talking point memo lives each evening. we would like you to spout out about the factor from anywhere in the world. oreilly@foxnews.com if you wish to opine. don't be truculant when writing to us. thanks for watching tonight. i'm bill o'reilly. the spin stops here. we're looking out for you. ♪ ♪ >> sean: welcome to the special edition of hannity now. tonight for the hour, the 43rd president of the united states, george w. bush joins us in studio. mr. president, honor to have you here. thank you for being here. his long awaited memoir "decision point" hit bookstores worldwide and in the audience are key figures who advised president bush in the eight years in office. form ewhite house chief of staff andy card, and press secretary dana perino and

former counsel to president karen hughes and former national security advisor steve hadley. i want to thank you all for being with us tonight. [ applause ] i'm sure your boss is happy to see you as well. first, you've become like a rock star. you started your book tour and you had people sleeping overnight outside a bookstore in dallas and thousands of people. >> i signed about 2400 books. i couldn't thank people enough for showing an interest. i appreciate it. my objective is to explain what it is like to be the president of this great country. i understand some people agree with the decisions i made and they read the book they'll understand why. i read history prior and during the presidency and it takes time for the true history of any administration

to show up. there is no need to try to shape it. i've tried to explain my view of history. at least the eight years in which i was in the white house. but eventually objective historians will come and analyze the decisions that my administration make and the result of those decisions more importantly. i feel great. thank you. i don't miss the limelight. i do miss being pamp eithered. i had to drive through traffic to get to the studio. i miss being the commander-in-chief. i love our military. i cannot tell you, and i hope people get a sense of it in the book about how my respect for the military grew in my presidency. i'm glad to know some of the people i met in the military are with us today. >> sean: we'll get to them. you have been reluctant, almost unwilling. in crawford, you were kind of

laughing at me because i was prodding a little bit and poking. a lot has happened in two years since you left office. it seems that you just do not want to weigh in on current affairs. why? >> because first of all, i'm trying to regain sense of anonymity, which i know is impossible. but nevertheless, worth the effort. secondly i don't think it's good for the country to have a former president criticizing his successor. if i were to weigh in, people would want to know my views of the man who succeeded me. i don't think it's good. i don't. i don't think it's good for the institution of the presidency. i fully am apair he has president plenty of critics. i'm not suggesting you're one. >> sean: no, not me. [ laughter ]

>> not being out there opining and believating makes me comfortable. >> every once in a while if i listen to criticism, blame sean hannity, a lot of people do, or president bush, it would be natural to want to hit back. you don't want to. >> i don't. i've been in politics a long time and i've seen all kind of tactics. it was a tactic i didn't choose when i was president. i don't feel any need to. i don't pay that much attention to it. i'm not saying my wife doesn't pay attention to it. >> sean: we just came through historic election. biggest number of house seat changing hand, 70 years, 682

seats changed hands and a massive statement by the american people. what do you think happened on election night? >> i have unique perspective on the off-year election since i went through two of them as president. 2002 i felt the election whether my administration was taken the right measures to protect the country and the people said yes. we picked up seats in the only administration to have done so since franklin ro roosevelt. 2006 was a different story. in the book, i talk about this. people are kind of tired of me. i understood that. the truth of the matter is after you've been on somebody's tv screen for six years they tend to get tired of you. secondly, the iraq war -- not you, but me. [ laughter ] they love you. the iraq war wasn't going well and the party lost its

way. sex scandals a bridges to nowhere. we had an opportunity to reform social security and republicans balked. people were tired of it. we got thumped. same thing in 2010. they came out to vote. even when i was on the losing end in 2006, it's a healthy process for people to show up and express their will. >> sean: you are open in the book. your personal life. you tell the story laura asked you the question can you remember the last time you ever had a drink. you answer of course i can. and then -- >> i couldn't. drinking had become a habit. i have a habitual personality.

i smoked a lot. in order to get off cigarettes i had to go to copenhagen. to get off copenhagen i had to go to beach nut. and then i had to go to cigars. same thing with alcohol. it was all right before i didn't have any responsibilities, all right to be carefree and drinking. then i became a husband and a dad and i realized alcohol was competing for my affecti affections. laura said can you tell me when you had a drink? this is after a period of time she was concerned about my drinking. the statement got me concern and i focus and the truth of the matter is i grew up and realize there are certain responsibilities in life you have to assume. the reason i tell that story is two-fold. i want people to understand the person who made the decision to run for president and secondly i hope someone reads that book and realizes he or she can quit drinking.

