grateful. what a week, two weeks of just around the clock hard work. thank you so much. >> we really appreciate everything you do. >> and we've had alex come in who's just burning it is up. if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." i want to make a personal vow to chuck todd. >> do it now. >> chuck, this is the last time i'm ever going to toss late to you. i swear to god. never again. >> exactly 9:00 we will toss to you. >> this is chuck todd's farewell "daily rundown." wake up the kids, call grandma, you're not going to want to miss it. >> permanent dvr status for this one. >> have a great labor day weekend. well done, mr. scarborough. we don't have a strategy yet. that's the quote that the white house is trying to clean up this morning when it comes to dealing with isis. one thing is clear, the drum beat toward war doesn't include the president. meantime on the unofficial

2016 trail, hillary clinton finally comments on what happened in ferguson. rick perry hits new hampshire and south carolina. and with ohio set to host the gop convention, could a buckeye state senator be getting some attention? finally, after joe and mika just said it, after nearly five years, it's the end of my era here on tdr. five years is almost a lifetime -- two lifetimes in cable tv. we've done quite a lot here in that lifetime. pretty proud of it. good morning from washington. it's friday, august 29th, 2014, and this is your prelabor day edition of tdr. a few more surprises in store today and of course because it's my last day on this show, i've got a lot of people i want to single out toward the end. but i want to get right to my first reads of the morning. after days and weeks of comments on and off the record from officials all over washington, including in the president's administration, the drumbeat toward military action in syria

appears to be hitting a wall, and that wall is the person that lives in 1600 pennsylvania avenue. when president obama went to the briefing room on thursday, his remarks were aimed at three particular audiences. his message to the media, this action is not imminent. his message to our overseas allies, especially sunni-headed state governments, we're not doing this without you. and most notably, he had a message to his own national security team, who are a big part of the reason action in syria seemed to be becoming so inevitable. it's not close yet, so stop pushing. >> we've made very clear time and again that if you come after americans, we're going to come after you wherever you are. and they pose a greater threat today than they did six months ago and we're taking it very seriously. >> they have no standard of decency, of responsible human behavior. and i think the record is pretty clear on that. so, yes, they are an imminent threat to every interest we

have, whether it's in iraq or anywhere else. >> now, the president did acknowledge he is considering military action against isis militants in syria. but any action now seems weeks away, not days. >> as i've said, rooting out a cancer like isil will not be quick or easy but i'm confident that we can and we will working closely with our allies and our partners. >> the president said he's asked defense secretary chuck hagel to prepare a range of options to counter isis and also sent secretary of state john kerry to travel to the middle east to try to build an actual coalition against isis. remember, he doesn't want to go into syria, be bombing muslims not having other arab states on his side doing the bombing. but it was his response to a follow-up question that i asked him that caused the biggest stir, saying we've got a long way to go before deciding how to go after isis. >> do you need congress'

approval to go into syria? >> i have consulted with congress throughout this process. i am confident that as commander in chief i have the authorities to engage in the acts that we are conducting currently. as our strategy develops, we will continue to consult with congress and i do think it will be important for congress to weigh in. but i don't want to put the cart before the horse. we don't have a strategy yet. i think what i've seen in some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we're at than we currently are. >> it's that one line that a lot of critics picked up on, so the white house immediately tried to play cleanup. they say that context is really about a military plan of what to do, and until they decide the military targets in syria, then they would go to congress. but nonetheless, the president's critics couldn't have scripted a better line and they pounced.

here's house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers. >> it was an odd press conference at the very best, but to say -- to have a press conference to say we don't have a strategy was really shocking, given the severity of the threat. that's what's so concerning to me. >> rnc chairman reince priebus tweeted obama has given up, even leading from behind. nows athe world watches he insists he has no strategy at all. here's senator john mccain. isis, the largest, richest terrorist group and 192,000 dead in syria. the president wants to build a coalition against isis but he's very wary against going into syria and he's not going to do it alone. the chief concerns comes on the question of how to rebuild that country after you go in. meantime, not very far away in that part of the world, president obama needs allies to deal with russia in ukraine. on thursday he reiterated that military action to solve the ukraine problem is not in the cards, but increasing pressure

