the former presidents, george h.w. bush and george w. bush served this nation for many decade. president george h.w. bush served starting when he was 18, he became the youngest pilot in the navy when he earned his wings an flew 58 combat missions, and won the distinguished cross for bravery after he was shot down. he served in the house of representatives for two terms he served as ambassador to the united nations, chief of the u.s. liaison office to china and director of the c.i.a. he was later elected vice president in 1980 and stood by president ronald reagan's side for eight years, contributing to policies that brought the cold war to an end and in 1988 was elected the 41st president of the united states. during his time in office, he skillfully navigated diplomacy with the new nations created after the fall of the soviet union an helped to bring to justice the corrupt manuel moryayga regime in panama. a few months ago, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom by president obama. this is the highest civilian honor given for an especially herer tos you contribution to

so george h.w. bush had a much better right track, wrong track than president obama does but can he change the narrative about that and do you see anyone in the republican side making a powerful economic case? >> i don't know whether president obama can change that or not. the economy, there are all sorts of signs of the economy slowing again. fragile recovery, no serious expectation among economists that unemployment will get a below 8% by the time of the election next year. we're likely to be in a heavy slog. whether the voters will forgive president obama and say that it's not his fault, i think only time will tell but i see no indications that he's going to get a lift on the economic front. but that still doesn't mean that the democrats came up with a candidate and turned out to be a very, very effective candidate so far, none of the republicans in the field has struck most voters at being another bill clinton. someone who wins a couple of primaries, you know, we put on the republican side, they may

george h.w. bush deserves a lot of credit, you know. communism ended. the satellite states were liberated without really anyone firing any shots to keep communism in place or the united states doing military intervention. that should be the model for obama, got to be the model. >> to alan's point, bush 41 played that very well. he handled the german reunification. he handled east europe well such that all of those developments and new countries and new democratic regimes ended up to be very favorable for the united states. all of that worked out very well for american foreign policy. the middle east is an even bigger challenge. obama has to play this right. >> we're getting a two minute warning. the president will be coming to the east room momentarily to speak to the nation. let me take this question to you. do you think there is a scenario in which al qaeda could unravel with the death of osama bin laden? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. i think that's what we're hoping for. frankly, i think al qaeda really is already unraveled. i mean much of this, like i sa

by itself that doesn't get you reelected as george h.w. bush learned, but it's a lot better to have it than not have it. >> if you can look into your crystal balls, what do you think the delay is from the white house? we've received word three or four times he was about to address the nation. it's been postponed. is he waiting for someone else to stan next to him -- stand next to him? >> it could be a lot of things. it could be going back to your original question. how would we prepare the speech? the president may have two or three versions. he may be realizing now the extreme sensitivity of this and may be writing and rewriting. this thing could still be being drafted. the other possibility going back to homeland consumer, he may want to have all of that coordinated. he may want to have secretary napolitano coordinate it. it may be occurring to them now dhs has to be alerted and ready all over the country. they may want time to coordinate this before going on the air. >> we're just hearing now fox news reporting the president is putting the f

>> in our circles having lunch with george h.w. bush is a matter of little notice. e been having lunch with george w. bush who initiated t.a.r.p. and got some of the blood boiling among our activists i think it would be severely noticed. jon huntsman, we don't know him well but we do know that he has a bit of a record of supporting things like t.a.r.p. and so forth and that's going to always be problematic with our activists. >> does it hurt him that he worked for president obama as ambassador to china? >> no. i would think most people would understand that when the president called upon him to serve the united states, we just watched a very good discussion on foreign policy and the thing that struck me was absolutely zero domestic politics in the zugs. so i think our folks are sophisticated enough to understand that you rise above politics when you deal on behalf of your country internationally. >> let me turn to you newt gingrich. because he had such a flamingly awful week, having seemed to have dissed almost every republican in the house to voted for the ryan budg

i remember in 1992 everybody said george h.w. bush is unbeatable. we need to get somebody.the united states. >> they were complaining because al gore decided not to run. dick gephardt decided not to run. this governor that nobody knew except for a bad speech or two from the state of arkansas comes in and wins and decides to focus on the economy and i talked to a republican who worked for george h.w. bush at the time. he said we were so cocky. we were sure we were going to win. the obama people are saying they don't spend to make that mistake. >> when you talk to republicans every day, is that what they are like or do they have grumbles? >> it's not so much grumbles as it is sort of a loud sigh because they're not sure how it will play out. everyone they are looking at now isn't an obvious rock star. the fact that the house majority leader eric cantor said he thought paul ryan could be a good candidate even though paul ryan, the house budget chairman who has a controversial medicare plan, said yesterday on sunday talk shows very clearly i'm not running. i think that speaks v

nixon did, reagan did, georgee both of the george bush's, george h.w. bush, george w. bush did.d they portrayed judges who were not in fact being faithful to the constitution. i'm not sure if that was true or not. >> well... rhetoric.at was the >> .of course that's the next quustion is, is that an exaggeration? the idea that sommhow rogue judges are running around the country just screwing everything up. >> of course, i think it's a tremendous exaggeration. >> right. >> because in fact there are lots of safeguards in this system. number one, if i do something that doesn't suit the supreme court, they can reverse me. and. ú& there's a backstop. >> sure, there's a backstop. and. >> right. >> .judges on, it depends what you mean by getting it right. if you think judges should overturn legislation a lot, actually some of the so-called conservative justices do that more than the so-called liberal justices. >> yeah. why do you say so-called? >> because it depends what you mean by liberal or conservative. >> yeah. >> you know, some people think ttey can divine that, the meaning of word

john huntsman is going to have lunch with the george h.w. bushes in kennebunkport. that help him or hurt him with folks in your circles? >> in our circles having lunch with george h.w. bush probably is a matter of little notice. had he been having lunch with george w. bush, who initiated t.a.r.p. and some of the things that really got the blood boiling among our activists, i think it would be severely noticed. john huntsman, we don't know him well, but we do know that he has a bit of a record of supporting things like t.a.r.p. and so forth. and that's going to always be problematic with our activists. >> is it hurting that he worked for president obama as ambassador to china? >> i would think most people would understand that, a the point he made when the president of the united states calls upon him to serve, he was just in washington, i thought a very good discussion on foreign policy. and the thing that struck me was absolutely zero politics, domestic politics in the discussion. so i think our folks are sophisticated enough to understand that you rise above polit

that's how he was able to trump george h.w. bushe national security portfolio and extra indicating saddam hussein with from kuwait 92% job approval a couple of months before because he pounded the economic. >> sean: that's a great point. >> while we do applaud the decision president obama made. we're thankful for this happening, we also have to look at how short lived something like this can be. when you look at the overall effect on him, running next year. but you also have to look at the reaction in the stock market. this tells us everything. if anything is more consistent, it's the way we see the markets react to these situations. sean just for you, prior to coming on here, i looked at where the dow jones industrial average was friday night prior to this news on sunday, we're virtually unchanged. after seeing the market rally 100 points after the news. >> sean: we had bad economic news today. >> bad economic news comes. in huge economic report coming out on friday. again, i don't mean to harp on this. it's still going to be the n

he had lunch with george h.w. bush a week or so ago. he is the old republican. he would hate to hear that but the old school republican with some foreign policy experience, ambassador to china. he speaks mandarin. he knows something of the world. chris: he is also a guy that wants to get along with democrats and deal make with them which seems to run against the idea -- >> he is the man who introduced sarah palin at the last convention. he has said even though he that qualms about ryan's plan that he will back it. chris: getting rid of medicare as we know it. >> if you have a reasonable republican explain we have to do something about the debt and democrats are in denial about it and he doesn't seem like he is going to end every entitlement. >> but in is a generation gap in the republican party. what you are seeing with these folks who believe that it is their turn to be president, they have been -- this is the regular way of the republican party. then you have the up and coming group, paul ryan, marco rubio, younger folks. they don't believe that -- they are no