>> sean: upon that decision, all future decisions were made and every one as president. you said it wouldn't have been happened but for that decision. >> i wouldn't have been president. alcohol loosened my tongue. >> sean: you tell one in particular -- if you want to tell it. you were at a dinner with your mom and dad. >> and my wife. i had been drinking. said to a beautiful woman next to me, what is sex life after 50? nobody laughed at the table. [ laughter ] needless to say my parents were mortified, and laura was furious. my brothers and sister kind of stared at their food. i woke up the next day with the remorses and called the woman apologized and on my 50th birthday i got a note from her. "dear governor, well --" the reason i tell the story, i also put in there i had my

daddy's eyes and my mother's mouth. that alcohol would take that kind of bluntness and/or the quipster and turn it in to something that really was not attractive. i tell the story of myself to set up the case to the reader for me, for the reader to understand i needed to quit. >> sean: we'll take a break. we have more coming up straight ahead with president george w. bush, his advisors ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ♪ [ santa ] ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. but hurry -- the offer ends soon.

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as we approached ground zero, i felt like i was entering a nightmare. this was pure hell. when the workers saw me a line form and i shook every hand. they asked if i wanted to say something to the crowd. i decided i should. andy pointed me to a mound of metal. older firefighter was standing atop the pile. i pulled out my hand and he pulled me up to next him. i told him america was on

bended knee and prayer for victims, rescuer. people said i can't hear you. i shot back i can hear you! it got a cheer. suddenly, "i can hear you, and the rest of the world hears you." the people who knocked the buildings down will hear all of us soon. [ applause ] struck up a chant. "usa. usa. usa." ♪ ♪ >> sean: that was the moment that none of us will ever forget. we're honored to be joined tonight in studio by retired new york city firefighter bob beckwith us here tonight. welcome. [ applause [ applause ] >> i don't think either of us realized that that picture of

us on the fire truck would become famous. i didn't think it at the time. i know bob didn't. he was there suffering on behalf of the people that he had served with. and he was worried and concerned about finding his pals. i was concerned about telling the firefighters and policemen and rescue workers how much the country supported them. they were concerned about whether or not as president i had what it took to get after that enemy. it was an amazing experience. on september 14, in what i described as like walking in to hell. >> sean: that was an unscripted moment. >> yes, that's right. >> sean: you didn't have a teleprompter. i'm not -- i don't mean to make -- [ laughter ] i don't mean to make light, but that just came to you. >> right. >> sean: at that moment. >> it does. >> sean: looking in your eyes -- >> it's a touching moment. it's hard to watch this footage, because it reminds

you of the emotions and the heartbreak that took place. in my book i say september 11 for many americans is going to be an important date. like pearl harbor day. for me and those of us who went through the day it will forever be a scar on our heart. it will be forever a memory of courage and bravery and grief for those who lost a loved one. >> sean: you go into great detail september 11 and the days after. that was three days after. walk us through that day. you make a lot of deations and you go into a lot of detail in what happened. >> well, we were going to a classroom in florida. karl rove mentioned a plane hit a new york building. i thought it was a private plane or something. guy got lost. then condi called before i

went in the classroom, said it was a commercial airliner. but i was thinking accident all the time. i have listened to the children read. andy card, chief of staff came in and whispered the famous words. "a second plane has hit the world tower and america is under attack." first reaction is anger. >> sean: as you're sitting there. >> america is under attack. who did this? then i saw the kids. i'm looking at the kids. i focussed on the kids. and their innocence contrasted with the evil of those who would attack america. we did nothing to cause them to attack us. and they attack us. then i saw the press pool in the back of the room starting to get on their cell phones and i realize that it was important that i maintain a sense of calm. i made the decision not to jump up. i didn't want to frighten the children and create chaos.

