out compromises with
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democrats. in 1976, presidential candidate gerald ford had selected dole as running mate after defeat, dole sought own nomination unsuccessfully in 1980 and 1988. but in 1996 he decided to try again. he resigned the senate seat and post majority lead the other . >> in 1996 dole won nomination. >> i accept the nomination to the presidency of the united states. >> we are going to win, senator. >> looking good. >> 76-year-old boundless energy overshadowed his age. >> i think i have my strength and i think the best thing for bob dole, bob dole.
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>> big-name products like viagra and pepsi and wrote several books including an autobiography and shortly after dole's lost to clinton he visited the white house where former opponent awarded him the presidential metal of freedom. >> no one can claim to be equal of this honor. >> it was at the same ceremony that president clinton announced the design of a new world war ii memorial. a site that dole would go onto visit on a regular basis arranging travel for world war ii veterans to do the same and he still never completely left the political world. >> i watch the senate a lot. [laughter] >> he spent his time helping wife elizabeth winning a senate race and accepting appointment from president george w. bush to cochair a commission on problems in the military hospital. >> senator dole who is himself a
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veteran and a wounded veteran at that, former distinguished senator, a man who knows washington well but more importantly knows the kind of questions they ask. >> he continued to push for answers on capitol hill as well traveling there in support of legislation for disabled veterans. >> just the right thing to do. bret: advocating for politicians who shared his vision like kansas senator pat roberts also urging congress to confirm mike pompeo as the head of the cia. and robert lightlizer as trade representative. >> i'm proud to be here because i know this man and i know he will do a great job. bret: one trip back to the capitol was tough to make, dole entered capitol rotunda to visit casket, friend senator inouye of hawaii as he layed in state.
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they had both been sent to the same hospital in michigan after suffering injuries from nazi gunfire in italy. dole convinced in a way to go to politics after loss of his arm dashed his dream of becoming a sergeant. and making it to washington as a hawaii representative in 1959. 7 months later, dole made it to the capitol himself. wheelchair bound dole needed help from wife and aide. harry reid of nevada later said dole told him he wasn't going to let him see me in my wheelchair. at 95 year's old, he returned to the capitol rotunda to absolute another soldier, george h. w. bush. a long time friend. that determination is how
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senator dole earned respect from both sides of the aisle. >> we are also proud to be joined by a true american patriot, world war ii veteran, one of the finest public servants america has ever known, senator bob dole. >> senator dole fought bravely in world war ii and was severely wounded by german fire and bob, i know i speak for millions of grateful americans when i say thank you. thank you, bob. bret: some of the grateful americans were his own kansas constituents. they continued to attend his speeches years after he left public office. >> there's another bill that i was very proud of and getting america disabilities act passed and the foreign majority leader from kansas is back on capitol hill, a place he could never seem to leave. >> i may run again so i will probably be up here looking for
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bipartisan support. bret: there on the senate side of the capitol, a balcony named after him when he left the senate in 1996 just steps from the republican leader's office. >> big letters or neon or -- [laughter] >> bret: colleagues hat informally referred to balcony as dole's beach as he frequently held meetings there. on his last day as senator his colleagues voted to make it official. >> senate resolution 258 to designate balcony f230 and f2031 as robert j dole balcony. [applause] bret: the robert j dole balcony is a tribute to the service he made within the halls of congress but also to his membership in the dwindling group of americans who served their country in world war ii.
