sunday the passing of george h.w. bush and the last p of the greatest generation. >> i w50iant a kinder and gentlr nation. >> he faced down saddam hussein after iraq'sio inv of kuwait. >> this will not stand the aggression k againait. >> and forged a friendship with a man who denied him a second term. this morning we remember the 41st president. i'll talk his secretary of defense dick cheney and his secretary of state, james baker. plus, the russia connection.

how deeply involved was donald trump with russia during the 2016 campaign? d i have nothing to with russia. >> i have nothing to do with russia, folks. >> now the president's long -time lawyer michael cohen says he was deeply involved in moscow and the president goes on the attack. michael cohen is lying, and he's trying to get a reduced sentence. >> and pla down the tower deal. >> that was a project that we didn't do. >>ut cohen's guilty pleauts president trump at the center of the mueller investigation. i'll talk to democraticco ressman gerald nadler, the incoming head of the house judiciar committee and the top republican from wyoming. ining me andrea mitchell, dan bas, and pat mccrory. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the aress." ouncer: the nbc news, the longest running show in television histor this is a special edition of "meet the press" with chuck dd. >> good sunday morning.

the geography of george h.w. bush's political life reflects the geography of the modern partblican the wealthy politician left new england and moved to hetexas. left the house twice and defeated the senate twice just as the gop was establishing its new southern roots. the 41stft president found him straddling the conservative and moderate wing taking posions he'd later regret, shifting right when politically nehessary. he was ideal moderate running mate for conservative ronald reagan in 1980. he lost conservative support after breaking theamous no new taxes pledge. mr. bush is now seen ashe rarest of things, a successful o one-term president. he navigatedr the cold d confronted saddam ssein.

he was better known for hisood manners, graciousness, and old school values. >> the old ias are new again because they're not old. they are timeless, duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a a trottism ihat finds expression in taking part and pitching in. >> it's impossible to remember president bush without thinking of his terrific family. he was the patriarch of perhaps the most enduring politic a family inrican history. and joining me now to remember is president, one of president bush's long-time friends who was at his bedside when he passed away friday night, secretary of state james baker. . baker, welcome back. >> thank you, chuck. >> first, my condolences to you. as you shared, this was your best iend. how are you holding up? how is the family holding up? >> we're doing okay.

i had a tough time yesterday, but we're doing fine and i'm comforted, chuck, by the way in which 41 was called to heaven. passina very gentle he had, of course, a wonderful life, 94 years, oldest former president ever. and was such a beautiful human bein w the last d something really sort of special. he ended up talking to his children in those last hours. you know, they say when someo is passing away, the sense that they never le is the sense of hearing, so they got all of his children on the one. e of his sons was there with us, neil, his sonneil. but they got the others on the phone. and the la words the 41st president of the united states ever said were to the 43rd t, presidhen he said, i love

you. because i 43 had called to tell his father good-bye, and tell him how much he loved him. it was a very sweet scene. >> you spent a lotf time wit him, especially in the last few months. what were those conversations like with -- between bake and hef-a as you two tlochld call ea -- loved to call each other? >> i started calling himhef-a when we retired from public service in 1993. i wasn' going to call him george that much. i had been calling him mr. president. hef-a is for chief. i wt over there early in the morning. he had three days he hadn't gotten out of bed and he had a ery bad thursday. then this lasfriday, i went over there at 7:15 in the morning. i live right near, to see how he was doing. one o his aides said, mr. president, secretary baker's here. and he lookedup, he opened both

eyes. he looked at me. he said, where we going?e and i said, weing to heaven, heffe. hesaid, thahere i want to go. during the course of the day, my wife susan was there, and she went over and kissed him on the forehead and said, we really love you, heffee. we love you very much. he looked at her and said, youp. better hurry so, he kept h sense of humor and his spirit till the very what a beautiful, wonderful human being he was, chuck. >> he seemed to -- unlike others who losn political life, he didn't have a bitterness about it. explain that. >> well, the loss was really hard for him in '92, but, you know, he, i guess, realized that you win some, you lose some.

he didn't get bitter. he was not that kind of rson. he was a very warm, caring, compassionate, generous person who was always so tughtful and kind to others. and that's the way he was in victory and that'she way he was in defeat. he never took credit for an hing. he could have taken credit for a lot of things duringis life, but he didn't do that. those are some of the values that heas brought up with. >> we know he didn't like to talk about the l word, legacy. i leave it to. what's the legacy you want him most remembered for? >> wellhi i no doubt but he will be remembered as our most successfulneerm president. and perhaps the most successful -- one of e most successful presidents of all time. his presidency, while it was only four years, was extraordinarily consequential,

chuck. if you look at what happened in the world and the way he managed that, the way h managed the end of the cold war so that it ended with a whimper and not with a w bang really incredible. and look at the other things along the way. the unification of germany and peace as a member of nato. the p coalition he together to reverse iraq's aggression in kuwait ending the wars in central america, which had been the holy grail o both the left and the right, and there are so many others. so he'll be well remembered by history. d well treated by history. >> it's interesting to know that there was a g20 that was held and there wasn't a g20 when you guys wer in power bac then. it was just the g7.he but idea the building and reinforcement of multi -- of these multi international organizations to keep the peace, truman and eisenhower built

them, and it seems as if you guyseinforced them after the cold war. he'd have loved the g20, wouldn't he? >> well, i don't know about that. we certainlysed them. and my own personal view that's always been that a group of 20 nations is a little bit unwieldy >> that's true. >> in fact, i was fortunate enough, chuck, to work with the wg 5 when i treasury secretary for ronald reagan. the fewer countries you have, the more likely you're going to get something done that's productive. would have o sure i been for the g20. in fact, i know i wouldn't have been. ell, i will leave it there. by the way, i've got a familiar face sitting at my table that i'm about to say -- about to speak to about the president here. so, secretary baker, would you like to say something to vice-president cheney? >> no, i want you to ask him how his duck hunt was in eecond week of november. ask him if he had a good duck hunting partner when he last

went duck that's all. >> you got it. >> i had a great partner, but he shot allhe birds >> no, no, no, no, that's not true. were had a hunt. we had a wonderful hunt. >> all right. i'll let you guys resolve that down the road. secretary baker, i will let you go. thanks for sharing a f moments with us this morning. >> thank you, check. >> as i said, the man joining me is secretary of defense, vice-president. >> good morning, chuck. good to be bac >> i want to play a clip of my colleague jenna bush of anhe interviewid with her grandfather. take a listen. >> what do you want your legacy to be? >> well, i want somebody else to define the legacy i've kind of banned the use of the l-word, legacy word. that was past, this is present. i think, i think hisry will get right, point out the things i did wrong, t perhaps some things we did right.

>> mr. vice-president, it's the last thing he said there. people will point out things i did wron but they'll point out some of the things we did riutt. he the blame on me, shared the credit with everybody else. >> right. no, he was a remarkable man.f i, course, was his second choice for secretary of defense. but i was asked to take the job after his original nominee had failed and it was a tremendous privilege to be asked to join the team. partly, it was a great team with the president's commander in chief brent skoe croft, national security advisor, jim secretary of state, and myself. we'd all worked together in the ford administration. so putting back the old teage er. it really was, as jim said,re jt rkable time in terms of what was going on in the world. there are a lot of times being wsecretary of defense a real bummer. it happened to be, in my opinion -- i'm a alwayed

which job i had best of the ones i said. i always cite that period of secretary ofefense with george bush. >> you talked about him as being a great boss. what made h a great boss to work for? >> well, for example, when it was time to put the budget together, defense came first. we'd decide what the was going to be for defense. i was freeo go spend that, and everybody else got what was left. that's a great way to operate if you're -- you loved it. >> the other thing that was noticeable -- defense is huge place. those days i had 4 million people working for me, 2 million active duty, a million reservist, a million civilians. at one point i had to relieve one of the members of the joint chiefs. thathad done some things weren't ethically bad but off course the direction i wanted to go in. i called the president to ask if it wasny okay, problem.