i was fearful that the psychological shock to the kids, ripple throughout our country. listen, if you're in charge of an organization and you're in a crisis, the ekey thing for a leader is to project calm. i left. i hustled up a speech to a group of parents. who were expecting to hear me say the reading program is great. but instead they heard me say america is under attack. i got thrown in the car. not thrown. hustled to the car and we're hustling out of there. condi calls and says a plane has hit the pentagon. i leaned back and the first plane was likely an accident. the second was an attack. and the third plane was a declaration of war. many of the decisions that followed that were based on my belief then and my belief now that we're at war with people who murder the innocent to advance their objectives. >> sean: you had to give the

order and you describe this in the book if there were other planes hijacked, that you gave the order to shoot them down. >> that is true. we're on air force one. and andy is on the plane with me. a lot of other folks fwhr washington. we were concerned about other planes hitting buildings. will is a lot of misinformation. there is a fog of war. in spite of the fog, it's essential that the commanderer in chief take all precautions necessary to protect the homeland. so, upon grounding the airplanes, once i was aware that the planes would be grounded by norm mineta. i made the decision if any plane did not respond properly to be shot down by a u.s. fighter. so when 93 went down in shanksville, pennsylvania, i had the sickening feeling that it was upon my orders that the plane was shot down.

then i learned shortly thereafter that the plane went down thanks to one of the greatest acts of bravery in american history. >> sean: todd beamer. let's roll. for a moment you thought -- >> it was me. yeah. >> sean: that the plane went down on your order. >> i did. >> sean: we have to take a break and come back to talk more about this with president george w. bush who is here with us for live ♪

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i saw is a family gathered around a seated woman. arlene howard. her son was a port authority police officer. he had last been seen rushing in the dust and smoke three days earlier. as i was getting ready to say

goodbye, arlene reached into her purse and held out her happened. it contained a metal object. some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever. and i will carry this. it is the police shield of a man named george howard who died at the world trade center trying to save others. it was given to me by his mom arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. it is my reminder of life that ended and a task that does not end. ♪ ♪ >> sean: and the mother of that great american fallen port authority police officer george howard is here with us tonight. miss howard, it is an honor to have you. thank you for being here. [ applause [ applause ] >> how are you doing? >> doing fine, thank you. >> i hope so. i brought the badge.

yeah. >> i will never forget it. to remember all of those that had lost their life there. that was a horrible day for all of us. >> it really was. the thing about you, arlene, you are a strong woman. every time i've ever seen you, you've been incredibly strong. you helped me be strong when i needed to be. >> you helped me a lot, believer me. >> mutual deal. >> brought the rest of them with me. >> mr. beckwith, when the president got on the pile of rubble with you and put his arm around you and said soon the rest of the world will hear from us -- >> that put us right back, a lot of us wanted to get back to work looking for these guys. we did. it was some speech. short and right to on the point. it was beautiful. >> sean: andy you were there that moment.

no one will ever forsget the image of you leaning over to the president. i saw him reaction and your reaction. >> i made a conscious decision not to invite a comment or question. i passed on two facts and made an editorial comment and stepped back so he couldn't ask me a question. >> sean: from that moment forward you had to make series of decisions. you wanted to get to washington as quickly as you can. >> i did. card led the charge to prevent me from going. as some of my buddies here will tell you, i didn't like to be turned down. i said i'm going back to washington. he said no. i probably mistreated him. i was harsh. i'm going back! no, you're not. they wisely convinced me. they, being andy, the secret service. the truth of the matter the national security component

there, steve and karen in the bunker of the white house convinced me to the no come back, because the most important assignment for that moment was to make sure there was continuity of government. you're protected by secret service agents willing to give their life. as president, you have to make their job easier not harder. at this point in time i felt like in spite of my desire to be at the center of the action, commander in chief in the white house, they were right. so i told andy, okay, you're right. we flew from shreveport, to omaha, nebraska. after the mutual decision to write a speech for the oval office with karen spearheaded to speak to the country. i said i'm going home. the secret service tried to object and i said enough is