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>> 16 and a half million world war ii veterans, there are only half million of us left. and we lose about a thousand a day. >> in early 2021, dole shared that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lunge cancer. in a statement he said, quote, while i certainly have some hurdles ahead, i also know that i join millions of american who is face significant health challenges of their own. days later he was visited by newly inaugurated president joe biden at his watergate apartment. the two had a bipartisan friendship and served in the senate together for almost 25 years. months before his cancer announcement, dole spoke remotely to the national press club about reaching across the aisle and his hopes for america. >> i had a great ride. i mean, i made so many, many friends, democrats and republicans and when i was the leader, i reached across the
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aisle a lot because i believe the most controversies could be settled with a little time and a little compromise. i believe god has a plan for all of us and what happens to me, i'm 97, but i still have all my marvel and that helps. i think we have a bright future. bret: in washington bret baier, fox news. mike: i'm joined by bret baier, chief political anchor. severely injured in battle even losing use of right arm and yet he survived to become in senate and continued to serve america for decades. bret, your thoughts as we look as dole's extraordinary life of service? bret: yeah, mike, good afternoon. bob dole was the personification
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of the greatest generation. a personification of service, of service to the country. if you look at his life, 79 years of it was in service to the u.s. in one way or another. 36 of those years on capitol hill and he became a lion of the senate. he was considered early on as kind of this partisan slasher, a guy that could really take people down but in as years went on and as he took the role of senate majority leader, he really became as guy as he talked in that piece working with the other side, working with tom in the majority leader spot and working with ted kennedy and george mcgoverns and half century of legislation that touches everything in american society. you have social security and he talked about the rights of the disabled, trade, he was a huge proponent and structured the
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reagan tax cuts that changed the dynamic of how people thought about what was possible. so bob dole is larger than life figure on capitol hill but i think his service to the nation is really what this day is about. mike: bret, in your wonderful piece i was struck by tributes by barack obama, president trump and cross section of the political scene all paying tribute to this one gentleman. bret: only a few figures, mike, in capitol hill history that cross that rubicon if you will, that get that response from democrats and republicans and bob dole clearly is one of them. and -- and, you know, a lot of it goes back to his service in world war ii but also the relationships that he had over the years and that last little clip there that we added about
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joe biden going to meet bob dole at his place at watergate, was significant. they had a relationship that went back years and years as well and worked across the aisle. so he was somebody that is a unique figure and i think there are a lot of people around the country who are hoping that there are more bob doles yet to come to make congress work a little bit better. mike: as we look at our national mall, bret, the impact of the world war ii memorial, greatest generation flown in to see the memorial for themselves but that's really a lasting tribute that will live forever here in washington. bret: he was -- dole was a huge proponent and push for the world war ii memorial. really one of the staunches advocates of making it happen, funding it, getting it across the finish line and then to see it realized and to advocate for these freedom honor flight that is bring in world war ii veterans like himself for these really emotional moments.
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if you've ever seen it, when these folks come for the first time to the world war ii memorial, after all these years to say and remember their time in world war ii, it is -- it is something and as he mentioned in the piece, we are losing roughly a thousand a day and we lost unfortunately another one today. mike: bret baier, chief political anchor, thank you so much my friend. bret: have a good one. mike: jane hampton cook and author of the burns to have white house and later we will have our very own congressional correspondent chad pilgrim. giant of the u.s. senate and then the 1996 republican nominee for president how do you assess his lifetime of service? >> perseverance. i was looking back at his world war ii story, you know, he died
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2 days before anniversary of pearl harbor. he like thousands of young men signed up. in 1942 he was part of reserve unit and injured in 1945 and his fellow soldiers took his own blood and marked m on his forehead to let other people that he had gotten a big doze of morphine and that was a sign, don't give him anymore or he will die and yet he goes back and his parollized from the neck down and has all of the surgeries and our median doctor said, hey, keep living life and he never forgot that and he persevered. mike: i'm joined by chad pilgrim, congressional correspondent. looking back at the life of bob dole, i know the political fights were tough back in the day, also seemed like an era where they could come together and ultimately cut deals? chad: absolutely, he had this relationship with robert byrd who was the majority leader,