got him off the tennis crts of camp david on sunday. dick, you do what you need to do and i'll bac you up with the help. dent ask why. gave me his whopohearted s and endorsement and left me to run the show. there's noy better to operate for a boss in sufficient tirkto circumstances. >> one of the things tou said wa proud est accomplishment was peace through strength. that administration, your administration was the epitome of that. it does seem restraint is a positive when describing president bush and foreign policy. how would you describet? >>well, i think it clearly was. partly we benefited from the reagan buildup. a lot of good things happened during the reagan years. we inherited that situation. the things that had been done during the reagan years i think contributed directly to the ultimate demise of the soviet union. getting ready to go out of

business. the relationships established rbachev, for example, and the way that we operated, we hadhe military capacity. we generated significant success in the desert when we went to the gulf war. and at the same time, that sort of backed up everything anybody ever thought a us, including our adversaries. there wasn't anybody that wanted to mess with the united states. and over time, ultimately obviously led to the decision by the soviets to shut down their operation. >> what was interesting, i think secretary baker said president bush was insistent that as the soviet union was falling, as eastern europe was falling, don't poke gorbachev. >> exactly. i can remember -- i can getitnto ae bit of a tug and pull back andorthwith brent

skoe craft. i would get into embassies in the sovereign states. brent wanted to go wslow. speaking with the president, but i did it the way i wanted it done.ha on the other, there was a great temptation to move aggressively to make sure we controlled and maintained the enormous success of the clapse of the soviet empire. on the other hand, the president led the charge. it was his call. but he did it in such a way and insisted that we do it in such a way that we were not sympathetic to the political problems of people under mr. gorbachev w and would operate in a way that would, in fact, make it easier for him to do wha we wanted him to do, not by brute force, not by threats, not by taking advantage, dancing on the berlin wall as it came down. it was masterfullyed han >> you worked for the father, you worked for the son. i'm sure having everybody ask you to compare them ases bo this or that, what parts- what

were the best attributes you feel the father passed on to the son that you -- that most impressed you? >> well, he hired me >> for one thing. >> there's the one thing. >> lighthearted. no, they were very diffent. it was different times, different issues. i had a job in one as secretary of defense and the other as vice-president. we'd learned a lot from those earlier years. and what i had done for his father i think had a lot to do with his desir p to me on the ticket as his running mate. >> who was easier to disagree with? or who was harder to debate? >> probably - well, as a vice-president, they couldn't fire me, so i could be a little bit more forthright in speaking. but they were great guys to work for. very proud of what i was able to

do with bothf em. the fact i was asked to serve, those were remarkable there were difficult times, no question about it, in both administrations. but it was a -- well, the highlight of my career. >> all right. mr. vice-president, it's always good to see you. thanks for coming in. >> good to be back. >> you loo great. >> new heart ngstaic everything is good. >> when we come back, we'll turn to the news that put president trump at the heart of robert mueller's russia investigation. michael cohen's admission the president was involved in a moscow real estate project well into the 2016 aign. but as we go to break, a look at president bush's address to th nation days after saddam hussein's invasionku oit. >> no one, friend or foe, should doubt our desire for ace, and nd one should under estimate ou shouldestimate our

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welcome back. turning now to the russia ig estigation and the bombshell of the week, michael cohen's admission that president trump's involvemenhi in moscow tower project was deeper and lasted much longer than cohen had testified to congress about. the guilty plea by president trump's former lawyer could help us understand some of what we saw in 2016. it could explain why mr. trump early on hadincentiveto embrace vladimir putin during the campaign. it could explain why mr. trumpiv called forg putin relief from sanctions over his annexation of crimea from ukraine, and it could explain why the republican platform was stripped of aal propo give lethal aid to ukraine. place certainly does is president trump closer to the center of the investigation of his campaign's ties to russia. joining me now is democratic congressman jerrold nadler who will lead the judicial cmittee in t next congress. congressman nadler, welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> good to be here. before i get to some of the news of the week, i would like you to refle a moment. what do you believe the enduring legacy will be of president

bush? >> well, president bush was a patriot and a good person. i believe his enduring legacy is that he managed from the american end the dissolution et the soempire. you know, when major empires fall, the most heavily armed empire in the world at that point, usually there's wars and cataclysms associated with it. but i believe the lion's share of the credit for that not happening, for our avoiding cataclysm is part goesmi to president bush. >> michael hen pled guilty to lying to congress about the trump organization's effort to build a trump wer in moscow back in 2015, 2 w6. th happening at the same time that donald trump was running for president. re's what aormer federal prosecutor, ken white, observed in "the atlantic" and i'm curious if you agree.