enough. i'm headed in. so we flew back. i never forget choppering in from andrews and andy was sitting by my side there. and we saw the smoldering remains of the pentagon. it was very surreal. and the chopper drivers were doing evasive action. the town was empty. there were troops guarding different intersections. turned to the scene of the first war of the 21st century. >> sean: you said in the single morning the purpose of my presidency had grown clear. to protect our own people and defend freedom that had come under attack. you suggested watching on air force one you probably saw more americans die than any prior president. >> it's true. i think any president's major job is to protect the country. the book chronicles decisions i made to do that. many of which were

controversial. but all of which were done in the right spirit. within the constitution. and with the desire of protecting innocent life. and it worked. >> we weren't attacked since. that was the goal. >> we weren't attacked sense. i talked about the threats we faced to give the reader a sense of what it was like. the early days since 9/11 threats were pouring in all the time. i tell a story about condi, colin powell, andy, c.i.a. briefer and i are stuck in a tent in a chinese hotel room. the reason we're in the tent we didn't want there to be eavesdropers listening to national security briefing. we look at a screen, one screen is hadley and the other is dick cheney. he has a white tie on because he's speaking at the alfred e. smith dinner and his face

looks a white as his head and says we've been informed to bochelina which could have killed us off. so then hadley inform us they're testing mice as to whether the substance at the detector are poisonous and we're praying that the mice were feet down, not feet up. >> it puts in context, it's an anecdote, but the threat was real. >> yeah. >> sean: we will take a break and come back. we have more with president bush after the break. first, look at the special message sent from somebody who knows the president very well. >> one of the most interesting days of my life was the day before september 11. it went to jacksonville to be with the president to out the a new cool idea called no child left behind. we did it at an elementary school in jacksonville and flew to sarasota where we had

dinner with a group of friends. i have never forget the dinner because it was calm before the storm. george shared stories about lesson of history and lo and behold history was made the next morning at the booker elementary school in sarasota. it changed his life forever and it changed the country's [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

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"decisions point." iraq. after 9/11 you have to make a decision. you describe in detail the process of which you made that decision. patiently. you went through the u.n. day of the decision came. >> one thing i want the reader to understand is that i feel is that we owed it to the military and their families to try to solve the issue of saddam hussein peacefully. so we put a strategy in place called cohearsive diplomacy. if diplomacy fails, because of intransigence of saddam, there will be a military consequence. i am confident that the decision was his. emade the decision and defied the demand of the free world and i gave the order to don rumsfeld after having asked our commanders in the field do they have everything they

needed and were they content with the strategy? i gave the order. and heavy heart. i did. it understand the consequences. christian my friend here lost both legs. and so i went upstairs and i walked around, went through my office and walked around the south lawn of the white house. i went upstairs and penned a note to my dad. it put that note i wrote to him and i put the note he wrote back. if you try to get me to read it i won't read it because i still get emotional thinking about the letter. >> sean: want me to read it? >> not really. i don't want to get emotional on your set. i'm reading a letter from a man i love and admire. you can read it. >> you just made the decision. you said dear dad, around 9:30 i gave the order to the secretary of defense to execute war plan for

operation iraqi freedom. in spite of the fact i decided a few months ago to use force if need be to liberate iraq and liberate country of w.m.d. the decision was an emotional one. i've taken the right action and pray few lose life. iraq will be free, the world will be safer and the emotion of the moment has passed and now i wait word on the covert action that is taking place. i know what you went through. love, george. your dad writing back a few hours later, i assume e-mail. dear george, your handwritten note just received touch my heart. you are doing the right thing. your decision, just made is the toughest decision you've had to make up until now. you made it with strength and come pax. it's right to worry about thes will of innocent life, be it iraqi or american but you have done that which you had to do. maybe it helps a typeny bit as you face the toughest bump of problem any president since lincoln has faced and you carry the burden with

