bush. tonight we begin with al gore's concession speech from december 13th, 2000 followed by george w. bush's victory remarks later that same evening from austin, texas. watch beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. >>> 20 years ago one of the most highly contested races in america took place, the contest between texas governor george w. bush and vice president al gore. saturday morning at 8:30 eastern we look back at the election with columnist a.j. dion and william kristol, the bulwark editor at large. watch saturday at 8:30 a.m. on c-span3 and c span's washington journal. ♪ microbe. >>> and now, let us go back 300 years to miles peeps. we read history of the preceding ages. an epidemic of the plague that had been raging in europe broke out in a huge frenzy in the capital in 1865. hundreds fell ill every day. many of them died. people were stricken on the streets. everyone fled from the victims for fear of the dreaded disease. but by far the most horrible element of the tragedy was the mystery that no one knew who or what carried the plag

he ran from a houston coach club tennis court, a man named george h.w. bush. hem off on whole different odyssey that really i think put them in the center of world events. >> and george i'm going to go back and forth because the stories of the books are so rich and, that we could come in so many different directions but i want to read these stories together. george packer, richard holbrooke, i use the word complicated. that doesn't begin to do justice to him but why did you want to write about him and talk about his ambition, what drove him and frankly the fact what, the first quarter of the book is about vietnam. >> so he died in december 2010, he was actually stricken in hillary clinton's office, sector of states office which was a fitting finale and a high drama characteristic of him. a few weeks later his widow offered me his personal papers and i knew holbrooke a bit, not very well at the thought have a chance to explore a flamboyant, mesmerizing, maddening character whose career covered half-century from kennedy to obama from vietnam to afghanistan, throu

he understd, george w. bushdid that we needed to go after osama bin laden and the entir al-qaeda network, but after operation freedom, it is time now for the next theater on the war on terror. this is only the beginning. basically we are going to show, you know terrorists who we are and -- and ifou're not with us, you're with the other side. so bush adopted very quickly the thinking of pl wolfowitz that saddam could well b involved in a 9/11 even tugh he wasn't involved in this 9/11. >> many saw people w insistence of invading iraq was lationship with father and group of neo conservatives that we have been talking about. tony been -- blair not stood in president bush's way, tried to warn president bush that this invasion of iraq would leado widernd long-term catastrophe for the region. what do yo think was the reason why president bush chose to ignore those warnings? >> well, bush again was receptive to the arguments of others and his admintration and in this case donald rumsfd that we should not let the rest of

bush. tonight we begin with al gore's concession speech in 2000 followed by george w. 's victory remarks later that same evening from austin, texas. watch beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. >>> 20 years ago, one of the most highly contested presidential races in u.s. history took place, the 2000 presidential contest between texas governor george w. bush and vice president al gore. saturday morning at 8:30 eastern, we look back at the election with white house columnist e.j. dionne and william kristol, editor at large. coed authors of the book "bush v. gore." watch bush v. gore on saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span 3 and c-span's "washington journal." >>> from washington, the combined radio and television industry brings you a special report on the polio vaccine. the public service of the department of health, education and welfare has been conducting extensive tests on the vaccine, and tomorrow the department is releasing its final report on the results of those tests. here now to gi

the 2000 presidential contest between george bush and al gore. morning at 8:30 eastern, we lock back at the election with "washington post" columnist ej deon. live saturday at 8:30 a.m. eastern on "american history tv" on c-span 3 and washington journal. >>> use your mobile devices for the latest video. to follow the transition of power. president trump, president-elect biden, news conferences and event coverage at c-span.org. >>> in the south pacific, a thousand miles north of new zealand the burst on tan ga. one gal for wondering whalers, they lie apart from trade gro groups. so for a century the people have been relatively isolated with only occasional visitors and a small trade. times are change iing. new markets have opened in asia. they will bring more and more tourists to the items. more will lead through study and other countries. under her leadership, the relative isolation is disappearing. the native government has been progressive. it's rule has brought without destroying customs. looking forward to the expansion of trade, the governme

i have a told anybody not even her or my kids but he tells george bush.t is the friendship that is powerful and transformative. so that shows up in a way we hadn't and also there was another letterhead is wife writes him a letter she hides in the house to give to him after she dies and cries 50 years later it is a powerful story not introspective or psychologically open the way holbrooke was it is so powerful and rich and three-dimensional but as a human person and also made this book a lot of fun. >> and then to talk to james baker of not having richard holbrooke look over my shoulder and he wouldn't have given me his papers at all and all the people who talk to me didn't have to worry about what he would say once he found out what they said to me. so this had to be the story of a man who had come and gone. that is how i could provide that distinction. >> that both holbrooke and baker were extremely astute in different ways to manage their images. both critics would say that was their skill talking to reporters and people like us to have the extreme sens