this concsion, at least, is inescapable. the president, who has followed this dramaiv obsey, knew that his personal lawyer was lying to congress about his business activities and stood by while it happened. do you agree with that assessment? and does that look like obstruction ofti j to you? >> well, i do agree with that assessment. you know, we have a president who lies incessantly to the american people about big matters and small matters, whos ounds himself with people who lie incessantly to the american people. the y fact now is that the time that he can get away with lying to the american people ala the ti evading accountability is coming to an end. and i d think that this is a very serious matter. among other things, the fact that he was lying to the american people about doing business in russia and that the kremlin knew he was lying gave the kremlin a hold over him. one question we have now is does n the kremill have a hold over him because of other lies

that they know about? >> so the fact that the kremlin which overnight has confirmed that there were some e-mails and aho call between the trump organization and the kremli and we only find out about it now, you believe that that is proof that there might be leverage? >> there certainly was leverage during that -- during the campaign period and until knew thatbecause they he was lying. they knew that he had major business dealings or that cohen on his behalf had major business dealings in moscow during thend campaignhat he was lying about that. there may be other things that they know that give them leverage. one question hasys al been why was the president soou obseq to putin from the beginning of the campaign up to the present day. itay be tht's because the kremlin has leverage over the president, which is a terrible thing, if true. >> michael cohen has pled guilty to lying. whyhould he be believed now? if he was lying then, why do we know he's? credible n

i know it's always tough when you get witnesses that flip, but if he's assisting you in yur work and the house democrats down the road, i assume you hope that we does, howl you know if you can trust him? a well, i think we'll know lot more when we see -- when we see mr. mueller's report. he knows a lot more than we at this point. and the fact that he's been able to show that all these people, whether it's manafort or gates or flynn or cohen, all the people around the psident were lying, i assume means he's got real documentary and other proof that. 'll see that in due course. >> you have openly talked about holding up the government funding vote until the mueller protection bill is either --te s held on it or not. is that still your current stance? and is that the stance you want nacky pelosi and c schumer to take? >> well, my current stance, and i think our stancell gene is that we must do whatever we can

to protect the mueller investigation from interference by the president. we are dependent on that investigation to get to the bottom of the corruption in the campaign, of the russian role in the caaign, in the tru campaign, the president's role in colluding with the russians if he did. we know his campaign did, the question is did hers ally. so we have to do whatever we can to protect that investigation. >> very quickly, former fbi director james comey has been subpoenaed to appear before your committee. right now your ranking member there, he's ghting the subpoena. he wants to do it -- he will voluntarily do it in public on the record. chairman goodlatte has said hul provide a transcript within 24 hours, videotape it but not have it live. is that enough for you?o. >> the republicans in this particular investigation have a history of having these in camera interviews and then selectively leaking portions of the interview to gtove ded

view to the public of what happened. let comey testify in public. there's nothing -- there's no military secrets here. he wants to testify. to.ought to be able he ought to have accountability and openness to the american . publ there's no reason for the secrecy that mr. goodlatte wants. >> allight, congressman nadler, the ranking democrat now on judiciary, soon chairman of judiciary, thanks for coming on and sharing your views, sir. muchppreciate it. >> thank you. >> joining me now is republican senator john barrasso, who was recently elected chair of the republican conference which makes him number three in the leadership there. congratulations on that. >> thanks. thanks for having me back, chuck. >> before we start, your thoughts on what is the enduring legacy for you for president bush. >> you know, my memories of a president bu his times in wyoming, in casper, in jackson hole and howkind he was to children. bending down, looking in, e listening to you know, he treated everyone with -- everyone got a smile, everyone got handshake,

everyone got respect. and he never rested in his work and dedication to the american people and now may he rest in peace. >> as we now know, everybody got a christmas card. everybody got a christmas card. i want to ask u quickl the evelation from the kremlin over the weekendnfirming michael cohen's account essentially that, yes, there were some interactions between donald trump's organization and the kremlin. we don't find out about itntil now. is that -- do you have any concernst all that if the russians knew -- basically we now knowhey might have had leverage over this president. they knew information that we in the public d notknow. they confirm it over the weekend. is that not cause for concern? >> the president is an international businessman. i'm not surprised he was doing international business. cohen is in trouble for lying to congress, not anything related to the campaign or russian influence, but we have a muelleo investiggoing on. we need to come to completion on

