s do i have then to get ready? because i'm making a gold medal run. i think two, three days. sunday the passing of george h.w. bush and the last president of the greatest i generation. w50iant a kinder and gentler nation. he faced down saddam hussein after iraq's invasion ofuwait. >> this will not stand the aggression against kuwait. >> and forged a friendship with a man who dend him a second rm. this morning we remember the 41st president. i'll talk his secretary of defense dick cheney and hisy secretar state, james baker.

plus, the russiaec conntion. how deeply involved was donald trump with russia during the 2016 campaign? >> i have nothing to do with russia. >> i have nothing to do with russia,olks. >> now the president's long -time lawyer michael cohen says he was deeply involved in moscow and the president goes on the attack. >> michael cohg, is lynd he's trying to get a reduced sentence. >> and plays down the ter deal. >> that was a project that we dn't do. >> but cohen's guilty plea puts president trump at the center of the mueller investigation. i'll talk to democratic congressman gerald nadl, the incoming head of the house judiciaryommittee and the top republican from wyoming. joining me andrea mitchell, dan balls, and patccrory. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: bc the news, the longest running show in television history. this is a special edition of "meet the press" with chuck todd.

>> good sunday morning. thap geo of george h.w. bush's political life reflects the geograp of the modern republican party. the wlthy politician left new england and moved to texas. he left theouse twice and defeated the senate twice just as the gop wasts establishing new southern roots. the 41st president often him straddling the conservative and moderate wing taking positions he'd later reet, shifting right when politically necessary. he was the ideal moderate running me for conservative tonald reagan in 1980. he l conservative support after breaking the famous no new taxes edge. mr. bush is now seen as the rarest of ings, a successful o one-term president. he navigated the cold war and

confronted saddam hussein. he waste b known for his good manners, graciousness, and old school values. >> the old ideas are new again because they're not old. they are timeless, duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a a trottism that finds its expresgon in tak part and pitching in. >> it's impossible to remember president bush without thinking of his terrific family. w the patriarch of perhaps the most enduring political family in american history. and joining me now to remember this president, one of president bush's long-time friends who was at his bedside when he passed away friday night,st secretary e james baker. mr. baker, welcome back. >> thank you, chuck. >> first, my condolences to you. as you shared, this was your best friend. dihow are you h up? how is the family holding up? >> we're doing ay.

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. he had a very gentle passing. he had, of course, a wonderful life, 94 years, oldest former president ever. and was such a beautiful human being. the last day was somethingt really s of special. he ended up talking to his children in those last hours. you know,hey say when someone is passing away, the s tset they never lose is the sense of hearing, so they got all of his children on the phone. one of his sons was there with us, neil, his son neil. ott they the others on the phone. and the last words the 41st president of the united states ever said were to the 43rd president, when he said, i love

you. because 43 had called in to tell his father good-bye, and tel m him hh he loved him. it was a very sweet scene. >> you spent a lot of time with hie especially in last few months. what were those conversations like with -- between bak and hef-a as you twoch t call ea -- loved to call each other? >> irt s calling him hef-a when we retired from public service in 1993. i wasn't going to call him george that much. i had been calli him mr. president. hef-a is forf. ch i went over there early in the morning. he had three days he httn't out of bed and he had a very bad thursday. then this last friday, i went over there at 7:15 in the morning. i live right near, to see how he was doing. one of his aides said, mr. president, secretary ba here.

and he looked up, he opened both eyes. he looked at me. he said, where we going? and i said, we're going to heaven,heffe. he said, that's where 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, you better hurry up. so, he kept his sense of humor and his spirit till the very end. what a beautiful, wonderful human being he was, chuck. he seemed to -- unlike others who lose in political life, he bitterness abou 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 person. he was a very warm, caring, compassionate, generous person who was always so thoughtful and kind to others. and that's the way he was ivi ory and that's the way he was in defeat. he never took credit for anything. he could have taken cdit for a lo of things during his life, but he didn't do that. those are somof thealues that he was brought up with. >> we know he didn't like to talk about the l word, legacy. i leave it to you. what's the legacy you want him d for?emembe >> well, i think no doubt but he will be remembered as our mt successful one-term president. and perhaps the most successful -- one of the most successful presidents of all time. his presidency, while it was only four years, was