on russian president putin is. >> russia has deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine and the new images of russian forces inside ukraine make that plain for the world to see. this ongoing russian incursion into ukraine will only bring more costs and consequences. >> this morning nato secretary general echoed that sentiment releasing a statement condemning russia and expressing unwavering support for ukraine. putin isn't backing down saying russia should be ready to respond to aggression and calling on rebels to leave areas of conflicts as well as for rebels to allow a humanitarian corridor. russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov said the west has proud no facts on russian involvement in ukraine other than satellite imagery of troops going over the border. the president met with the ambassador to russia in the oval

office and spoke to german chancellor angela merkel. new sanctions are ready to go but the europeans aren't yet there and they want to do them together. as in every round, they want to do it in coordination. except that to be part of a new theme next week when the president travels to wales for the nato summit. for more on these dual crises the administration faces with syria and ukraine, i'm joined by my colleague, nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. andrea, let's start with syria. let's take the quota side, although there is -- that was an acknowledgement, you could argue that was a michael kinsley definition of a gaffe, speaking the accidental truth, the president does not like the options in front of him when it comes to syria. i think that's the best way to look at that. is that right, andrea? >> i agree entirely. you asked the key questions, he answered. i think he was being very transparent that he doesn't like the options. he was speaking, first of all,

as a brushback to his own national security team. the fact that chuck hagel and john kerry were both out there describing isis as the worst threat ever and a threat that needed to be destroyed, but as "the new york times" pointed out yesterday morning in an editorial, if you don't know what you're going to do the day after, if you don't know what you're going to do if you could destroy isis, what the strategy is going to be, what do you do next? and i think the president was very cognizant of that. it really did remind me of a year ago exactly when on this friday before labor day he sent john kerry out with the we are going to war speech on the red line that had been crossed by assad for using chemical weapons against his own people. the president wasn't there, he was clearly upset and that day had been a "new york times" op-ed that he had read and he mentioned that to dennis mcdonough about the constitutional authorities involved and about getting congress involved. as you remember, the u.k.

parliament had balked also just the day before. >> most underreported part of what the president said yesterday was this essentially a demand that he had is the u.s. isn't going into syria without a middle east coalition. andrea, what would that look like? is that the saudis, uae, qatar. give me an example of what you think this coalition of arab states and the united states could look like in syria. >> it could be turkey. it could be those that are against assad but also worried about isil on their borders. so this is a very fine line because anybody who attacks isis is also propping up assad and they have got to figure out what the space is to bolster the so-called moderate rebels so that it isn't a choice, as the president pointed out, between isis and assad. that's something that was resonating in the region, that they don't want it to be that choice. these are the allies who have been complaining vigorously and vocally for the last year that

the president has not been doing enough for the other rebels. and qatar and some of those countries have a lot to answer for for the strength of isis because they helped fund isis and then it got out of control. >> of course, andrea, you're moderating "meet the press" this sunday. i understand you've got an exclusive interview with senate intelligence chair dianne feinstein. anybody that looks at the intelligence reports on a daily or weekly basis seems to be the ones that are most concerned about doing something about isis sooner rather than later. it will be interesting to see what the senator has to say. >> because she clearly has been one of the more hawkish democrats since she sees the intelligence, but at the same time, what is the plan. and i think that nobody in congress who really looks at this stuff wants to go into it without having a plan for the other side. so it's a very fine line. we'll have to see what she has to say about that and about russia and about putin who has now compared ukraine with the

nazi threat, the kiev government. threats on all fronts and of course we will have a preview of the chuck todd years at "meet the press." >> you've got it. but still an important get in an important weekend, so hearing senator feinstein and you, andrea, we will see you sunday. thank you very much. >> well, congratulations on the great dr, the daily rundown. what a trend setting show. it sets the stage for the whole day. it is our first read. >> excellent. >> good luck going forward. >> we've got to keep it going. all right, andrea, thank you very much. >> you bet. i want to transition quickly over to congress, over to capitol hill. no strategy in place yet on isis. the president's critics are getting a bit louder. tom cole of oklahoma joins me now. he's also a member of the defense appropriations committee. congressman, let me start with that basic question the president was responding to when he said that statement that's been getting a lot of headlines about we don't have a strategy yet. it had to do with going to congress. what role should congress be

playing in this decision on syria? >> oh, i think congress has to be absolutely central. first, i don't think the president should engage in extensive military action beyond what's allowed under the war powers act without going to congress. i think it's important politically and it's important for the world to understand that when we deploy force, we're doing it as a country and not in a partisan manner, that we genuinely are united. so i think the elements of a strategy are there. look, the president has made it clear and i think appropriate that we're talking about air strikes at some point, we're talking about special operators, we're talking about aid and training for people on the ground and we're talking about alliances in the region, which i think are going to be not easy to construct but pretty doable, since nobody on the ground, even our enemies, don't like isil. >> speaking of isis, great britain has had to raise -- we have breaking news here. great britain has raised its terrorism threat level to its

second highest level. obviously they're very concerned because they have had some homegrown isis folks that have been taken, much more than the united states has had to deal with. congressman, my question to you is you authorized some sort of limited strikes into syria. then what? what is the american responsibility in syria after we're bombing parts of isis? >> well, i think our main goal is isil. i don't know that we have a, quote, responsibility in syria after that. and i think the president is being commendably cautious about being involved in the middle of a syrian civil war. i understand if at the minimum a three-sided conflict and probably a lot more than that. so, again, i think moving in unilaterally other than to go after isil is probably not a very good idea. and moving in unilaterally is not a good idea at all. so building the alliances with friends and sometimes with people that are at least normally our adversaries but in

this case we can work together is absolutely key to going forward. >> you sound actually -- you think this could be a fairly unifying -- more unifying moment in congress than maybe some of us think? >> i absolutely do. and i think it's actually a more unifying moment in the region than we normally see. again, it's not as if these folks have friends in any reputable country any place in the world. i think you're going to see and probably are already seeing on ground just as we did with al qaeda in the sunni awakening in 2006, there's going to be a reaction against these guys. they are so brutal and over the top, that i think the indigenous populations that they control that probably welcomed them originally because they got such a bad taste in their mouth from particularly in iraq from the al maliki government, that those folks will turn on these people. so i think there's an opportunity here to build a strong coalition and for the united states to play a leadership role. >> all right, tom cole, i'll

leave it there. i had a bunch of other stuff i wanted to talk to you about. always good talking to you. >> congratulations, by the way. >> thank you, sir. i suspect we'll be talking some more throughout the fall and throughout the spring. >> look forward to it. >> you got it. thank you, sir. up ahead, my last tdr gaggle will be here. it's a friday, so you know what we're going to do? we're going to talk a little 2016. a lot happened, even overnight. first comments from hillary clinton on ferguson. but first a look ahead at today's planner. closing arguments are expected to begin any minute in the corruption trial of former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife, maureen. did they convince a jury that their marriage was broken? the verdict could come as early as today. we will see. tonight the dodgers face off against the padres. i've got to let you know that. the nats play a ridiculously late game against seattle. my son is not happy about that because he's not allowed to stay up that late. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. >> i'm going to start with somebody who i guess is now a

big cheese. he's moved on. but i understand this is going to be his last chance to ask me a question in the pressroom, so i want to congratulate chuck to todd. >> i'm glad you get in the pressroom. that's why allstate claim free rewards gives you money back for every year you don't have one. and why if you're part of the other 5%, allstate offers claim rateguard. so your rates won't go up just because of a claim. no matter what comes your way, your home protects you. ...protect it back allstate home insurance from an allstate agent. ♪ [music] jackie's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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well, for the first time hillary clinton is speaking publicly about the clashes between police and protesters in ferguson, missouri. during a paid speech in san francisco last night, the potential presidential candidate lent her support to the white house response but condemned the violence. this is what she said. quote, this is what happens when the bonds of trust and respect that hold any community together fray. nobody wants to see our streets look like a war zone, not in america, we are better than that. for the republicans eyeing a