that. and bit shoudone quickly. >> is it fair to the republican voters of 2016 that they did not know that the president was at least negotiating a business deal wit putin? >> there were so many things involved in the 2016 campaign pit's hard tont to what one thing influenced voters. i think people were thinking it is time for a change. they didn't want hillary clinton. they wanted a new opportunity. they have gotten itofin terms a strong and healthy and growing economy. jobs are up,ages are up, consumer confidence is at an all-time high.in i people look back where they were two years ago and where we are today. we're in a much bet place. >> but should a good economy trump the concern that we didn't know about this stuff? >> i want to know -- i want the mueller probe to ending and i want the american people to see what is in it. there are people trying to do legislation on it. they have been crying wolf for two years that mueller is going fired. didn't happen, not going to happen. this is wasted energy to try to do this.th foprevious guest to say maybe we should not fund the

government over protecti special counsel mueller i think is the wrong way to go. >> the president chose not to meet with vladimir putin.e the whuse said it was in response to the aggression in ukraine. was that the right call or would you have liked to have seen the president confro putin? >> i think it was the right call not to meet. putin is somebody that respects strength and territory.n' words mean much to him, action does. i think we need to do more. i've called for t sending ship the black sea. also in terms of lethal -- >> is that how you would have responded, second those ships to e black sea right now? >> and henato do it as well. to show russia that international law must be llowed. but in terms of lethal weapons for ukraine, we've given them w anti-tan need to give them anti-aircraft, we need to give them weapons i alson terms of anti-ship. putin respects strength and action. he will not stop until he is

stopped. he can smell fear and that's the way heacts. >> what should be next? >> any kind o action has to bed rrence and a deterrence has to be a forceful response. not just saying something topu n. he's cunning, he's opportunistic, he's aggressive. he probes for weakness esz and then takes it further. that's his position with ukraine. he treats ukraine as a guinea pig. he tries it there and then says i can try it other places. putin' powers are three, cyber as well as energy and his military. eed to do everything we can to become more energy to usedent and dominant, that energy, and i think we need nato's involvement as well. angela meel ought to stop the enordstream 2 pipelin because she's addicted to russian energy. >> the president said he was going to send notice that he wants to cancel nafta. he's negotiated a new agreementu oby that's an attempt to pressure you guys in the houset

approved. are you okay with that tactic or do you think that's a risky tactic? >> i'm a free trader, i'm a fair trader, i want to be a smart trader. i think the president has proven to be successful trader. we saw it with his arrangement and visit just down in -- at the g-20 with the mexico and the president of canada and then just last night, what's happened with ina and putting the pause button there on the trade war with tha more products heading to china, agriculture, energy products. everything the president has promised he's delivered on and t these are goibe helpful to the economy and people at home. >> okay, you didn't answer the question about nafta. are you okay with him cancelling nafta now or do you think you should wait to see if you can get this passed first? i think we need to see if we get it passed first. i want to see how many democrat votes come on board. i support what the president has been doing. >> thanks for coming on, sir. ch appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. when we come back, a lot to talk about and it's starting

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do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis or have bladder cancer. tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar and kidney problems. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have signs of ketoacidosis which is serious and may lead to death. ask your doctor about the pill that starts with "f". and visit farxiga.com for savings. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. welcome back. the panel is here. former northarolina governor pat mccrory, nbc news

contributor senior fellow at demos and new mother, heather dan r, andrea mitchell and balz, the chief correspondent for "the washington post." we're going to spend some time remembering president bush later in this hour, but first i want to go with the big ne of the week. dan balz, there's a new timeline now from the campaign that you start to the wonder if it's going to be of concern now that this becomes a concern to the american publi october 28th, 2015, trump signs a letter of intent to negotiaes a reate deal with the russians. three days later he starts flattering as acandidate, i get along great with putin. throughout that month of november and december, more, stable mates as he referred to him once of th january 20, we know michael cohen speaks with therlin with the moscow project. february 16th, candidate donald trump claims i have no relationship with him other than he called me a genius. dan balz, how significant >> well, i think it's very, very significant. what has happened over the last