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

them, and it seems as ifou guys reinforced them after the r.ld he'd have loved the g20, wouldn't he? >> well, i don't know about that. we cly used 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, w chuck, tok with the g 5 when i was treasury secretary for ronaldreagan. the fewer countries you have, the more likely you're going to omething done that's productive. so i'm not so sure i would have been for the g20. in fact, i know i wouen't h been. >> well, i will leave it there. by the way, i've got a familiar face sitting at my table that i'm about to say -- abo speak to about the president here. so, secretary baker, would you like to say something to -president cheney? >> no, i want you to ask him how hisuck hunt was in the second week of november. ask him if he had a gooduck

hunting partner when he last went duck hunting. that's all. >> you got it. >> i had a great partner,ut he shot all the birds. >> no, no, no, no, that's not true. we had a great hunt. we had a wonderful hunt. >> all right.i' let you guys resolve that down the road. secretary baker, i will let you go. thanks for sharing a few moments with us this morning. >> thank you, check. oining meaid, the man is secretary of defense, vice-president. >> good morning, chuck. good to be back. >> i want to play a clip of my colleague jenna bush of an interview she did with her grandfather. take a listen. >> what do you want your legacy to be? >> well, want somebody else to define the legacy. i've kind of banned the use of e l-word, legacy word. that p wt, this is present. i think, i think history will get right, point out the things i did wrong, perhaps some of the

thin we did right. >> mr. vice-president, it's the last thing he said there. people will point out things i did wrong, but they'll pointut some of the things we did right. he put the blame on me, shared the credit with everybody ee. >> right. no, he was a remarkable man. i, of couras, his second choice for secretary ofdefense. but i was asked to take the job ter his original nominee had failed and it was a tremendous privilege to besked to join the team. partly, it was a great team with the president's commander in chief brent skoe croft, national security visor, jim secretary of state, and myself. ad'd all worked together in the ford nistration. so putting back the old team together. it reall was, as jim said, just a remarkable time in terms o g what wasng on in the world. there are a lot of times being secretary of defense was a real bummer. it happened to be, in my

opinion -- i'm always asked which job i had best of the ones i i always cite that period of secretary of defense with george sh. >> you talked about him as being a great boss. oss toade him a great work for? >> well, for example, when it was time to put the budget together, defense came first. we'd decide what the top line was gng to be for defense. i was free to go spend th, 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 a huge place. those days i had 4 million people working for me, 2 milliol active duty, aon reservist, a million civilians. at one point i had to relieve one of the members of the joint they he some things that diefs. weren't ethically bad but off course the direction i go in.d to i called the president to ask if

it was okay, any problem. got him off the tennis courts of camp david onsunday. dick, you do what you need to do and i'll back youpith the help. dent ask why. gave me his wholehearted support andndsement and left me to run the show. there's no better way to operate for a boss in sufficient tirkto circumst >> one of the things you said was the proud est accomplishment was peace through stngth. that administration, your administration was the epitome of that. it does seem restraint is a positive when describing president bush and foreigncy po how would you describe it? >> well, i think it clearly was. partly we benefited from the reagan buildup. a lot of good things happened during the reagan years. situation.ed that the things that had been done during the reagan years i think contributed directlyma to the ul demise of the soviet

union. getting ready to go out of business. the relationships established then with gorbachev, for example, and the way that we operated, we had the military capacity. we generated significant success in the desert when we went to the gulf t war. ande same time, that sort of backed up everything anybody ever thought about us, including our adversaries.as theret anybody that wanted to mess with the united ates. 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 wasfalling, as eastern europe was falling, don't poke gorbachev. >> exactly.be i can rem -- i can get into a little bit of a tug and pullback and forthwith brent

skoe craft. i would get into embassies in the sovereign states. brent wanted to go slow. he was speaking with the president, but i did it the way wanted it done. on the other hand, there was a great temptation to move aggressively to make sure we controlled and maintned the enormous success of the collapse empire.oviet on the other hand, the president led the charge. it was his call. but he did it i such a way and insisted that we do it in such a way that w were not unsympathetic to the political problems of peopleer u mr. gorbachev and we would operate in a way that would, in fact, make itasier for him to do what we wanted him to do, not by brute force, not by nothreat by taking advantage, dancingal on the berlin as it came down. it was masterfully handled. >> you word for thefather, you worked for the son. i'm sure having everybody ask c you topare them as bosses, this or that, what parts -- what