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minority leader. i remember an exchange between them on the floor in 1986 that was just epic signaling back and forth, i was not back here then but i have it on vhs tape around the house and back and forth between true masters? the senate and would fight like cats and dogs on the floor but had a very genuine relationship behind the scenes and that was reflected in the statement put out couple minutes ago by patrick leahy, democratic senator from vermont, pro tempore of the senate, he's retiring early next year and he said some of his finest moments in the senate were working across the aisle with someone like bob dole and, you know, again something else here. this is not really a partisan issue now but because of those injuries that he sustained during world war ii, bob dole was always very aware of the opportunity that he had been given and i remember an
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interview that he did years and years ago where he talked about he was worried that he was going to be somebody who, you know, who was disabled and selling pencils on the streets of russell campus and that's how he put it right there and he was i instrumental in getting the americans with disabilities act passed in 1990, a landmark piece of legislation which a lot of people forget about. but, you know, bob dole in spite of this kind of rough edge that he sometimes had, you know, referred to even by a member of his own party, william zachs, republican senator from ohio who called him hatchet man. he did have one but two pepsi-cola ad. he did a viagra ad in 1988. that was the lighter side of bob dole that he didn't take himself too seriously. he took trying to get results done very seriously and one of the other things i remember
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about dole is he left the senate in june of 1996, he was the majority leader at the time to spend the next few months running full-time for the senate and they named this balcony just off the republican leader's office in the capitol, on the national mall side, just off of where mitch mcconnell's office is now, they called the robert j dole balcony. it's referred to as dole's beach because that was the beach view that he had when he would go out there and sit and sometimes work out some of those agreements with other senators of his own party and even with those across the aisle. mike: beautiful, jane hampton cook, we are looking live at the united states capitol building where the flags are being lowered to half staff in honor of former senator bob dole who served decades in that united states capitol building. jane as the republican nominee for president in 1996 he came up a little bit short. it strikes me that he could have
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gone and been bitter person about that loss but still continued his layoff time of service. >> that's true. that's why i think the word perseverance. he kept going. he tried several times to run for president before he was the nominee in '96 but then all of his service to fellow veterans with the world war ii memorial, just that perseverance that he was even advising president trump about taiwan. and so you just see he never kept serving. he kept going and even his statement several months ago at the announcement of his cancer, he had a positive outlook, he was being positive and optimistic and i think that's why he could get along with so many different politicians, that he had the outlook of perseverance and optimism and that's something i think we should remember today about his life. mike: presidential historian jane hampton cook and colleague
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mike: white house confirming that president biden has scheduled call with russian counterpart vladimir putin on tuesday. this comes amid rising tensions between russia and ukraine as russia amasses troops on its border and our intelligence community is warning that putin may be planning a potential invasion as early as next year. joining me now is connecticut democratic congressman jim hines, member of house intelligence committees, congressman, welcome. congressman: thanks for having me, mike. mike: from your intelligence portfolio, your thoughts on the warnings regarding russia and ukraine? congressman: they are hugely serious, mike, putin has put enough assets on the borders of ukraine to if he wanted fairly quickly do an invasion and, you know, the stakes are very high here, right. i happened to believe that he did not suffer sufficient consequences subsequent to invasion of crimea and, you
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know, now is the moment for him to understand and perhaps in the conversation with president biden for him to understand that if he, you know, holds his 19th century invading a neighboring country the world will stand against him in a way that will make his situation painful. and, of course, mike the stakes are high because of taiwan. the chinese are watching what's going to happen. i never imagined in a world where we need to reassert what we thought was true 75 years ago. you don't get to invade neighbors. mike: i want to play for you a clip from republican senator jody ernst on fox news sunday. >> it's hard to neglect what vladimir putin is thinking and what his true intentions are but we do see a very aggressive action on his part amassing troops on the ukrainian border. so we must prepare for the worst not knowing what those intentions are. i do think that president biden needs to be very clear and very strong in his message to