week, as you suggested earlier, has brought him to the center of this investigation. it's coming from various directions. but this russia piece is t because y import there has been suspicion about this from the very start. there has been qstions about why he treated putin the way he did throughout the campaign, and now we are beginning to get the pieces that explain that. we stion know a lot. there's still much to be known, but mueller is clearly focusing in on that. you have to understand why that would make the presidentso uncomfortable right now. >> andrea, the kremlin confirmed michael cohen's account. what is that about? >> ll, that's putting more pressure on president bush -- excuse me, on president trump and also weakening trump. putin is using every lever that he has. trump had put pressure him over ukraine, so he is through peskov saying, yeah, we've got those e-mails and showing the e-mails of micel cohen.

it changes the timeline and puts this front and center in the a campaithe very time when the russians were hacking, beginning to hack the democratic accounts. you know, the accounts of the campaign manager of clinton. we don't have the final connection, and the president is correct, it's notllegal for an international businessman to be doing the business.ts the conflf interest are profound. it's not illegal yet, but we do know that the cfo o the trump organization is also a cooperating witness and the fact th ty put in that criminal information that cohen had been talking to the family members. that's a small universe. at's don junior, eric, ivanka, jared. so it now brings the family io . of course the family, they can be indicted if the president >> pat mccrory, i want to read you something david french in "the national review" wrote. yes,ai i'my pleased with american policy towards russia since trump has been president, bu trump's actions represented an extraordinary conflict of interest. americans were listening to

trump's praise outin without rorealizing hist motive. that's intolerable. do you agree? >> no, i disagree with his grassy oll theory. >> how is this a grassy knoll theory. >> i think we have a lot of may, may issues. the congressman said this may himean this may mean that. we don't know that, those are es theo i met with the trump family when i was mayor about building a tower in charlotte, north carolina, cludingivanka trump and eric trump an donald junior. this is a typical thing where you have a major developer trying to meet with the leaders of whoever the government is. in moscow, it's not against the law for mcdonald's, for pepsi cola, for ford motor company, even for kentucky fried chicken to invest inrussia. we're making it sound like it was against the law to invest in russia and it was not. you're right, it was not against the law for a presidential candidate,ho was a major businessperson -- >> shouldn't he have disclosed what was a clear conflict of

interest giving them leverage over him? >> first of all, you're assumi there's leverage. that's a theory. first of all, he never built the building in russia. by the y, he never built the building in charlotte either. but i think this is something that won't mean as much, especially to trump supporters, because it was well known that trump was doing businessin russia. there were pictures of the beauty pageant long before that. >> except for the fact that he himself said i have nodeusiness ings with russia. so he actually lied to the american people. ixhis personal and attorney lied to congress three times. he said there was no dealings while he was building -- in talks to build a $50 million penthouse for vladimir putin at the top of this tower. >> that's a theory also. >> no, it's not a theory. that's what was in the deal w tt the discussing. so the other problem here is that we know this is just another piecof what russia was dangling in front of the candidate. promise of stolen e-mails, which eventually would get tothose conversations, wasn't enough to get him in his

corner. the sad thing that thisls rev about the man who's currently in the white house is that it worked. is that he was willing to vouch for president putin and that's -- it's t embarrassing the country that it worked so well. >> there are a lot of top50 fortun0 ceos who want good relations with russi >> but they're not in the white house. >> he wasn't at the white house at the time either. >> he was trying to become president who's supposed to put his country ahead of his own profit motive. differenceig >> there are economy motives for the country. >> the trump tower is not in the economic interest of the tr co >> there are safety issues for america having a good relationship with russiaet >> me go back to the mueller probe a minute. dan balz, are we -- i don't get the impression we're close to seeing this wrapped despite what so many others are eculating on the president's legal team. >> i would agree with that. i think that has been the reality throughout this. i mean there's always --e ther ments when things happen, instinctivelyd of