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

for. very proud of what ias able t do with both of them. the fact i was asked to serve, those wer remarkable years. there were difficult times, no question about it,n both administrations. but it was a -- well, the y highlight of career. >> all right. mr. vice-president, it's always good to see you. thanks for comin in. >> good to be back. >> you look gre. >> new heart staicking. everything is good. >> when we come back, we'll turn to the news that president trump at the heart of robert mueller's russia investigation. michael cohen's admission the present wasnvolved in a moscow real estate project well into the 2016 campaign. but as we go to break, a look at president bush's address to the nation days after saddam hussein's invasion of kuwait. >> no one, friend or foe, should doubt ouresire for peace, and no one should under estimate ♪

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welcome backg turnw to the russia investigation and the big bombshell of the week, michael tohen's admission that president trump's involvem in his moscow tower project was deeper and lasted much longer than hen had testified to congress about. the guilty plea by president trump's former lawyer coul help us understand some of what we saw in 2016. it could explain why mr. trump early on had incentive to embrace vladimir putin during the mpaign. it could explain why mr. trump called for giving putin reaef fromtions over his annexation of crimea from ukraine, and it could explain why the republican platform was stripped of a proposal to give lethal aid to ukraine. what it certainly does i place president trump closer to the center of the investigation of ssia.ampaign's ties to r joining me now is democratic congressman jerrold w nadl will lead the judicial committee in the next congress. congnssman ler, 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 reflect 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 s enduri legacy is that he managed from the american end the dissolution of the soviet empire. you now, 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 ln's share of the credit for that not happening, f our avoiding cataclysm is mikhail gorbachev but a majo part goes to president bush. >> michael cohen pled guilty to lying to congressumabout the organization's effort to build a trump tower in moscow back in 2015, 01 this was happening at the same time that donald trump was running for presheent. 's what a former federal

prosecutor, ken white, observed in "the tic" and i'm curious if you agree. this conclusion, at least, is es pable. the president, who has followed this drama obsessively, knew that his personal l wyer was lying to congress about his business activities and stood ile it happened. do you agree with that assessment? and does that look like obstruction of justice to you? >> well, i do agree with that asse,ment. you kn we have a president to thes incessantly american people about big matters and small matters, who surrounds himself with people who lie incessantly to the american people. the key fact now is that tha timehe can get away with lying to the american people all the time and evadingun acbility is coming to an end. and i do think that this is a very serious matter. among other things, the fact thate was lying to the american people about doing business in russia and that the kremlin knew he was lying gave the kremlin a hold o rhim.

one question we have now is does the kremlin still have a hold ec over himse of other lies that they know about? >> so the fact that the kremlin which overnight has confirmed that there were some e-mails and a phone call between the trump organization and the kremlin, and we only find out about it is, you believe that that proof that there might be leverage? >> there certain was leverage during that -- during the campaign period and until recently, because they knew that he was lying. k thw that he had major business dealings or that cohen on his behalf had major business dealings in moscow during the campaign and that he was lying about that. there may be other things that they know that give tem leverage. one question has always been why was the president so obsequious to putin from the be the campaign up to the present day. it may be that it's because the kremlin harage over the president, which is a terrible thing, if true. >> michael cohenhas pled guilty to lying. why should he be believed now?

if he was lying then, why do we know he's credible now? i know it's always tough when you get witnesses that flip, b if he's assisting you in your oark and the house democrats down the i assume you hope that he does, how will you know if you can trusthim? >> well, i think we'll know a 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 allhese people, it's manafort or gates or flynn or cohen, all the people around the president were lying, i assume means he got real documentary and other proof of that. we'll see that in due course. >> you have openly talked about holdinup the government funding vote until the mueller protection bill is either -- vote is held on it or not. is that still your current and is that the stance you want nancy pelosi and chuck schumer

to take? >> , my current stance, and i think our stance generally, is whatever we can to protect the mueller investigation from interference by the president. we are dependent on that investigation toet to the bottom of the corruption in the campaign, of the russian role in themp gn, in the trump campaign, the president's role in colluding with the russians if hdid. we know his campaign did, the question is did he personally. so we have to do whatever we can to protect that investigation. >> very quickly, former fbire or james comey has been subpoenaed to appear before you. commit right now your ranking member there, he's fighting the subpoena. he wants to do it -- he will voluntarily do it in public on the record. chairman goodlattee has said would provide a transcript within 24 hours, videotape it but not hve it live. is that enough for you? >> no. the republicans in this particular investigation have a history of havin these in camera interviews and then