2016 run, they're spending this summer on the road. texas governor rick perry talked football with the local sports anchor in south carolina before attending a&m's shellacking of the gamecocks last night. >> i know you've got a businessesy schedule while you're in state but you're also stopping by that football game tomorrow. >> that's exhibit one, let me tell you right there, going to gamecock football. you think about it, it's the first game of the college season, first game on the s.e.c. channel, first time south carolina/texas a&m has ever played. this one, the hype is every bit as much and as important as the game i will suggest to you. some great -- great teams. >> johnny who? the aggies won that game, by the way, 52-28. perry spent the early part of the week in new hampshire. speaking of new hampshire, guess who was there? ohio senator rob portman dipping his toe in the presidential waters. the "columbus dispatch" reports he is being urged to launch an exploratory committee for 2016. by the way, he's up for re-election in 2016 as well.

bobby jindal and ted cruz have been crisscrossing iowa but announced they're planning a trip to new hampshire next month. eight prominent republicans have made or announced plans to make multiple stops in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina. been kind of busy these days but august usually is that before a presidential campaign starts. joining me now are nbc senior political reporter perry bacon. susan page and chris cillizza. welcome to all. we've had sort of an interesting tech challenge this morning here. i want to go back to the first little rundown that i had, susan. hillary clinton, the ferguson story is very two weeks ago and she's now commenting now. now, i had heard rumblings for a while that people around hillary wanted to have her lend her voice at the time and she seemed to be searching for a way to do it and she chose this paid speech. >> she doesn't really have a problem getting reporters to pay attention to what she says. she could choose to make a statement in any number of ways

and we would have all paid attention. she waits almost three weeks after this event to weigh in. and i think it's -- i think it's surprising. and it shows kind of a lack of nimble instincts that you're going to have to have when you're running for president. >> you know, perry, here's -- i'm going to put together a little timeline for people. on pretty much the worst night in ferguson when there was riots going on, the president and hillary clinton were at a party together. >> yes. >> in martha's vineyard. the president knew enough to say obviously -- he was criticized, should he have left the party, there was some of that. but he made his statement the next day. perfectly appropriate for hillary clinton to have said something in the next day or two. it's just sort of odd that they struggle how to be on the news, that they feel like they have to be on. >> the people i talked to in her camp said she's being very cautious, she wants to think about the right thing to say. i do think there was a lot of caution in her approach to this

taking so long to say it. her actual comments were pretty good in the fact that she talked about the role of race and racial profiling, how many black men get arrested compared to white men drivers and things like that. she actually talked about race in a way that was pretty brave. a lot of politicians only talked about the militarization part but her comments i thought were pretty substantive and pretty thoughtful. >> chris, it does serve to me as a reminder -- look at you with the reminder. >> what? i wear this every day. >> it is a reminder that i don't feel like there's anybody around her right now that is thinking about 2016. i feel like the people around her, and i've said this before, they protect hillary clinton the brand, but they're not thinking about hillary clinton the candidate. >> and we saw this in some ways in 2008, which was a mismatch between the kind of campaign they were running and the kind of campaign the country wanted, right? barack obama willing to take more risks, out of necessity in some ways. look, when he was running against hillary clinton, he had to take some risks. but willing to take more risks.

i just think her extreme caution. look, if she runs, she's going to be the democratic nominee. but she will take more hits from whoever runs to her left and i think someone will. she will take more hits because the one thing that i disagree with perry on, i think she could have put her statement out two weeks ago. there's no reason that that statement couldn't have come out per susan's point. any time she wants to say anything, she can say it. why wait until it's over to say, hey, look, this is a problem in our country. no kidding! >> there are some people around her that have come to the conclusion that without obama they would have been the nominee last time so maybe they don't need to change their game plan and there is no obama this time so why change the game plan. susan page, rob portman. >> rob portman. >> 20 years ago the rob portman of the world would have been a front runner. we would have been talking about him a long time ago. rob portman, george will has been writing about rob portman for president for 20 years. that sort of had died down.