say, well, this is accelerating and he's really getting nearthe end. and the truth is this has been an amazingly methodical process. i think continues to be. he is building case. we don't know ultimately what that report will say, but the threads are -- the threads are more evident as a result of what we saw last week. >> the reason i ask for the timeline, at what point do we get to the point, andrea, wenre ueller puts out his report, there's going to be a lot of political folks that say, you know what, let the voters decide this, not congress. >> no,i think thatis one of the issues because, first of all, there's no -- there's no absolute report that gets put out. it will either b leaked out -- >> it could be a filing via grand jury -- be a filing, a court filing. >> it could be a report to congress. that the democrats have the house side it probably will come out. if it were unified republican

senate and house, it might not come out. the fact is thaeptding on who's in charge, is it matt whitaker, is it rod ronstein, who'really in charge of that. that said, i think it's going to ending up potentially being we either believe it or don't believe it and the branding he hasuessfully done is it's a witch hunt. > if that report doesn't hit congress before the fourth of july next year, it's hard to imagine the 2020 timelin doesn't take over. >> i think the most important information is the manafort/giuliani communications. it would be real interesting to find out more details abo that because that's really a unique strategy. >> strategy is one thing. >> where the u.s. justice department knows one thing but them talking amsg themselves i very interesting. >> strategy or something more. when we come back, republicans netted two senate seats in the miwierms but that be enough miwierms but that be enough to ho (john foley) i was there in chicago when bob barnett made the first commercial

wireless phone call in 1983. yes, this is bob barnett in chicago (john) we were both working on that first network that would eventually become verizos. back then, the idea of a nationwide wireless network was completely unreasonable. but think about how important that first call was to our lives.or it opened the to the billions of mobile calls a that we' made in the last 34 years. sometimes being first means being unreasonable. i'm proud i was part ofthat, and i'm proud that i'm here now as we build america's first and only 5g ultra wideband network with unprecedented wireless cacity that will not only allow for phones to be connected, but almost everything-- transforming how we all live, once again. (bob barnett) as you know, this call todayst is the fall that we've made on the cellular system.

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senate map. get to know it. arting with the races where terrain is changing for the gop. there are republicanors defending seats in georgia, iowa and arizona, where aac reent for jon kyl will likely be named soon. in arizona a democra just flipped the other senate seat. in georgia and iowa, democrats just picked up some hou seats and came close in governor's races. we're also keeping an eye on republican seats in north carolina and maine. north carolina didn't have a big statewide race in 2018 but it's a recent battleground state where thom tillis could face a tough fight for a second term. and hillary clinton won maine ra and dem did well in 2018 in that state so susan collins could also be vulnerable. there's also shifting terrain that could favor the gop. take a lo at minnesota. hillary clinton only won that state narrowly in 2016 but this year democrats marched to some big victories. tina smith will be running for a full term and we expt

president trump will be there campaigning for his own re-election as well. finally we havewhat we're calling the outlier, states where the incumbent fields like a bit of a bad fit for the state. there's alabama's democratic senator dou jones whon that off-year special election against a very flawed candidate in a state wubre rcans usually win big. jones is the most vulnerable incumbent on the dem side. and then there's cory gardner up in colorado. while clinton won by five points, a democrat just won the governor's mansion by 10. to orado could be on its way becoming more like an alabamaesque outlier but on the blth side of ngs. if you're keeping score at home, remember this. democrats would need to net three seats to take ba t chamber, if they also win the white house, and four seats if they lose the white house in 2020. we'll be back in a momment withe memories of president george h.w. bush.

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crisis could have devastating effects all across the country. back now with end game and discussing the legacy of president bush. you can't talkbout bush 41 politically without talking about the most famous campaign promise, broken campaign promise rhaps in modern american history. here it is.