selectively leaking portions of the interview to give distorted view to the public of what happened. let comey stify in public. there's nothing -- there's no military secrets here. he wants to teheify. ought to be able to. he ought to hav accountability and openness to the american public. there's no reason for the secrecy that mr. goodlatte wants. >> all right, congressmanna er, the ranking democrat now on judiciary, soon to be chairman of judiciary, thanks for coming on and sharing your views, sir. much appreciate it. >> thank you. >> joining me now is republican senator john barrasso, who wa recently elected chair of the republican conference which makes him number thr in the leadership there. congratulations on that. >> thanks. thanks for having me back, ch k. >> before we start, your thoughts on what is the enduring legacy for y for president bush. >> you know, my memories of president bush are his times in wyoming, in casper, in jackson hole and how kind he was to children. in, ng down, looking listening to them. you know, he treated everyone

smile, everyone got a everyone got a handshake, everyone gotct res and he never rested in his work and dedication to the am people and now may he rest in peace. >> as we now know, everybody got a chrtmas card. everybody got a christmas card. i want to ask you quickly on the revelation from the kremlin over the weekend confirming michael cohen's account essentially that, yes, thereere some interactions between donald rump's organization and the kremlin. we don't find out about it until now. is that -- do you have any concerns at all that if the russians knew -- basically we now know they might have had leverage over thispresident. they knew information that we in the public did not know. they confirm it over t weekend. is that not cause for concern? >> the president is an international businessman. i'm noturprised he was doing international business. cohen is in trouble for lying to congress, not anything related to the campaignus oran

influence, but we have a mueller investigation going on. we need to come completion on that. and it should be done. quick >> is it fair to the republican voters of 2016 that they did not know that the president was at least negotiating a busiss deal wit putin? >> there were so many things involved in the 2016 citpaign hard to point to what one thing influenced voters. i think pele werehinking it is time for a change. they didn't want hillary clinton. they wanted a new opportunity. they have gotten it in terms of a strong and healthy and growing economy. jobs are up, wages are up, nsumer confidence is at an all-time high. i think people look back where they were two years ago and where we are today. we're in much better place. >> but should a good economy trump the concer thate didn't know about this stuff? i want the know -- mueller probe to ending and i want the american people to see what i in it. there are people trying to do t. legislation on they have been crying wolf for two years that mueller is going to be fired. didn't happen, not goingo

happen. this is wasted energy to try to do this. for the previous guest to say maybe we should not fund the government over protecting special counsel mueller i think is the wrong way to de. >> the pre chose not to meet with vladimir putin. the white house said it was in response to the aggression in ukraine. was that thegh call or would you have liked to have seen the president confront putin? >> i t tnk it was right call not to meet. putin is somebody that respects strength and territory. words don't mean much to him, action does. i think we need to do more. i've cled for sending ships to the black sea. also in terms of lethal -- >> is th how you would have responded, second those ships to the black sea right now? >> and have nato do it as well. to show russia that international law must be followed. but in terms of lethals weap for ukraine, we've given them anti-tank, we need to give them anti-aircraft, we need to give them weapon also in 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 he acts. >> what should be next? >> any kind ofn acthas to be a deterrence and a deterrence has to b a forceful response. not just saying something to putin. he's cunning, he's opportunistic, he's aggressive. he probe for weakness esz and then takes it further. that's his position with e. ukra he treats ukraine as a guinea pig. he tries it the and then says i can try it other places. putin's powers are three, cyber as well as energy and his military. we need to do everything we can to become more energy independent and dominant, to use that energy, and i think we need rkto's involvement as well. angela m ought to stop the rdstream 2 pipeline because she's addicted to russian energy. >> the president sd he was going to send notice that he wants to cancel nafta. he's negotiated a new agreement. obviously that's an attempt to pressure you guys in the house

and the senate to get nafta 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 idd visit just down in -- at the g-20 with the prt of mexico and the president of canada and then just last night, what's happenein with and putting the pause button there on the trade war with tha with more products heading to china, agriculture, energy products. everything the president has promised he's deli these are going to be helpful to the economy and people at home. >> okay, you didn't ans 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 f ist? hink 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, chsir.