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vladimir putin. mike: so congressman, what's to stop vladimir putin if he goes into ukraine from potentially continuing on from there? congressman: well, you know, ukraine is not a nato country but to ukraine's west our nato countries, at that point i don't happened to believe that putin would be crazy enough to invade a nato country because at the point the treaty obligations under 5 we are at war and i don't think vladimir putin wants that. ukraine not a nato country. i think in the next week or so is not just president biden's conversation with -- with putin, it's the whole world, you know, europe needs to stand up and say we will stand in defense of ukraine, what that means, of course, is a little complicated. lots of defensive weaponry flowing in ukraine and making it clear that the economic sanction that is would be leveled against putin and cronies will be devastating n. the next week or so putin needs to realize that a invasion of neighboring country
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would be unacceptably ebbing --expensive to him. >> i was so sad to hear that. as a current legislator, i never got to serve with bob dole, you know, i'm sure the bob dole we would have things to disagree on. he wouldn't have called him a communist and i would not have called him a fascist and the language on capitol hill today, that was not there when bob dole was a senator and that has to do with the person that he is or was and i just hope that the place that i work can get back to that, we are going to disagree but we will do it constructively and civilly because we recognize that we are americans and even if we see the world differently, we are blessed to have americans and we should treat each other that day. mike: well said, congressman jim
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himes from the great state of connecticut. now joined from the other side of the aisle, let's bring tony gonzales, member of house appropriations committee. congressman, your thoughts today on the passing of senator dole, let's start there? >> yeah, no, senator dole, elizabeth and the dole family are patriots and they have given so much to this country and the way which he led is something that we need to reflect on today without a doubt. mike: your district, of course, covers a great swath of the united states southern border. i'm wondering your thoughts on the current state of the border crisis and how it's affecting people in your community. >> yeah, nothing has gotten better in the border. i had a call earlier this week with del rio border patrol chief and they are seeing over a thousand apprehensions a day and part of that is because of the
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biden administration's lack of working with anyone from the other side of the aisle. you know, i asked myself why does biden hate immigrants and that's kind of some bold language but the facts are this, over 550 immigrants have died, have perished on this dangerous trek. you've got children, unaccompanied children that have been assaulted in some cases sexually assaulted in hhs custody. nothing has gotten better. the only way things overall get better if both party comes together and make sure border security is a priority. mike: another huge issue affecting every one of your constituents hitting them in the wallet, inflation, what should washington, the biden administration be doing about inflation, sir? >> yeah, i know, inflation is very real and in my district in particular which is very rural we've been impacted greatly. step 1, it's making sure that we have energy independence and, you know, and opening up our --
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our oil and natural gas lines here in the united states is step one. i represent much of the southern border and one of the things that this administration has done it's shut down the border for economic purposes but it left it wide open for illegal immigration. it's the exact opposite. you should open the border for economic purposes, welcome those that are coming to shop and -- and visit our doctors and do those things but you should be absolutely firm against those that are trying to enter this country illegally. mike: there's also the supply chain crisis and we have christmas on the horizon. your thoughts on that and should the administration be doing more to address that critical issue? congressman: yeah, the supply chain issues are very real and i think people are going to see it especially come christmas time and, you know, one the administration just needs to stop encouraging people to not work, we are seeing labor shortages in every industry across the board. when that happens there's a trickle effect that -- that
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limits that supply chain issue. it start and ends with the biden administration, you know, it's enforcing the policies that are already in play to his messaging. you have to message on this and make sure that we get this country back on track, start with the administration but it's up to house republicans to make sure that they -- they follow through with those -- with those promises. mike: congressman tony gonzales, republican from the great state of texas, thank you very much for your time, have a great day. congressman: thank you, mike. mike: parents of the michigan school shooter suspect reunited with their son in jail. why police are saying there may be other reunions on the horizon. that's up next. ♪ ♪ ♪
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david: mike good afternoon to you, sad day across the country, bob dole known as patriot and hero and someone who had close relationship with the current man that occupies this house, president joe biden. you have to remember that joe biden was a senator for many years. he first joined the senate in 1973 after taking the oath of office. bob dole a young senator from kansas at that point was in for several years so they knew each other in the senate all the way up until bob dole left the senate in 1996. we have some video of president biden and dr. jill biden, the first lady arriving from camp david where they spent the weekend just -- just about an hour ago, not even an hour ago. i shouted out a few questions about senator dole, however, he just said that president biden said, i spoke to mrs. dole this morning. so we know that he did speak to senator elizabeth dole this morning to express condolences, nothing from the president at this time but we are expecting a
