. >> doug brinkley, you've studied presidents. he wants to do as much as he possibly can to build up that legacy. i suspect he's reviewing all of the promises he made when he was running for the white house, when he was first elected president and wants to check off the list, did i this, i did this and i did this. that's what presidents in their final two years try to do, right? >> absolutely. and there was a the great recession. we're going to ask, how has he done with that? at the press conference, the president is feeling pretty good. these have been about the best numbers he's had thus far. we don't know what it will look like two years from now but he's going to say, we're living up to that promise. our troops are going to be finished operations in afghanistan at the end of this year and he's going to say, i've taken part of that piece. iraq, isis, it's a big mess and a big problem. i think the president wants to feel that he's not somebody goated into war the way george w. bush was. in other words, as ugly and as flip-flop a

. >> doug brinkley, the president is the most powerful person in the world. when he said sony pictures made a mistake they shouldn't have pulled the release of this film, sony pictures is a private company. they can change their mind and go ahead and say the president is right. we're going to release this film. here's the question, doug brinkley. do you think they should? >> no. i don't. i think you have to get this crisis behind us. i think you have to address it in the future. i was disturbed. why didn't sony check in with the white house about what they should do. the president said they never called him. never wanted his opinion on it. meaning we need a clearing house for these cyberproblems. president earmarked all sorts of companies in the future will have these problems. we have to have a way to solve it better than sony acting unilaterally and u.s. government having to correct a private corporation. >> gloria borger, the president in these final two years, he opened up by saying we're going into the fourth quarter talking about a football game. he say

douglas brinkley, presidential historian, we love talked to doug brinkley. you. >> thanks for having me on, brooke. >> so we just ran through the recent wins. how strong is this case that barack obama is in fact turning things around versus the notion that this is merely a blip on the radar and perhaps the notion that we, the media, just create a new narrative? >> well, he's really had quite a week, hadn't he? i think one of the things you touched on is after that airliner was shot down by russia and invasion by putin in ukraine, many thought the president didn't do enough. if those economic sanctions are working, that's a big plus for this president and obviously the issue with cuba is a big plus. he has a partner in pope francis. ronald reagan was a close ally with margaret thatcher. you don't see obama having an international ally that he's been close to and now pope francis working with the president bodes well for him too. it will depend on what the economy is like in his last day in office is how historians will judge him. >> let's go back to the russi

doug brinkley, how did he do in this end of year news conference? >> who would have thought on midterm election day, he would sell this was a great year 2014 in america and it was a great year for him and it's all about the economy. you can almost feel how optimistic the president is in. he feels the country is moving in the right direction. dwight eisenhower with the great missile gap crisis in 1957 ended up creating nasa. i think this situation with north korea although newt gingrich calls it a war, it may be a cyberbattle with north korea, he may need to create cybersecurity agency or something. i think he would get bipartisan support. not that people want to see more government on the right, but we have to address this. i think something important and significant that we'll have to watch. i'm writing on fdr. i'm writing about public works projects. this is a president that is not green lighting keystone. i don't know how other ways you could tell him. you don't talk down your product and say, okay, i'm going to do it. >> let's get a thought from

. >>> and up next, douglas brinkley and ana navarro. doug, let me start with you. this is the cuba of the cuban missile crisis, the cuba of possible nuclear war and holds a unique place in history. how significant is today? >> it is gigantic. it is the beginning of a u.s.-cuban policy for the 21st century. events were talked about in black and white and now what the world thinks has changed. and people seem to be critical about normalizing relations with cuba, but after all, we normalized them with vietnam after losing 58,000 soldiers and we normalized things with germany and japan. i'm not suggesting the regime shouldn't crumble. they are not our new best friend, but it is a very good bit of news to be able to now say, we can find some common ground on things like the environment alone. >> and the u.s. freed several cuban spies in exchange for alan gross. now alan gross, as far as i understand it, was in cuba providing satellite phones to cuban jews, that is why he was supposedly there. the cubans have alleged he was a spy. is it possible that was true? >> you kno

brinkley, thank you both very much. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> of course we want to let you know, you can read doug's op-ed at cnn.com/opinion.n my world, wall isn't a street... return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little as fifty dollars. is a really big deal.u with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. and call your doctor right away. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic