dr. henry kissinger when he made his visit to china -- i never imagined someday i would come here. >> and graduate and attend johns hopkins school. of international studies. >> thank you very much. all of this has been made possible by the reform we have had. that is why we are all supportive of the reform. >> before i close, i want you to say how you would like to see america change. when you talk of reform, what do you talk about? >> it is a process of modernizing an ancient civilization. >> what does confucius have to do with all of this? >> he was a wise man, of course. people know his teachings and try to get some inspirations in dealing with the new challenges. >> how does he informed that in his teachings? >> i think you see people like confucius. they study a lot of philosophical issues and the relation of human beings with nature and so on. there are fundamental challenges. we could get some inspiration and wisdom from our ancestors. >> what is the hardest thing about change for china? >> you have to make sure that changes will not lead to instability. you have to make sure that

probably three of the most significant and toughest national security advisers in our industry, henry kissinger, dru just made my mother very happy. >> thank you for coming. are you feeling okay? >> yes. there's no pain. i wanted to tell people, my wife and i were sitting at the kitchen table and i offhandedly mentioned i was saying maybe i would go into politics again and the next thing i knew i woke up in the e.r. >> you served the country for so long, how nice is it to again be a private citizen? >> it's terrific and it's even better to live an entire continent away from washington. >> what if you're asked back? >> i think after this book, there is zero chance of that. >> so that's why he wrote the book. >> thank you so much for everything and for your service. former secretary of defense robert gates. up next, senator john thune will join us. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] what if a small company became big business overnight? ♪ like, really big... then expanded? ♪ or their new product tanked? ♪ or not? what if they embrace new technology instead? ♪ imagi

dr. kathleen hicks as the senior vice president henry kissinger care chair. she previously served as the principal deputy undersecretary defense for policy and the deputy undersecretary defense for strategy plans and forces. as the deputy undersecretary for policy, she was responsible for advising the under secretary defense policy and secretary defense on issues pertaining to the development and execution of the national defense policy and strategy. as the undersecretary, the plans and forces she led the development of the 2012 defense strategic guidance and 2010 quadrennial defense review and reverse of the strategic guidance development review of plans for the day-to-day activities of the combatant commanders. prior to her service at the defense department, she was a senior fellow where she could directed the task force on the nontraditional security assistance and let strategy planning and process assessments on the project for national security reform and assessed the national security and improving global health. dr. hicks heard say -- will say ph.d. an