ppreciate it. >> thanks for having me. when we come back, a lot to talk about and it's starting with this. where does the russia investigation go from here? investigation go from here? the panel is next. ng ♪ investigation go from here? the panel is next. not logo, ronda started here. and then, more jobs began to appear. these techs in a lab. this builder in a hardhat... ...the welders and electricians who do all of that. the diner staffed up 'cause they all needed lunch. teachers... doctors... jobs grew a bunch. what started with one job spread all around. because each job in energy creates many more in this town. energy lives here.

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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 re. former north carolina governor pat mccrory, nbc news contributor senior fellow at demos and new mother, heath mcgear, andrea mitchell and dan balz, the chief r rrespondent he washington post." we're going to spend some time remembering esident bush later in this hour, but first i want to go with the big news of the week. t dan balzre's a new timeline now from the campaign that you start to the wonder if it's going to be of concern now that th becomes a concern to the american public. october 28th, 2015, trump signs

a letter of intent negotiate a real estate deal with the russians. three days later he starts flattering as a candidate, i get along great with putin. throughout that month of november and december, more, stable mates as he referred to him once of the january 20th, we know michael cohen speaks with the kremlin with the moscow project. february 16th, candide donald ump claims i have no relationship with him other than he called me a genbas. da, 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 exceedingly important because there has been suspicion about this from the very hart. ther been questions about why he treated putin the wayhoe did thro the campaign, and now we are beginning to get the pieces that tplain t. we still don't know a lot. there's still much to be known, but mueller is clearly focusing

in on that. you have to understand whyul th make the president so uncomfortable right now. >> andrea, the kremlin confirmed michael cohen's a tount. what it about? >> well, that's putting more o pressupresident bush -- excuse me, on president trump an also weakening trump. putin is using every lever that he has. trump had put pressure on him over ukraine, so he is through peskov saying, yeah, we've got those e-mails and showing the e-mails of michael cohen. it changes the timeline and puts this frontr and cenn the campaign at the very time when the russians were hacking, beginning to hack the democratic accounts. you know, the accounts of themp gn manager of hillary clinton. we don't have the final sonnection, and the president correct, it's not illegal for an international businessman toe ing the business. the conflicts of interest are profound. it's not illegal yet, but we do know that the cfo of the trump organization is also a

cooperatinwitness and the fact that they put in that criminal information haat cohen been talking to the family members. that's a small universe. that's don junior, eric, ivanka, jared. so it now brings family into it. of course the family, they can be indicted if theen pres arguably cannot. >> pat mccrory, i want to read you something david french in "t national review" wrote. yes, i'm mainly pleased with american policy towards russia since trump habeen president, but trump's actions represented an extraordinary conflict of interest. americ s were listening to trump's praise of putin without realizing his profit motive. that's intolerable. do you agree? >>no, i disagree with his grassy knoll theory. >> how is this a grassy knoll theory. >> i think we have a l of y, may issues. the congressman said this may mean this, this may mean that. we don't know that, those are theories. i met with the trump family when i was mayor about ilding tower in charlotte, north carolina, including ivanka trump

and eric trump an donald junior. this is typical thing where you have a major developer trying to meet with the leaders of whoer the government is. in moscow, it's not against the law for mcdonald's, for pepsi cola, fo ford motor company, chicken kentucky fried to invest in russia. 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, who 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 assuming there's leverage. that's a theory. first of all, he never built the building in russia. by the way, hehe never built building in charlotte either. but i think this is something that won't ean asmuch, especially to trump supporters, because it was well known that trump sis doing ss in russia. there were pictures of the beauty pageant long beforethat. >> except for the fact that he himself said i have no business dealings with

so he actually lied to the american people. his personal fixer and attory ed to congress three times. he said there was no dealings while he was building -- in talks to build a $50 million anthouse for vladimir put the top of this tower. >> that's a theory also. >> no, it's not a theory.'s thhat was in the deal that they were discussing. so the other problem here is that we know this is just another piece of what russia was dangling in front of the candidate. if the promise of stolen e-mails, which eventually would get to those , conversatio wasn't enough to get him in his corner. the sad thing that this reveals abouthe 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 embarrassing to the country that it worked so well. >> there are a lot of top fortune 500 ces who want good relations with russia. >> but they're n in the whit house. >> he wasn't at the white house at the time either. >> he was trying to become the put dent who's supposed his country ahead of his own