leaders try time and time again to play a chief negotiator from president carter to reagan to george h.w. bush to president clinton george w. bush and now the obama administration. we believe the borders of israel and palestine should be based on the nine hundred sixty seven lines with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are a stab wish for both states an unusually blunt indorsement of an end to israeli occupation of arab land by u.s. transit the idea was immediately rejected by prime minister benjamin netanyahu israel argues peace cannot come at the cost of its security with continued palestinian rocket attacks there is one thing both sides actually agree on when it comes to the u.s. role as mediator it approaches a fact is all wrong american policy is built on misconceptions a wrong view of the causes of the conflict and a prescription that doesn't stand up to even the most casual scrutiny of the question is not why don't we have a solution at this point but why on earth should we expect to have a solution with this system as it is that use of money your with the jeru

a kinder, gentler approach, to borrow a term from george h.w. bush. interested in your perspective.er, gentler toward his former boss, president obama. he says he does not like labels. you have the republican party defined by the birther movement, the tea party, newt gingrich saying barack obama doesn't believe in an exceptional america. you rise in the republican party right now by slashing contrasts and attacks on barack obama. can a republican win the nomination by saying he's a nice guy, i just disagree with him? >> i think probably not. but he's in a transition phase. it was just three weeks ago he was working for barack obama. so presumably there's going to be a period of time before he's going to feel really comfortable taking him to task on the things the obama administration has done. >> so he's waiting patiently, you think? that's a great -- >> so he's criticizing policies, policy on libya, suggesting criticism on afghanistan, criticizing the individual mandate and health care plan. but i think he never speaks president obama's actual name, at least at this point. but the

my 80s cuts off at 1992 and the clinton administration seems like there's some things in the george h.w. bush administration then i want to talk about. i haven't talked about the goal for, some of the activities in the late 80s and carry on to the 90s. but things seem to change with the clinton administration. are you really do have a democratic president and administration that sort of commits to liberalism, the few market principles, welfare reform and aims of this nature. i think that's a good way of framing it that potentially the economic outlook is a casualty of the social, cultural transformation, which is not to minimize the transformation. >> yeah, so from what i heard, what do you think are the primary accomplishments for the long term accomplishment of the book? >> yeah, boy, so, you know, i could go through group by group. maybe i should talk about some of -- maybe i should talk about some of the ones that i haven't mentioned. like for instance, the nuclear freeze, which is the first chapter that has the big sort of exclusion, this grassroots social movement in the early 80s, only

george h.w. bush my guy took down the berlin wall and won the gulf war but it didn't matter. this election is about three things. jobs, houses, and cars. my job, my house, my car, and putting gas in my car. do you think the white house will be adept to take this moment and show leadership and translate into things not directly related to the capture of osama bin laden but give people a good feeling about the handling of affairs? >> i think people already have a good feeling about the country now and there is something to be said about the killing of osama bin laden. that said, the white house has a really big challenge and turning this into domestic issues that both sides are going to have to struggle with, the debt ceiling and the pocketbook issues is what people are going to vote on. any way, i want to put up an important poll number. it showed the approval of president's afghanistan policy. 44% approved and 49% disapproved. this is the number that i'm most fascinated by. what is the reaction of ame

if you look at history, george h.w. bush won the cold air and then 18 months later he lost in defeat. and then george w. bush had a great approval rating, and then it was a tough ride to the next campaign. and then people are saying, we are glad we got bin laden, but getting him will not change our lives. >> more than half of the country disapproves of the handling of the economy. is there anything he can do in the short term to change that or is it a big waiting game? >> the president is really doing the things that he can be doing, and that is he lowered taxes, and trying to inspire job growth, and tried to appeal to large corporations. they have major profits, and doing well now. time for them to start hiring. and then the president is talking again about some of the things we have to do for the future. people don't want to hear that. i agree with robert saying i need a job now and need to fill up my gas tank now, and in the short term the president focussed on and is focusing on the things he can do, and they are trying

. >> maybe george h.w. bush can join them next year. >> he did it when he turned 85. >> that's right. >>> time for weather, and jackie meretsky. >> good morning, everyone. we saw the pictures of what's happening in memphis. 500,000 sandbags there to hold back the water. this is a slow-moving disaster. in terms of the flooding, the damage already done. the snow melt, as well as the rainfall in april. we do expect an additional, maybe, inch or two of rain in the mississippi river. the other big weather story is the heat in the desert southwest, where temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees above the beautiful star to the with lots ofunshine. a little cool in some spots out suburbs, 46 in frederick this morning. 51 deges in southern marylanand. clouds will be increasing today sprinkle ory be a light shower into the evening hours. o of showers into forothers of days and not the peperfect weekd but nott w worst bianna and dan, back to you. >>> thanks, jackie. a week after walking down the aisle at westminster abbey, who wo