boy, when you think establishment republican, you think rob portman. i mean on some hands i think he's certainly as good of a resume as anybody would have to run for president, budget director, all these things. what do you think? >> well, i think he thinks there's an opening for a moderate republican. sometimes that's hard to see. >> he would get mad at you for calling him moderate. that's a four-letter word. >> an establishment republican. and a senator from ohio has had a great resume, you think he'd be competitive. i'm not sure he's an obvious fit with this -- today's republican party. >> i tell you, he's -- it's interesting. i think he's a more intriguing candidate because he's got a very nimble policy and political mind. >> to put it bluntly, he's the smartest person in the field on probably either side. rob portman is really qualified and really thoughtful. that said, this is really a story about chris christie and marco rubio and how much they have declined as far as the establishment is concerned where portman doesn't probably have the charisma to really be the

candidate, but the fact that he thinks he can try tells me how far the other candidates have fallen down. >> why is the mitt romney thing suddenly -- >> romney and rob portman -- that's their opportunity. >> they're opportunistic. >> here's the thing with rob portman actually. i think it's hilarious, he's been trying -- he's been jumping up and down. bob costa at "the post" wrote something similar to this three months ago so he quite clearly has to be considered. >> i have to wrap up. thank you all, perry, susan -- >> congratulations! >> i'm going to see all three of you. you know that. i ain't going anywhere. storms on both of the country's coasts this labor day getaway day gets underway today. we're tracking a different kind of hurricane, though, that i hope is coming in and encroaching on louisville. first, today's trivia question. name the most recent sitting president who did not appear on "meet the press" while in the white house. the first person to tweet the correct answer to @chucktodd and @dailyrundown will get the on-air shoutout. the answer and more is coming up

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dual storms coast to coast, both sides of the country going to get battered by big waves and heavy surf. it all means dangerous conditions for swimmers on this holiday weekend. let me bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins with more. bill, a little hurricane issue. >> you've been a tough customer with weather video and being impressed so i got this clip of this wave for you in southern california yesterday. let me know if this impresses you. this is called shooting the pier. >> all right, yes. >> that's impressive but this is what i want to show you. this is the drone video from california yesterday. this guy is going to shoot the pier, they call this. >> that's insane. what is he doing? >> now that impresses you. see, i save the best for last with you. >> all right. i'm both impressed and also think he's borderline moronic. >> let me get to the forecast.

i know you've got your sights on monday night. in the middle of the country, stormy as we go through saturday. the east is nice friday, saturday. the storms come to the east coast sunday night and monday they kind of linger and will still be on a frontal boundary from new england all the way down through labor day including areas of kentucky where there happens to be at papa john's stadium a football game being played when louisville and some university, miami. >> i'm always flashing the u, you know that. always got to flash the u. so it's going to be storming? >> there's a 40% chance of some thunderstorms, maybe a possible delay. but they lost 36-9, chuck. don't have your expectations too high. last year you got crushed. and you're starting a freshman quarterback. >> there is no excuse. miami always has more talent than everybody it plays on its schedule and i include florida state on that. it's all about the coaching. bill karins, thank you, my friend. good to talk to you. still ahead here on tdr, the very last surprise my producers have in store for me.

this time i'm pretty sure i know who it is. plus some final thoughts from long-time leaders on capitol hill before they head home. the advice retiring lawmakers have for president obama. tdr is back in three minutes. plan engers. the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the co-pilots. all sitting... ...trusting... ...waiting... ...for a safe arrival. introducing the all-new subaru legacy. designed to help the driver in you... ...care for the passenger in them. the subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru.

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and that's it. this is kathleen... for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. get all day arthritis pain relief with an easy-open cap. . i have never criticized him for playing golf. because he said something that day that's very important, and that is, he said, you know, i'm a little bit different from most anybody else in america. if i want to walk around the block at my house, i can't do it. and he's right. >> that was part of my interview with retiring senator saxby chambliss where he defended the president's golf outings which have been roundly criticized by republicans in general. we wanted to bring you one more piece of my exit interviews with some of those lawmakers i got to before leaving the show. they're getting ready to leave the hill for the last time. we've been showing you some of the interviews i've done with these retiring members.