pr'sit motive. th big difference. >> there are economy motives for the country. >> the trump tower is not inomhe ec interest of the country. >> there are safety issues for america having a good relationship with russia. >> let me go t backthe mueller probe a minute. dan balz, are we -- i don't get the impression we're close to seeing this wrapped up, despite what so many others are speculating on the lepresident' l team. >> i would agree with that. i think that has been the reality throughout this. i mean there always -- there are moments when things happen, and we all kind of instinctively say, well, this is accelerating and he's really getting near the end. d the truth is this has been an amazingly methodica process. i think continues to be. he is building a 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, where

when mueller puts out h 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 that is one of the issues because, first of all, there's no -- there's no absote report that gets put out. it will either be leaked out -- >> it could be a filing via grand jury -- be a filing, a court filing. >> it could be a report to congress. now that thes democrave the house side it probably will come out.ni if it wereed republican senate and house, it might not come out. the fact is that depending on who's incharge, is it matt whitaker, is it rod rosenstein, who's really in charge of that. that said, i think it's going to ending upti potly being we either believe it or don't believe it and the branding he has successfully done is it's a witch hunt. >> if that report doesn't hit congress before the fo th of july next year, it's hard to imagine the 2020 timeline 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 about that because t really a unique strategy. >> strategy is one thing. >> where the u.s. justice department knows one thing but them talking among themselves is very interesting. >> strategy or something more. when we come back, republicans netted two senate seats in the netted two senate seats in the midterms but (nicki palmer) being a verizon engineer and there's no shortcut to is abouthe right way. right. so when we rirl out the nation's f 5g network, it'll be because we were the first to install millions of miles of fiber optics. and we'll be the first to upgrade the towers and put up the small cells that will power the smart cities of the future. when i started at verizon,ni i knew i was jng a team that was pushing the in. now, with the launch of the only 5g ultra wideband network,

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soon. in arizona at democust flipped the other senate seat. in georgia and iowa, democrats just picked some house seats and came close in governor's races. we're also keeping an eyeon 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 a tough fight f second term. and hillary clinton won maine and democrats did well in2 8 in that state so susan collins could also be vulnerable. there's also shiftg terrain that could favor the gop. take a look at minnesota.ar hiclinton only won that state narrowly in 2016 but this year democrats marched to some big victories. ti smith will be running for a full term and we expect president trump will be there hi campaigning fo own re-election as well. finally we have what we're calling the outlier,thtates wher incumbent fields like a bit of a bad fit for the state. ther alabama's democratic senator doug jones who won thate off-year speciction against a very flawed candidate

in a state where republicans usually win big. ocnes is the most vulnerable incumbent on the dtic side. and then there's cory gardner up in colorado. while clinton won by five points, a democrat just won thei governor's m by 10. colorado could be on its way to becoming more like an alabamaesque outlier but on the blue side of things. if you're keeping score athome, remember this. democrats t would nenet three seats to take back the chamber, if they also win the white house, and four seats if they lose the white house in 2020. we'll be back o ant with some memories of pr.wident george. bush. since my dvt blood clot i was thinking... could there be another around the corner? or could it turn out differently? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot... almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis

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back now with end game and discussing the legacy of president bush you can't talk about bush 41 politically without talking out the most famous campaign

promise, broken cmpaign promise perhaps in modern american history. here it is. >> congress will push me to raise taxes a i'll sayno, and they'll push and i'll say no, and they'll push again and i'll say t them, read my lips. no new taxes. >> he broke the pledge in four years later newt gingrich is speaker of the it is the seminal moment, you could argue, in the shift of the republican party from where it was then to where it is oday. >> but economically breaking that pledge showed the character and resolve of the man to do what he was persuaded was the economically, do even though he knew at the time that it might guarantee that he would be a one-te president. having covered those budget negotiations atndrews air force base, he had bob dole and george mitchell and everyone