strength and grace and remember robin's words. i love you more than tongue can tell. well, i do. devotedly dad. >> i told you not to read the letter. [ laughter ] it's a powerful letter. i thought the reader would appreciate the exchange of letters from father and son who happened to be presidents. that's what that was. >> sean: yeah. you knew at the time this is something you had to do. i wrote this down and this is in the book. it strongly believe the mission is worth the cost. >> i did. >> sean: at this point you still believe that? >> i do. i believe that a -- i know the country is safer without a sworn enemy of the united states, who even though we didn't discover weapons of mass destruction everybody thought he had. we did know that he had the capacity to make them and the wealth to be able to afford them. often times you are judged by the decision you make but

rarely are you judged by the decisions you don't make. what if saddam hussein were still in power? 25 million people would live under a tyrant and their life would be miserable. there is likely to be a nuclear arms race. and it's conceivable that though there wasn't ideological similarity hussein would use extremist group to advance his cause. no question neighborhood, nations like saudi and kuwait would be under threat. the world is better off without him. i believe history will prove that. >> sean: one last thing you point out you were warned by egyptian president mubarak, i believe. >> mubarak told tommy franks that saddam had biological weapons, be ready. everybody thought he had them. including many members of the congress who voted overwhelmingly for a resolution who authorized me

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i worry about violating civil liberties. i would not have gone forward with the program if i didn't believe civil liberties would be protected for americans and two, the program were necessary to protect homeland. what is interest is that all those programs were briefed to congressional leaders from both political parties who right after the attacks were pleased that we put the operations in effect. the techniques in effect. and with an is interesting as well is that every one of them have been codified in law by the united states congress. so that the tactics are available for future presidents. >> sean: well, to what extent without obviously breaching national security issues how effective were they? you said in one interview, in fact, it saved lives in great britain for sure and there was one reporter george tenet who said we accumulated more information about our enemies

than all of our national security agencies combined. >> yes. >> sean: is that true? >> the book says we got a lot of information that enabled great britain as well as ourselves to better protect from attacks. michael hayden told me that the information we gained not only enabled us to better understand al-qaeda but it saved lives. i believe the information we good from the enhanced interrogation techniques on thugs and murders, these weren't innocent people walking around. these were people who ordered the death and executed a plan that killed thousands on our soil. who had information we believe that would cause further debt. we had good people in the intelligence agencies, asking evil people questions and we found out answers. i put in the book i'd do it again. the job of the president is protect innocent life. having said that and one of

the things that gets obscured sometimes in the debate is everything we did was legal. we had lawyers make sure we weren't violating law. >> sean: you say you rejected because they went too far, even if they were legal. what were those -- >> no. nice try. >> sean: i can't -- >> no, i can't tell you. >> sean: but you did -- >> took them off the table. three people were waterboarded with medical supervision. they gave us information that saved lives. i understand that the programs would become public and people question them and we're not living up to the value of the united states of america. i understood that criticism would come. i was charged with protecting the homeland as well. what would have been far worse had we not gotten

information that could have saved lives. and there was an attack, i couldn't have lived with myself. in other words you're told by a lawyer, the techniques are legal. we didn't use it for fear of criticism. then there was an attack and people died. >> sean: we have to take a break. we'll come back, much more with president george w. bush and the key figures who shaped his administration. but first, one of the most important members of the president's cabinet who could not be here tonight sent this message. >> my memories of president bush will always be inextricably linked to september 11 and the events sour rounding those horrible day -- surrounding authorize horrible days. i will also never forget on the night we went to yankee stadium in october of 2001, america needed their president to throw a strike. he was weighted down with heavy armor. he was weighted down with expectations that had been set by several yankees who told him that he had to throw from the rubber. he threw a strike.

