so i'm very happy to say that anita dunn is with us here now. for coming in to talk to americast. thank you for having me on this morning. you've had a very long relationship withjoe biden and the biden family, haven't you? working in and out of the white house, when did you first get to know him? well, i first met then senator biden when i was a junior staffer in the united states senate, but i didn't really work closely with him until then candidate 0bama picked him to be the vice presidential nominee. i was a senior adviser to the 0bama campaign, so worked closely with biden and his staff during the campaign, and then when i was communications director in the 0bama white house, so. what is thejoe biden that you know like, maybe differently from our public perception of him? well, i thinkjoe biden has always been one of those people whose public and private personas are not all that different. and a lot of politicians are very different in private than they are in public. you hear, "oh, this person's so much better in small groups. "oh, if you

let's discuss this and more with a former biden senior adviser, anita dunn. anita, thanks very much for joining us. you worked with president biden for a long time. what went wrong with president biden's presidency that nearly two thirds of americans disapprove of the job he's done, just as he's leaving the white house well, thank you for having me on, wolf. >> you know, today, the white house announced that a peace agreement has been reached between israel and hamas that will result in the release of the hostages that have been held since october 7th, 2023. that will, you know, bring peace to the people of gaza who have been so extraordinarily hurt over the past, over the past 14 months, 16 months, really by this war, who have been right in the crosshairs the whole time. and, you know, i think if you look at all of this in context, if the president had to choose between a peace agreement or high approval numbers, he would choose a peace agreement every time. now, like any president, he'd rather have both. but this is a president who has been dedicated to doin

i mean, anita dunn is one of his closest advisors, and she founded her own strategic communications firm for years and years and years. and you know what they did lobbying, essentially. so this is not unusual. explain to us why the trump situation is different. >> well, i think you're absolutely right. you know, lobbying is endemic to washington, dc. trump has a slightly different posture coming in to this new administration because when he was campaigning, he was campaigning like the clip that you showed introducing this segment, saying that we need to get rid of lobbyists, we need to get rid of their influence. he would not listen to lobbyists. there was a very popular podcast where he went on and talked about how we should maybe ban all people who work in government from ever becoming lobbyists again. so he really adopted this populist mantle. but literally the first nominee announcement, the first appointment he made after winning the election in november was susan wiles, who worked for ballard partners, which is really the premier trump connected lobbying firm and then went on to ap

not only nancy, but barack obama and a lot of their former aides, like bob bauer and his lawyer, anita dunn, his adviser in the white house. the mood feels like a morgue. biden is one of the least popular presidents in the last 70 years, leaving office with a 36% approval rating and a party in tatters, the post says. in remarks tuesday, durbin praised biden as a source of hope and an author of history and one of the finest public servants in american history. when the veteran lawmaker ended his six minute speech, the senate adjourned for a lunch break. no one else rose to applaud or back up his praise for biden, as often happens in farewell tribute speeches, they say, if you want a friend in washington, get a dog. well, biden got two and they bit everyone, and now he doesn't have dogs or friends. former illinois governor rod blagojevich joins us now. so you understand the democrat party a little bit better than we do. everyone hates each other. what does that mean? >> well, you were quoting a great democratic president, harry truman. he's the one who said, if you want a friend in washington

it went through anita dunn. it's not nothing wrong with it, but everybody had to be cleared.ou never heard from the cabinet during this administration? you never heard from people like that? i knew the kennedy cabinet better than this cabinet. they hid these people because they wanted to have him out there with the aviator glasses being the superstar. and they were. everybody else had to be quiet. the staff people in the white house never talked. this is interesting. the whole pattern of it was protect him. and i understand there's a reason for that. and it's smart people that know better than we do about his ability to communicate. they know every day how good he is every day, not just when he's ready for an interview with you or susan, but every single day when they get on the phone and tony, tony blinken calls from moscow or somewhere and says, here's the latest on this, blah, blah, blah. well, maybe he was really good at that, at knowing putin and what putin is up to and figuring out, oh, i know what he's up to. and he has a smart, canny way of looking at that. but is he

. >> there was a clearance process that went through anita dunn.he cabinet. i knew the kennedy cabinet better than this cabinet. they hid these people. they wanted him out there with the aviator glasses being the superstar. the staff people in the white house never talked. this is interesting. the whole pattern was, protect him. i understand there's a reason for that and it's smart people that know better than we do about his ability to communicate. they know every day how good he is every day, not just when he's ready for an interview with you and susan, but every single day. antony blinken calls from moscow or somewhere and says here's the latest on this. maybe he was really good at that, at knowing putin and what putin is up to and figuring the guy out. i know what he's up to. he has a smart, cannery in way of looking at that. is he that good on television? no. not that good on television. >> the smart smart -- smartest people knew better. mike barnicle would say they were too smart for their own good and would -- i'm not saying -- >> barnicle g