arguing that you need to do it. and in fact the budget restrictions, the so-called pay go rules that required you're going to spend money, you have to shows where you're going to raisbuit in the et, that created the momentum economically that bill inton inherited, built upon with his r '9e votes without a republican vote and even into the george w. bush presidency we had e>>nomic growth. hat was the last time a republican would get away with raising. before then republicans would regularly raise taxes when necessary. ronald reagan did it. >> but that moment made it your party can't do it without probably total political loss, ght? >> i'm not sure either party can do it at this point in time. everyone is now saying why can't they compromise in washington, and maybe it goes back to thi president, who idcompromised, d what people said, get along, work outm a deal aong republicans and democrats and wh happened to him? the republicans turned on him and the democrats did everything they could to get him out of office. he was a one-term president, buy

heave made the right decision called compromise, but it might have stopped compromise for generations tome >> i think the passing of president bush is a time for to reflect on the soul of the republican party. you know, this is a man who started out one of the first supportersf planned parenthood. this is a man who very famously resigned from the nra when they started having that anti-government rhetoric. you know, the jack booted thugs in waco and oklahoma city. and so -- and this is also a prident whose campaign included the willie horton ad, the mo famous dog whistle ad until this cycle. and so i think we can --ok and this no new taxes pledge. we can look at this and say what tos happenedhe republican party. is this still a party that can allow for moderates, w think that population -- family planning, as he did in his u.n. service. he actually moved family planning across the globe and then tded up havi reverse

it. have his son make it even more restrictive. is this still a party that allows for that nuanced view of the world or is this the party of the dogis ing and fiscal irresponsibility with the mushroomin the debt under republican control. where is the soul of the republican party. >> let me go back to the man for a moment. let me put up e of the most famous letters that he wrote to anybody, and it was tobill clinto this is what president bush wrote to -- the letter he tloeft president clinton for day one in office. i'm not a very goodne to giv advice but don't let the critics discourage you or push you off you will be our president when you read this note. i wish you well. well.h your family your success now is our country's success. i am rooting hard for you. dan balz, george -- there's just no one like him on this front. >> no, there isn't. you know, as heathe suggested, he could play rough in a caouaign. and he then pivot away from that.

but he had, as part of his upbringing, a kind of a fundamtal decency. not just a willingness, but a sense that this was an obli tion, treat your opponents in a serious way and to make amends when it was over, which is hownd he bill clinton were able to forge an incredibli reship since they were both out of office. it's a remarkable legacy that he has. >> and is an authentic relationship. you know, w. referred to bill clinton as my brother from another mother. it was forged in 2005, i guess, with the tsunami trip in thland. they really worked together, they worked in service, and there was a moment in 2011, george bush was notyeisclosing that he had this parkinson syndrome and the family friends re very concerned, he was getting on stage at the kennedy center foris points of light event. and they were worried about how would he walk out. and bill clinton said i got

this. the other presidents were there. and he put his hand behindsh president 1 and helped him all the way to the stage and everyone on the staff saw this happen, and that persuaded family and friends that this was real. >> before i go, i've got to play -- i love his sens of humor, and i want 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 got to say it's nothing like me. bears no resemblance. it's bad. it's bad. >> well, i'm sorry, mr. president. i think it's a fair impression. >> don'tee it. it's totally exaggerated. it's not me, those crazy hand getiures. the po thing. i don't do them. >> and you thought we were not o going it. see, we had to do it. >> he's a great role model for future politicians. >> you said something interesting, he taught you how

lose. and've lost re-election he's a great role model to deal with it with dignity and respect and to help your successor. he's a great role model. for all those candidates who lost recent , follow geor bush's lead. >> well said. thank you all. that's all we have for today. thanks for watching. r those of you who were getting ready to light the first candles of the holin,y sea we wish you a happy hannukah tonight. all of you will be back next be weekuse if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." i used t 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. >> w would you want to see first? >> well, depends if barbara predeceases me, probably go with her. but i thin my mom and my father, maybe robin, our little girl that died.

good monday morning. the rare december blitz in multiple states after the past 24 hours, reports of injuries, damage, and at least one death. is the worst over? we will have the latest. >> remembering george herbert walker bush. today we will see the fir steps leading to a funeral of a war hero and dedicated public servant and a family man to his very core. >> on the financial core, president trump's trade deal with china are emerging, sending oil prices higher as opec c decides production. >> paris is burning. over 400 arrested after the worst riots in years as they