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on new year's day 2006, laura and i travelled to brook medical center in san antonio. in one room, we met staff sergeant christian baggy of the oregon national guard, along with his wife melissa. christian had been on patrol in iraq when his humvee hit a roadside bomb. he was pinned in the vehicle for 45 minutes. and lost both legs. christian told me he used to be a runner and planned to run again some day. that was hard to imagine. i hoped to buoy his spirits. when you're ready, just call me, i said. i will run with you. on june 27, 2006, i met christian on the south lawn.

he had two prosthetic legs made of carbon fiber. we took a couple laps around the jogging track. it could barely believe this was the same man who had been confined to a hospital bed. he did not look at himself as a victim. he was proud of what he had done in iraq. and he hoped his example might inspire others. >> thanks for your service. >> you're welcome, mr. president. >> god bless you. >> privilege. >> we're not you through running yet. get out of the way. >> i thought about christian a lot that summer and the years that followed. our country owed him our gratitude and support. i owed him something more. i have couldn't let iraq fail. >> sean: ladies and gentlemen, here in our studio audience tonight is the american hero you just saw in that video, staff sergeant christian bag is here. good to see you. thank you for being here. >> thank you. [ applause ]

>> sean: it looks like you were beating him. do you remember that? >> he's very humble. first of all, meeting the president at brook army medical center, gave me hope. you know, i had something to work toward. losing both legs shatters your image. shatters your life. i hope this would inspire people around the nation with disabilities like me. >> sean: it inspired me. >> it really inspired me. christian is an awesome guy. i kind of, from my perspective, i saw a guy there who looked really, really hurt. his young bride was there. i said just come and run with me, throw-away line hoping to inspiring him. i was a little surprised when the person outside my office in the oval came in and said

christian bag -- i said the guy from the brook army hospital? he said yeah. he wants to come and run with you. get him up here. he showed up and an awesome moment. it really was. >> sean: how are you doing now? >> doing wonderful. every day has its challenges. mine are a little bit different than yours, but that shapes our character. it makes us who we are. if you can overcome your challenges, you get, you become a stronger person. >> sean: listening to you i don't have a right to complain about anything. honestly, you a true american hero with incredible inspiring story to all of us. thank you. very much. [ applause [ applause ] >> you can understand why i miss being commanderer in chief now. i got to meet people like christian on a regular basis. our military is full of compassionate, strong, crayous men and women.

we're blessed to volunteer in the service of the country. >> i met a lot of people. i was told you would sneak over to the hospital a lot and never picked up by the press. >> i didn't sneak when you're president. >> sean: okay. you went there a lot -- >> i went there a lot. mainly meeting with the families of the fallen. the press would know i'd be there, but this was not a media event. it was a chance for me to listen and console and hug and learn. me and the families i met added great strength. when it looked like iraq was lost i did listen to the voice of christian and think about his lesson. i was not going to allow his sacrifice to go in vain. i believe a free iraq will some day justify his injuries and his children will know and his grandchildren will know he made a great sacrifice for the safe of peace and freedom. >> sean: very much so. steve hadley and karen hughes

and dana, you were all there. when the moments got tough politically for the president what was going on? in terms of the iraq war. >> every morning the president would get intelligence report, blue sheet to talk about what happened overnight. in 2006, the sheets were grim. we were losing. at one point the president looks up from the sheet and says this isn't working. we need a new strategy. he was of course right. that's really what started the whole review that ended up in the surge which turned around the situation that otherwise seemed loss lost. >> the review led by steve. he was a little band in the white house. a band of brothers and sisters that were fashioning a strategy that would work. we didn't believe in defeat. >> there was a moment and you write about it in the book where senator mcconnell came to your office and said mr. president, you have to pull out. >> you ought to think about

pulling troops out. right. the reason i put the story in there to tell the reader what the environment is right. when your own party is saying this isn't working, you can imagine what the other party was saying. but i believe victory was possible and i knew it was necessary. >> for our own security. >> karen? >> the height of financial crisis in the fall of 2008 after all the president had been through for eight years and we have seen a lot of it on the program. i called hip and i said i just felt so terrible for him that we were going through this. i remember saying mr. president, what else can happen on your watch? what struck me is what he said. he said it's a good thing we're here to deal with it. not a shred of self-concern. glad we were rising to the challenge, the enormous challenge. >> i'd say it was opportunity of a lifetime to be a spokesperson for somebody so principled that you didn't have to worry about popularity. he wasn't going to bite your