. >> maybe george h.w. bush can join them next year. >> he did it just a couple of years ago when he turned 85. >> that's right. >>> time for weather, and jackie meretsky. >> good morning, everyone. we saw the pictures of what's happening in memphis. 500,000 sandbags there to try and hold back the water. this is a slow-moving disaster. in terms of the causes of flooding, the damage already done. the snow melt, as well as the rainfall in april. however, we do expect an additional, maybe, inch or two of rain in the mississippi river. the other big weather story is the heat in the desert southwest, where temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees above the norm. bianna and dan, back to you. >> thanks, jackie. >>> well, a week after walking down the aisle at westminster abbey, who would have guessed we would see catherine middleton walking down the aisle of a grocery store? >> the duchess of cambridge was at doing something most of us do, but few royals are ever seen doing. she and prince william have said, they want to be j

it's important to remember the precautionary note of president george h.w. bush.went into kuwait. and bush along with baker organized this massive alliance, sent in 500,000 troops and kicked saddam the hell out of kuwait, did it masterfully. and then in his third year in office, his approval rating spiked up to 89%. but the economy was clouz zi and the year and a half that followed, he went down 60% in the polls and he lost re-election. it's way too early. this economy is a big, big question on that. >> foreign policy gives you an immediate boost, it's the economy in the long run. we'll be right back. [ robin ] my name is robin. and i was a pack-a-day smoker for 25 years. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." i had to quit. ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription for chantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in beha

barbara bush lived a busy life to service the george h.w. bush and her family, her friends and her country. while there has been an epic flow to events, or has been a life well lived benefiting many. and i thank you very much. [applause] >> if you have any questions i would more than happy to answer them. yes, ma'am. [inaudible] was that the time she had mrs. gorbachev with her? >> yes. she accompanied her to was fully -- wellesley that day. she introduced mrs. gorbachev, and mrs. gorbachev also spoke to the graduates. and that, too, offered an interesting counterpoint to nancy reagan, because nancy reagan and mrs. gorbachev did not get along at all. so it was quite a bit different. >> the comment i was waiting for you to talk about was the rhymes with witch comment. could you put that in context? >> i certainly could. unit, i just ran out of time out of time to answer, i did have it here. the comment that this gentleman is referring to came about in 1984. mr. bush was running for reelection as vice president, and he had a debate with geraldine f

we didn't filibuster any of president george h.w. bush's district courts. we didn't filibuster any of -- on the floor anyway, we did in committee, of president clinton's or any of president george w. bush's. somehow the rules have changed for president obama. it is troubling, as chairman of the judiciary committee, but also troubling to the federal judiciary nationwide why this one president gets singled out for this kind of treatment. i did a little research. i went back -- as i said i've been here 37 years. but i went back over the last six decades. i found only three district court nominations, three in over 60 years, in which cloture was even filed. two of those the cloture petition was withdrawn after procedural issues were resolved. for a single one the senate vote on cloture and incidentally all three of those nominations were confirmed. i would hope that nomination of jack mcconnell also be confirmed. and said for some reason, i talked about the presidents i have been here with, president ford, president carter, president reagan, president george h.w

the last three booted out with unemployment in the mid-7.0s were gerald ford, jimmy carter and george h.w. bush is important for republicans to keep this in mind. >> chris: kimberly, you are happily employed at the "wall street journal," we should note is owned by our parent company, the parent company of fox news as well. to get to nina's point, can republicans get over romney and his healthcare plan? and with huckabee out, is he now the best chance that republicans have to beat barack obama? >> i don't think they can get over it. you step back and this debate that we're having this year in 2012 -- or we are going to have in the election is over the role of government, the size and involvement in people's life. healthcare is central to that. romney carrie -- romney-care is the prototype to the president's healthcare plan. romney's obligation this week to come out and say that was a mistake. we were out there. maybe it was the beginning of healthcare debate. we tried to do some things and it didn't work out this way. this is my new plan and we're going forward and why the other one didn't work.