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statement. he may make more comments on camera today and we also will likely see the flag go down to half staff here at the white house. i want to read something from former president george w. bush about bob dole and this is significant. he put out a statement, he said this good man represented the finest of american values and defended them in uniform in world war ii and advanced them in the united states senate and livered them out as father, husband friend, our entire family benefited from that friendship including my father. i will always remember bob salute to my late dad at the united states capitol and we bush's absolute bob and service and laura and i send heart felt condolences to elizabeth and join in prayer and comfort. president biden went to go visit -- both senators i should say, bob and elizabeth dole where they live here in washington, d.c. so they've had a long friendship and i actually had a chance if i
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may just say to visit senator bob dole just a few months ago, a gentleman was very kind to my family and i, certainly he will be missed here in washington and we will wait to see what the president has to say later today about his friend, former senator bob dole. mike: david spunt, thank you very much. we are joined by brit hume and long-time political anchor, brit, welcome. >> hi, mike. good day. mike: your thoughts on life and legacy of bob dole? >> well, it is a great bless to go him and his family and many who admire him that this man was alive at all after world war ii let alone that he would live to be 91 which is quite remarkable thing. he was wounded fighting in italy in world war ii and it was not at all clear he was going to make it. the story of his rehabilitation is a very, very heart warming story and an example of
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determination and courage which bob dole certainly possessed to be able to do that. mike: in many ways he reminds me of someone that you covered for a long time, president george hurry better walker bush boast tested in war as members of the greatest generation, both lifetimes of service, is that fair? >> it is except that for a long time they were political rivals and, in fact, they ran against each other for the republican nomination in 1988. and bush got after dole on the issue of taxes. dole had some history of wanting to budget deals, tax increases which at that point nobody in the republican party want today hear that and they -- he got very mad with -- with president -- with president to be bush and accused him of lying about his record but they later patched it up and i was at the bush library, the bush 41 library for
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the 75th commemoration of pearl harbor that was healed there and bob dole was honored by the bush, by the former president and there's a scene with the two of them on the stage in their wheelchairs and when dole had received this award and around him were cadets of texas a&m singing group and they sang you'll never walk along which is one of bob dole's favorite songs. it was quite a scene. mike: we saw quite salute for inouye when he passed. former president barack obama, former president donald trump strikes me as someone today may not be able to get that same leverage of praise. this was an extraordinary life.
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>> it was, indeed, and he could be sharp tongued and as witty as they come. in fact, i noted, he's been in wheelchair for many years and when i saw him at the bush library, this is in what 5 years ago now, he didn't look well, of course, when you're 93 or 4 it's hard to look well but he didn't. but at dinner, he was cracking jokes in the same that he did back when he was in the senate where he was -- they came up bob dole, never-ending remarks some which. >> hilarious. i remember one event which then senator biden was involved and they are waiting for tend of it, long procedure which was supposed to come ahead, he said that biden was going to speak after that that that would take longer and, of course, we all who cover know exactly what he meant because biden was famously
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locatious, he stopped but he was then. mike: we saw the flag already lowered at the united states capitol. should be quite moving tribute to life and legacy here in washington. >> yeah, i'm glad to see that because at one time he was a controversial figure. used to talk about democrat wars and republican wars. but in the latter years of his career he emerged as a really quite spirited public servant who served long and honorably in the senate and then as -- as the party's presidential nominee. didn't win, but -- but he was -- he was the guy, it was his turn to try and he made a good stab at it. a fine man who will be missed. mike: senior political analyst brit hume, thank you very much for your time today. >> thank you, mike. mike: former kansas senator bob
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dole represented his home state in congress for more than 3 decades. let's bring in current kansas senator gerri mirand for reflections today. senator, your thoughts of the passing of the legendary in the great state of kansas. >> we express condolences, sympathy and love and care for senator elizabeth dole, robin, the family, all kansans will be saddened by this. i've always expressed the view that if you're a kansan more than 35 years old you remember senator dole and wish he was your senator today. he was highly regarded across the state as we know and also around the country and he is a role model for all of us, republicans and democrats who serve the united states senate and we long for the days in which the united states senate worked in the way that bob dole and democratic leaders and other republicans were able to accomplish good things on behalf of americans.