rites to his friend george bush. ng to get baker to run for his house seat and baker writes him a letter explaining why heels not going to make the campaign help says to his friend george the reason why is because his wife is doing and evenshow doesn't know it. the doctores have not told her. this in era when that it was okay where the house was told and his wife wasn't. >> at the time. >> even at that time. but he says to the hiss friend i can't do it because my wife is dying. i haven't told anybody. i haven't told her or my kid or mismother. this one person he tells is george bush that is a friendship that is in fact powerful and transformative and that's human. to so that -- to have him give us that letter showed us inside a little bit in a way we hadn't. also gave us another letter, his wife writes him a letter, because in fact she does know she is fight and hides in the house to be given to him of he dies when he hands is this letter he's crying even to this day and it's a very human story, very powerful story, n

and, of course, during george h.w. bush's presidency, he was the leader of the state department as secretary of state. in the year 2000, he became the leader of george w. bush's legal team that prevailed in the landmark case of bush versus gore, so we simply couldn't have a better lawyer leader to be part of this program than secretary baker. secretary baker, thank you for taking time and being with us today as the final mark of this very important conference. sec. baker: thank you, talmage. i'm delighted to be with you. talmage: now, since you've been a leader in so many different arenas and we'll be talking about the lawyer as a leader, i think a logical place to start the conversation is how do you define the word "leadership," secretary baker? sec. baker: well, you know, i think it was the great historian james mcgregor burns who said that leadership is a commitment to values, and the perseverance to fight for those values. i think that's a pretty good description of leadership. the toughest part of that formula is the co

gore, where the court effectively declared then governor george bush the winner of florida's decisive election over vice president al gore. that arose from a tight case and they certified in the state 537 vote margin for bush, worked its way through the courts and offered grounds that differ dramatically from the texas effort. , texas warned that the 2020 electoral in a regular -- irregularities exceed the hanging + the of the 2000 election. sides expressed regret that they were dragged into it for the current supreme court, considering whether to join the trump turmoil, it was not close. that was joan in her column today at cnn, and we are taking your phone calls to talk about the legacy of the bush v. gore case 20 years ago today. it was handed down. we showed you vice president al gore's concession speech from 20 years ago. 13, 2000,december george w. bush also with his victory speech, coming hours after the al gore concession speech. that happening also on december 13, yesterday. we will show you a bit about that but first, we will hear from paul in kentucky, republican party were

a virtual tour of the george w. bushibrary and dell is showcasing the legacy of the president.d watch american history tv this weekend on c-span 3. sunday night on q&a, author jake wood on his book "once a warrior." recounting his time with team rubicon, the disaster response organization he cofounded. ne community is not big fans of the military historically and for good reason. the majority of the humanitarian suffering around the world is a result of armed conflict. reerit's almost as though ca humanitarians despise the military almost out of an obligation. that we had been skills overseas in the military that applicable to disaster zones. we quickly discerned that none of the humanitarian agencies were recruiting those men and women, at least not a large-scale. we just thought that was a really, really a waste of incredible human capital. >> sunday night at 8 p.m. on c-span's q&a. >> we're going to keep going. nationalalk about the covid vaccination plans efforts. we will talk about this with jim blumenstock, the pan

history took place, the 2000 presidential contest between texas governor george w. bush and vice president al gore. saturday morning at 8:30 eastern, we look back at the election with white house columni columnist e.j.dionne and william kristol, editor at large. watch bush v. gore on saturday morning at 8:30. >>> from washington, the combined radio and television industry brings you a special report on the polio vaccine. the public service of the department of health, education and welfare has been conducting extensive tests on the vaccine, and today the department is releasing its final results of those tests. here we have adida l. hobby. secretary hobby. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. pol pol poliomyelitis and the safety of the polio vaccine is vitally important to all of us. scientific processes are often difficult for us to understand as laymen. yet it's important that we understand the results of scientific findings so that we can be intelligent about making decisions about our own children. the public health service of the united states, whose duty it is to

before he was ever president but i also feel like he was smart enough to know when to be quiet george bush was not a public figure for a long time after he after he left the white house he was paving or do whatever he was doing with his grandkids at that time and he was being altruistic island i think that for bill barr because he was such a close friend of donald trump and he was he was part and parcel acting not only as the chief judicial response for america but he also acted as though he was the personal lawyer in p.r. person for president trump and i think that a lot of the things that came that come with that are him actually getting involved in things that we haven't seen attorney generals get ball with in the in the past and that's going to be tough for him especially since he didn't go out shouting against donald trump on his way out even though. we know what was going to fire him be a plant on fire and we talked about firing him bill barr to his credit he went out still trying to represent this man in the best light he possibly could and i'm not so sure that's going to play well