>> congress will push me tos raise ta and i'll say no, and they'll push and i'll say no, and they'll push again and i'll say to them, read my lips. no new taxes. >> he broke the pledge in 1990. four years later newt gingrich is speaker of the house. it is the seminal moment, you could argue, in the shift of thy republican p from where it was then to where it is today. >> but economically breaking that pledge showed thed charactr resolve of the man to do what he was persuaded was theg right th do economically, even though he knew at the time that it might would be a one-term president. having covered those budget a negotiatio andrews air force base, he had bob dole and george mitchell and everyone arguing that you needed to do it. and in fact the budget thstrictions, the so-called pay

go rules required if you're going to spend money, you have to shows where you're going to raise it in the budget, that created the momentum economically that bill clinton inherited, built upon with his '93 brave votes without a republican vote and even into the george w. bush presidency we had economic growth. >> that was the last time a g republican wou away with raising. before then republicans would regularly raise taxes when y. necess ronald reagan did it. >> sure. >> but that moment made it your party can't do itprwithout ably total political loss, right? >> i'm not sure either party can do it at this pot in me. everyone is now saying why can't they compromise in washington, and maybeit goes back to this president, who compromised, did what people said, get along, work out a deal among republicans and democrats and what happened to him? the repun icans turnedm and the democrats did everything they could to get him out of office. he was one-terpresident, but he may have made the right decision called com omise, but it might have stopped compromise for generations to come.

i think the passing of president bush is a time for us to reflect on theul of the republican party. you know, this is a man who started out one of the fir supporters of planned parenthood. this is a man who vry famously resigned from the nra when they d having that anti-government rhetoric. you know, the jack booted thugs waco and oklahoma city. and so -- and this is also a president whose campan included t willie horton ad, the mostog famous whistle ad until this cycle. and so i think we can look -- d this n new taxes pledge. we can look at this and say what has happened to therepublican party. is this still a party that can allow for moderates, who think that population -- family planning, as he d in his u.n. service. he actually moved family planning across the globe and then ended up having to rerse it. have his son make it even more restrictiva is this stil party that

allows for that nuanced view of the world or is this the party of the dog whistling andiscal irresponsibility with the deficit and the debt mushrooming under republican isntrol. wher the soul of the republican party. >> let me go back to the man for a moment. let me put up one of the most famoust letters t wrote to anybody, and it was to bill clinton. this is what president bush wrote to -- the leer he tloeft esident clinton for day one in office. i'm not a very good one to give advice b't let the critics discourage you or push you off course. you will be our presidu t when ad this note. i wish you well. i wish your family well. your success now isur country's success. i am rooting hard for you. dan balz, george -- there's just no oon like him this front. >> no, there isn't. you know, as heather suggested, could play rough in a campaign. and he could then pivot away from that. but he had, as part of his upbringing, a kind of a fundamental decency. not just a willingness, but a

sense that this was an obligation, to treat your opponents in a serious way and to make amends when it was over, which is how he and bill clinton were able to forge an incredible iclationship since they were both out of of it's a remarkable legacy that he has. >> and it's an authenti relationship. you know, w. referred to bill clinton as my brother from another mother. it was forged in 205, i guess, with the tsunami trip in thailand. they really worked together, they worked in service, and there was a moment in 2011, george bush was not disclosing yet that he had this parkinson syndrome and the family friends were veryne conc he was getting on stage at the kennedy center for his points of light . ev and they were worried about how would he walk out. andill clinton said i got this. the other presidents were there. and he put his hand behind president bush 41 and helped hil

the way to the stage and everyone othe staff saw this happen, and that persuaded family and friendsas that this real. >> before i go, i've got to play -- i love his sense of humor, and i wt to play the clip with he and dana carvey. here it is. it's just too much fun. here it is. >> dana, george bush here. i'm watching you do your impression of me, and i've to say it's nothing like me. bears no resemblance. it'sbad. it's bad. >> well, i'm sorry, mr. president. ink it's a fair impression. >> don't see it. it'sotally exaggerated. it's not me, those crazy hand gestures. the pointing thing. i don't do them. >> and you thought we were not going to do it. see, we had to do it. >> he's a great role model for future politicians. >> you said something interesting, he taught you how to lose. >> i've lost re-election and he's a goat role model deal

with it with dignity and respect and to help your successor.r he's at role model. for all those candidates who lost recently, follow george bush's lead. >> well said. thank you all. that's all we have for today. thanks for watching. for those of you who were getting ready to light the first candles of the holiday season, we wish you a happy hannukah tonight. all of you will be back next week, because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press >> i used to worry about death. i don't anymore. but i have a feeling there's an afterlife and i have a feeling it's a good one. >> who would you want to see first? >> well, depends if barbara predeceases me, probably go with her. but i think my mom and my father, maybe robin,ur little girl that died.

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