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i would say that my desk is the bob dole desk, i wanted that when i arrived in the senate. my remarks in the senate floor were in part tribute to bob dole and the role model aspect. i would say that while i admire senator dole's legislative efforts and career in congress, attempts to be president of the united states, love of country, i always go back to his military service, world war ii and then his long road to recovery. you cannot know what bob dole went through to return to living after his experiences in the battlefields of italy and the way that kansans rallied around him and he never gave up that spirit, that effort to make sure that good things happened. i think he must have felt that his life could have been taken during world war ii. it was spared and he spent every day on behalf of kansans and americans trying to make a life better for them and i would highlight his efforts on behalf
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of people with disabilities. a couple of areas that i tried to follow him that senator dole, the example, something that you can never get to aspire to be, you can aspire to but never get there, that's relationship with veterans. i remember every -- from kansas and across the country that visited the world war ii memorial on an honor flight, senator dole was there to greet them. they admired and respected him so much and the efforts on global hunger and trying to make sure that kansas and other states, other parts of the country that are providers of food that we use to the benefit to those around the world and around the country that are hungry and go to bed without food. so he left a lot of things that we can admire and respect and i'm -- i came out of church this morning. i just learned the news and i haven't had time to personally reflect but i just know that we
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are all sad by this occurrence even though as i supposed had been expected for the last several months or the last several years. a sad day. he was the first united states senator i knew personally. mike: senator jerry moran of the great state of kansas, may his memory be internal. thank you for your time. >> thank you. mike: chris wallace sat with former senator bob dole for a long-ranging conversation. we will bring that to you next. ♪ ♪ ♪
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mike: back in 2013 chris wallace interviewed retired senator bob dole, they covered everything from the quality of courage to the frustrations of trying to pass legislation. let's watch. >> i always thought that differences were a healthy thing and that's why we are also healthy because we have a lot of differences in this chamber. i've never seen group out there in my life. [laughter] [applause] chris: that was bob dole in 1996 when he was master of the senate and the favorite guest on sunday talk shows. he's been out of office now for 17 years, but when we sat down with him last week for a rare interview, we found some things haven't changed he's as
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perceptive and invitingly funny as ever. >> we will send the president bill after bill, returning power and programs to the states and to the people. chris: bob dole was a man in full in the u.s. congress from 1961 to 1996, he represented kansas on capitol hill but he served the nation. he helped save social security, expand food stamps and pass the americans with disabilities act. >> there was once a time when i doubted the future but i have learned as many of you have learned that obstacles can be overcome. chris: that was his life's cause, a strapping young man from russell, kansas he enlisted to fight in world war ii when he was just 19. previously wounded in italy, he spent 3 years in the hospital and came out without a kidney or a functioning right arm. bob dole today continues to be a portrait of courage. he is wheelchair bound and losing his sight but there's no
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self-pity. not a bit. you turned 90 in july and my father used to say growing old isn't for sissies, is it? >> no, it's not for sissies and a lot of benefits. you think about your past and what you've been able to accomplish if anything. chris: when you see what is happening in washington today, the chronic failure to be able to solve our problems, how frustrating is it for a legislator like you? >> seemed almost unreal that we can't get together on a budget or legislation. i mean, we weren't perfect by long shot but at least we got our work done. chris: so what's the problem, why can't the president and congress, why can't republicans and democrats get together and make deals? >> i'm not a critic of the president but i think one
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mistake he's made was not getting the congress early on in his first administration. nothing like knowing the person you're talking to on the telephone if you've had an opportunity to sit with that person and not about anything but just visit. i was on a social security commission. chris: let me ask you about that. you were on the greenspan commission in the 80's and you made a deal. you said, nobody got everything, everyone gave something. >> that's the way it has to work. chris: but it doesn't work that way anymore. >> i know, but it's going to have to work or the country is going to suffer and the american people, i think, are partly at fault. spending 83%, if you cut
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something they have an interest in, they are over you like a wet blanket so you don't want to cut medicare or social security. chris: want to cut somebody else's program. >> i'm all for you. chris: is the senate broken? >> very badly. howard baker said running the senate, it's like herding cats. it takes leadership, somebody has to stand up and say we are going to do this and i used to -- would get the group together responsible for that area and -- and we would work together and i would get up and leave and i said call me when you reached an agreement and most of the time it worked because they knew that i was willing to take the step with them.