before he was ever president but i also feel like he was smart enough to know when to be quiet george bushwas not a public figure for a long time after he after he left the white house he was painting or doing whatever he was doing with his grandkids at that time and he would be an ultra silent i think that for bill barr because he was such a close friend of donald trump and he was he was part and parcel acting not only as the as the chief judicial response for america but you also acted as though he was the personal lawyer in p.r. person for president trump and i think that a lot of the things that came come with that are him actually getting involved in things that we haven't seen attorney generals get involved with in the in the past that's going to be tough for him especially since he didn't go out shouting against donald trump on his way out even though we know what we're going to fire him firing him to talk about firing him bill bar to his credit he went out still trying to represent this man in the best light he possibly could and i'm not so sure that's going to play well for him in

we saw this with the second george bush after 9/11. barack obama was using drone attacks to target people internationally. this president is doing the same thing. we really have seen how once they -- a lot of the basic war making functions have shifted over. we tried to correct this in the 1970's with the war powers act. the war powers act relied upon a series of mechanisms that effectively the court has struck down as unconstitutional. and we probably do need, again, to be rethinking this issue of what kind of powers do we want to give to the president. clearly i think everybody says responding to attacks against the united states is a legitimate scope for the president. but beyond that, we need to have both a president bringing congress into decision making for military issues, and congress taking a much more assertive role in terms of oversight and in terms of being involved in making some of these, let's say, decisions about how we commit ourselves internationally with military force. let's talk to gloria who is calling from upper

bush. tonight we begin with al gore's concession speech from december 13th, 2000 followed by george w. bush's victory remarks later that same evening from austin, texas. watch beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. >>> 20 years ago one of the most highly contested races in u.s. mis -- history took place. between texas governor george w. bush and vice president al gore. saturday morning at 8:30 eastern we look back at the election with columnist e.j. dionne and william kristol, the bulwark

bush. tonight we begin with al gore's concession speech from december 13th, 2000, followed by george w. sh's victory remarks later that same evening from austin, texas. watch beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. >>> the public health service, its people and programs affect the lives of millions of americans every day. whether it's a matter of

[applause] the 2000 presidential contest took place between texas governor george w. bush, and vice president al gore. saturday morning at 8:30 eastern we look back at the election. david said savage it's the 20th anniversary of bush v. gore. we asked you, because you've been covering the supreme court since 1986, for the los angeles times. to come back and look back in time with us, at that 2000 election. what we are going through then as parents, and in terms of what is happening now. also some of the lessons that were learned, so let's start with the court itself in 2000. the rehnquist court, nine members and seven of them have been appointed by republican presidents. how do they align ideologically? >> pretty much of a five four, conservative court. rehnquist was the leader of that court, justice scalia was a prominent figure. there were several moderate republicans. jon stevens, david souter, and ruth ginsburg and stephen breyer. they were sort of on the left. so it was leaning conservative, but there was also an interesting era and court is never 100% predictable, an

she is profiled george h to be bush, bill clinton, george w. bush, gerald ford, jimmy carter, and barack obama. congratulations on your scoop last night of former president obama and bush and clinton will take the covid back to the - - covid-19 vaccine. >> now the show assures - - is yours. >> thank you for having us. there you are. i am so thrilled to be here with all of you today and i just want to start because john mentioned the lack of a bus this year. this campaign was different in so many ways from what we are used to. how is it different for you? >> at the "washington post" we were all sent home the second week in march unless you could make an argument that your travel is absolutely crucial. the papers put a lock down and we are not in our office probably until june at the earliest. those who were out there for the primary season, this is the very moment it fits into the general election. we know for the democratic nominee will be. i just really felt it was very difficult to get a sense of what was going on. we were not the only ones to

. >> sunday on the presidency, george w. bushsidential library and museum director, patrick moore dente takes us on a virtual tour of the facility in dallas, texas, here's a preview. >> as we start down this, we , it this exhibit area one is about the young president bush all the way up until the election, his first election as president. you can see some of the photographs there of president bush with his father, president bush senior. bush 41 as we sometimes refer to him. the birth of their children, and then his progress all the way up into the election. next slide please. these are the -- we call these the 12 guiding principles that guided his administration. you can immediately start to bullets some from these things that the administration accomplished. i like to get into the first bullet, every child can learn in the first thing that comes to mind is no child left behind. educationlation for and improvement of education. the -- is thee in engine of prosperity, and other things, so as we walk through this exhibit, you will