today we'll wrap it up with some of the advice all of them had for president obama. no surprise the big focus is on congressional communications, an area where lawmakers say the president has fallen short, particularly when it comes to war issues. >> the problem in afghanistan, a lot of, you know, people -- i don't think the american people understand exactly why we're there and i don't think they understand what we've accomplished there. i've faulted the president for not communicating enough with the people. and so as a result of that, we've lost political support. >> what would be your advice to him, how to improve his relationship with congress in these last two years? >> that's a hard thing to give advice on because when you stick your hand out in friendship and the other side refuses to grasp it, who's to fault, who's to blame? obama has stuck his hand out so many times in friendship and trying to work with the other side and they just keep smacking it away.

so i don't know what i would advise barack obama to do. just don't give up. >> i don't think a president cannot be fully engaged with the congress because the president doesn't know what tomorrow is going to bring. not his or her program, but what tomorrow brings. >> 9/11. >> in your business every day you wake up, you want to know -- okay. so from day one i think you have to -- you have to engage, you have to stay engaged. sometimes it's just social, sometimes it's hey, how are you, sometimes it's a phone call, hey, i'm doing this, what do you think. it's a constant there because that's a well you have to go back to. >> i think this white house's failure has been not reaching out to republicans or democrats. my democratic friends complain as much as republicans do about the fact that you never hear from the white house. some of us do from time to time. obviously in my position on intel. >> you have a little bit more connection probably. >> i have a pretty good direct line right to the oval office.

but with bill clinton, i will never forget, i'm a freshman member of the house of representatives and i was invited down to the white house for a meeting. i didn't know bill clinton from -- let me reverse this. bill clinton didn't know me and i'm one of 435 guys down there. i step off the elevator and he is standing there and we're nose to nose. sticks out his hand, calls me by my name and immediately mentions something that was peculiar to my congressional district. >> and you're sitting there going -- >> what an amazing guy. and he just made you feel good. you know, i could disagree with him on policy, but we could still have a conversation and he engaged with you. he liked to get things done. >> i have to say the animating aspect of all those questions about congress with all of those guys, all four of them when i would mention bill clinton, all of them, both sides, had similar

stories about bill clinton and engagement with congress. so with my very last tdr before heading to "meet the press" my producers have been springing mystery guests on me. john mccain, jay barb rewere here earlier this week. i've got a good feeling i know who this next one is going to be so time to find out who's behind door number three. i didn't know this one. >> hey, chuck! >> hey, mr. earnest. all right, this one surprised me a little bit. what am i supposed to say? i'm not sure. no offense to you. >> none taken. >> mr. kansas city royals guy, first place in the american league central. >> they're on a roll. >> they're on a roll. >> i was actually going to suggest that one thing you could do on "meet the press" that i think would be a transformative way and you'd be a natural on this, you should do a weekly segment on sports on "meet the press." i'm sure the general manager would be happy to talk to you

about the hottest team in major league baseball right now. >> i would hope so. i would hope so. so tell us what it's like when you've got a moment. i am actually just curious yesterday to watch the furiousness yesterday, and i've seen you on "morning joe" this morning. you know the president did something, social media is lighting up, you've got to clean it up. is that why you guys were so responsive yesterday? >> well, chuck, the thing we wanted to make sure people understood is what the president was trying to communicate. what he was trying to communicate is we're still waiting on military plans as it relates to what military options are available to the president for hitting isil in syria. but the president has laid out a comprehensive plan for dealing with isil in iraq. it includes military strikes but also includes shoring up the iraqi government to unite that country to face their threat. it includes engaging regional governments, that's why secretary kerry is heading to the region. so the president has laid out a comprehensive strategy for what

he thinks we should do for isil. how military action in syria fits into that strategy is something that remains to be seen. >> do you really believe -- is it fair to say, that when it comes to the issue of syria, the president just -- the big question is he doesn't know what does the day after the bombing look like? is that his caution? is that his concern? >> i think what the president's concern is that we've learned lessons, this country has learned lessons about going into authorizing the use of military force without having a really clear plan about what you're hoping to accomplish. and the president wants to make sure that he is very conscientious and he's determined to think through what our options are before making the most serious decision that a commander in chief can make, which is to deploy america's military might to put american servicemen and women in harm's way in the conduct of our foreign relations. so the president is going to be very thoughtful and deliberative about this and he's going to make sure that he's very clear,