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chris: you would take the heat with them? >> i would take the heat. chris: in your first two years as a senator, there were 7 motions filed, cloture motions to end debate. in the last two years there were 115 cloture motions s. the filibuster being accused where it takes 50 votes to pass anything? >> no doubt about it. some cases where you probably justify it but not many. chris: what do you think of your party, the republicans today? >> i think they ought to put a sign on the national committee, door is closed for repairs until new years day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.
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chris: you describe the gop of your generation as eisenhower republicans, moderate republicans. could people like bob dole even ronald reagan, could you make it in today's republican party? >> i doubt it. reagan wouldn't have made it. certainly nixon wouldn't have made it because he had ideas and we might have made it but i doubt it. i mean -- >> chris: too moderate willing to compromise? >> i consider myself republican, hyphenated stuff. i was a mainstream conservative republican and most people are in that category. chris: i asked dole for a quick reactions to some of the people and events he was involved in over the years including his 1988 contest with george h. w.
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bush for the republican presidential nomination and his battle with newt gingrich in the 90's when they led the house and senate. what do you think of barack obama? >> great golfer. [laughter] >> articulate. chris: as a president? >> i think as a president he lacks communication skills with his own party let alone the republican party and he's on the road too much. chris: richard nixon? >> brilliant, criminal, could have been a great president. hi threw it away. chris: as long as we are talking about controversies when you were running for president in 1988 and you told bush 41, you know what i'm going to say -- >> about my record.
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>> you'd flip-flop on taxes. >> yeah. and i guess the point is i made -- i made a mistake. i knew i had made a mistake. chris: newt gingrich? >> newt is a brilliant in many respects. he's kind of a guy that is going to lead the revolution but he can't lead after he succeeds. he was always what he did, what newt did and i was a tax collector for the welfare state and i don't have any quarrel with him now. chris: but you haven't forgotten either? >> i haven't forgotten. [laughter] >> and i'm glad he wasn't our nominee. chris: one last person, the guy who beat you in 1996, bill clinton? >> good guy. i remember getting a handwritten
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7-page letter telling me all about the race and the last paragraph was, you can't beat clinton. that's the only reason i didn't beat clinton but it was a factor. chris: was world war ii the defining event in your >> no doubt about it. it changed my life. chris: when you think back to the terrible injury, you are 21 years old, it put you in the hospital for three years. what do you think about that now? , that experience? >> i learned a lot about patient, some things take a long time. and you have to be patient. and i like to get things done
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yesterday. but i learned that the hospital is not possible. chris: you think you became bob dole because of your injury or in spite of your injury because it became the man you are. >> because of it. chris: because of it? >> i never tried to use my disability but i can't hide it. i was going through a bitter state where you kind of feel sorry for yourself but then you look around and find somebody who's in real trouble and it changes your perspective about who's disabled and who's not. chris: you still go out to greet veterans of world war ii when they come to d.c. on the honor flight. how come? >> the veterans really like to see me in for one reason i've
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sort of become americans veteran. i've been to some different states, 161 times. >> god rest his soul, that's it for this hours, "fox news sunday" with mike emanuel is next. chris: i'm chris wallace. president biden and russia's vladimir putin will hold the superpower phone call on tuesday as tensions grow over ukraine. ♪. chris: the white house expressing concern with the massive buildup of troops on the border with ukraine could signal plans for innovation. will discuss the standoff was an arm service command bert joni ernst and pentagon official michelle. we'll get analysis from our
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