both in terms of his own thinking and in terms of with the american people about what that strategy is. chuck, i'm actually told right now your producers are telling me you do have a surprise guest today that's not just me. >> oh, so it was a gag! >> well, not a gag! >> whoa! look at this. now that's the surprise guest that i expected. no offense, josh. >> none taken, none taken. >> but you know what? hurry up, get off the stage, will ya? >> hi, guys. >> well, miss mama guthrie. can i call you mama guthrie? dike that, very nice. you don't do a lot of skype cross talks do you, now? >> hi, chuck. >> hi, savannah. >> of course you can. i'm just sitting here having my morning coffee. >> very nice, very nice. you know, someone asked me if we were going to bring back -- >> i don't but for you anything. by the way, i hope you see my

shrine to you in my office. do you see all the pictures that we got going? >> we don't on the shot, no offense. our friends at skype -- whoa! look at that. that is one vale guthrie feldman. she was one beautiful girl. that was one of my favorite days of the year. was being able to hold your lovely daughter. >> well, chuck, i know we have some kooky skype delay going here so i know our chitchat won't be the usual electric banter that we usually have, but i just wanted to say good luck to you and i can't think of anybody better suited for "meet the press." i'm so proud of you.

and i -- the day you found out you got "meet the press" to me was probably the biggest day of your professional life and yet you came and visited me and our little baby vale on that night and it was really special to me. >> well, i have to say that in many ways that was still the most important piece of news that happened to me that week because i'm so happy for you and mike. anyway, savannah, you know how i feel about you. i sure hoped that you would be one of my surprise guests this week, that the producers would get this right. we really built something here and it was a lot of fun. hopefully we can see the baton get passed on and our legacy live on. savannah, i love you. thanks very much. still ahead, my tdr takeaway, but first the white house soup of the day. they're serving up ragin cajun gumbo. more tdr in three minutes. if i can impart one lesson to a

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as we reported at the top of the hour, the u.k. has raised its official threat level to terrorism and we're actually expecting prime minister david cameron to speak at any moment. this follows the decision to raise the threat level, of course, their second highest level that they put it to. of course isis fighters, there's quite a few u.k. citizens that have been participating and it was a u.k. citizen that is believed to be responsible for the beheading of american journalist james foley. we will bring you those remarks when they happen. but trivia first. the last time george h.w. bush was on "meet the press" was december of 1987, meaning he did not appear while he was president or after he left the white house. congratulations to today's winner, hermano silvera. i hope i got that back. we'll be right back. you, my friend are a master of diversification. who would have thought three cheese lasagna would go with chocolate cake and ceviche?

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taking you very quickly to

prime minister david cameron announcing the raises of the terror threat level in the u.k. >> the tles we face and the comprehensive approach that we are taking to combat it. we've been shocked and sickened by the barbaric murder of american journalist james foley and the voice by what increasingly seems to have been a british terrorist record order the video. it was clear evidence not that nymphs needed, that this is not some foreign conflict thousands of miles from home that we can hope to ignore. the ambition to create an extremist caliphate in the heart of iraq and syria is a threat to our own security here in the u.k. and that is in addition to the many other al qaeda-inspired terrorist groups that exist in that region. the first isil inspired terrorist attacks on the continent of europe have already taken place. we believe that at least 500 people who traveled from britain

to fight in syria and potentially iraq. let's be clear about the source of the threat that we face. the terrorist threat was not created by the iraq war ten years ago. it existed even before the horrific attacks on 9/11, themselves sometime before the war. this threat cannot solved simply be dealing with the grievances over western foreign policy. nor could it dealt with by addressing dictatorship, or instability in the region, as important as these things are. the root cause of this threat to our security is quite clear. it is a poisonist ideology of islamic extreme this case is condemned by all faiths and all faith leaders. it believes in using the most brutal forms of terrorism to force people to accept a warped world view and live in a mid evil sate. the state in which its own citizens would suffer unimaginable brutality including

barbaric beheadings of those who refuse to convert to islam, the enslavement of rape and women, and wide spread slaughter of muslims. and the exporting of terrorism abroad. this is about a battle between islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse islam on the other. it is absolutely vital that we make this distinction between religion and political ideology. islam is a religion observed peacefully and devoutly by over a billion people. it's a source of spiritual guidance, which daily inspires millions to countless acts of kindness. islamist extremism is poisonous political ideology supported by minority. these extremists often funded by those living far away from the battle field, convert it as a way of justifying their warped and barbaric ideology.

it's not a new problem. we have seen this extremism before in our own country. we saw it with a sickening murder of lee rigby and the home grown 77 bombers who blew up buses. the links between what happens overseas and what happens here has also always been there. many of those who sought to do us harm in the past have been foreign nationals living in britain or british citizens who returned from terrorist training camps in pakistan or elsewhere around the world. what we're facing in iraq now with isil is a greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before. in afghanistan, the taliban are prepared to play host to al qaeda, a terrorist organization. with isil, we are facing a terrorist organization not being hosted in the country but actually seeking to establish and then violently expand itself own terrorist state.

with designs on expanding to jordan and lebanon right up to the turkish border, we could be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the mediterranean and bordering a -- we cannot apiece this ideology. we have to confront it at home and abroad. to do this, we need a tough, intelligent, patient and comprehensive approach to defeat the terrorist threat at its source. tough in that we need a firm security response whether it's to go after the terrorists, international cooperation on intelligence, and counter terrorism on compromising measures against terrorists here at home. it must be a intent, political response. we must use all the resources we have at our disposal, said, political influence. learning the lessons from the past doesn't mean there isn't a place for our country. the military are vital in driving al qaeda from

afghanistan, and we support the u.s. air strikes against isil in iraq. the key point is military force is one element of what we can do. we need a wider approach working with neighbors in the region and addressing not just security but politics, too. we know that terrorist organizations thrive when there is political instability and weak or dysfunctional political institutions. so we must support the building blocks of democrat, the rule of law, the rights of minority, free media, free association of proper place in society for the army. and we must show perseverance. not because these building blocks, not just because these building blocks take time to put in place, because we're in a middle of a generational struggle against a poison use and extremist ideology i believe we'll be fighting for years and probably decades. we will always take whatever actions necessary to keep the british people safe here at home. britain has some of the finest

and most effect i haive and sec intelligences anywhere in the world. we will always act with urgency when needed, as we did with the emergency data retention which is yielding results. we've taken a range of measures to keep our people safe. stopping suspects from traveling by seizing passports, we're barring foreign nationals from reentering the u.k., we're depriving people of citizenship and legislating to prosecute all terrorists. we stepped up our operational response. since last year we've seen a five-told in syria-related arrests. we've seen port stops and cash see sures grow by over 50 perce50%. we made clear those who carry isil flags or seek to recruit isil will be arrested and the materials seized and 58%

increase in referralreferrals. people are rightly concerned about foreign fighters who traveled from britain to syria and iraq, taken part in terrorist attacks, and come back to threaten our security at home. the scale of the threat is growing. i said clearly last week there will be no knee-jerk reactions. we will respond calmly and with purpose. we'll do so driven by the evidence and the importance of maintaining the liberty that is the hallmark of the society that we defend. but we have to listen carefully to the security and intelligence officers who do so much every day to keep us safe. i chaired a meeting a week ago and we agreed that the answer to the threat was not to dream up some sweeping new power that would be ineffective in practice. it's becoming clear there are some gaps in our armory and we need tow strengthen. we need to do more to stop people traveling, to stop those who do go from returning and to deal decisively those already there.

i'll be making a statement in the house commons on monday. it would include further steps to stop people traveling with new legislation that will make it easier to take people's passports away. as well as being tough, patient, and intelligent. we need to take a comprehensive approach. dealing with this threat is not just about new powers, it is about how we combat extremism in all its forms. we need to tackle that ideology of islamist extremism head on, at the root before it takes the form of violates or terror. that means challenging the thinking of extremists aid logs, identifying the groups in this country that push an extremist agenda, and countering them by empowering the overwhelming majority who believe in british values of democracy, the rule of law, and respect the minorities. that's why as prime minister i have driven a new approach to tackling radicalization and skournt treechlism in britain focussing on all types of extremism. not just violent extremism.