so when george bush became president, i figured i was definitely the guy in the back seat being ignored. then tragically, we had 9/11. that is when i really started to work with president bush. i formed a close working relationship with him. i was up in new york with him and 9/11 families so many times, to the white house to meet with him. he turned out to be an extremely good friend. and to this day, we still have contact. when i announced i was not running, i got a long, beautifully handwritten letter from president bush. and also, we keep in touch. unfortunately, it is a sad way. so many of the victims he came to know, if one of them passes away, i will call his office. and he always calls the family or sends a note. i guess it was about two years ago he spoke at cw post college. we had a chance to meet with him before him. again, just a very first-class person. i think one thing you find when you are in politics, people look to demonize. like republicans hated bill clinton. i found him a very good guy to work with -- i should say a good president to work with. george w. bush democra

bush v. gore decision was handed down, since the concession speech by al gore and the victory speech by georgebush, do you think today that the correct person won election 2000? guest: i think so. obviously, it was incredibly close, hinging on one state with a 537 vote difference when the counting stopped. i think most studies afterwards did show that bush if they kept counting, i guess it was the under votes, where he would have one -- won. it was such a narrow margin by a few hundred votes. vice president gore was gracious and responsible, more important than gracious, i would say, in conceding. and we went on and got beyond that quickly in a funny way. bush did compromise with ted kennedy on educational legislation a few months into his term and then there was 9/11. such a different world, listening to bush and gore such , a different world from our politics today. host: e.j. dionne, same question. did the correct person win election 2000? guest: i think the answer is no. everything showed al gore winning by more than 100 votes in the end. and more than that, obviously, it was not clear how

george bush, bill webster, leon panetta and mike pompeo.ll talk about pompeo in a second because he's a bit different in the way he was a restorer. the first three are here to stabilize the ship in periods of controversy. when you think about bush becoming head of our agency right after the start of the scandals of the mid-1970s and congressional investigations are winding down. he's there to, in effect, make the agency seem like it's not the ogre it was being portrayed to be in some sectors of congress. initially as a politician, agency professionals did not like this appointment because we did not want the agency turned into, in effect, just another cabinet office with a political hack or big donor running it. bush was able to allay those concerns very quickly just because he was basically a nice guy. everybody could get along with him. he was very honest about what his agenda was. and by the end of his 11 months he accomplished exactly what president ford wanted him to. webster gets appointed right after the iran/contra scandal, and you

that they were going to but be easy for al gore and hard for george bush.cause there was no agreed upon uniform standard that it could differ county by county. kennedy tried out that view and said, you know, it was clear he was fishing around or trying to get cleared in his own mind, what was a good reason for saying this recount could end? that is what i remember them sort of going back and forth on this bus and ted also had a much easier time basically saying, again, that governor bush had one. the florida supreme court is sort of making fools of all of us by continuing this and this recount procedure trying to find your votes and these punch cards and it's time for the stand. >> we are going to listen to a couple of clips from -- actually several clips of the oral argument. david, i wanted to make a small note when we do this. this particular case was the first time the chief justice granted the same day release of an oral argument before the supreme court. a petition that had been made to the court by c-span and followed by others in the media. as soon

. >> president george bush. >> president reagan. >> barack obama. ♪ >> the president was not unawarethe cameras while we were there. >> 32 cameras and 25 producers. ♪ >> giving nbc news the access was a way to show americans how the place operates. >> we had amazing access to the white house that day, especially compared to the limited access we have to the white house now. ♪ >> this is a very busy day for you, i know. there are no rules for days like today. >> no rules. >>> president's office. >> i can do that. >> mr. president. >> i was the anchor of "nbc nightly news" and we were continuing a series that nbc had kind of invented, which is a day in the life of the president. >> good evening and welcome to the house. 100 days into the presidency of bill clinton. you'll be at the president's side as he makes tough decisions throughout the day. >> giving nbc news the access to a day in the white house was a way to show americans how the place operates, what it looks like behind the scenes. to give you a small glimpse of the people who make the place run. >> we were literally showing h

wasn't decided for quite some time and it went to the courts and the court finally decided that george bush had won it and many people had a sour taste in their mouth but but that that very quickly faded in and george bush won reelection that i suppose from memory and the narrative there 20 years ago never got quite as talks a as it has in the past few weeks and just over the weekend that a pro trump rally there were people chanting the story the g.o.p. so destroyed every public and party i mean the checks and balances may have or 20 comes to american democracy when it comes to the republican party itself how worried are you that this is going to lead to long term splits and anger within the party. well it has yet to be seen as the what will happen to the republican party as we as we know it and as we knew it perhaps you know the republican party in the past it's gone through several different changes in the 1950 s. the republican party was the party of civil rights fiscal responsibility but but socially progressive they put forth the 1st civil rights bill they were the ones pushing the ant

bush v. gore decision was handed down, since the concession speech by al gore any victory speech by george w. bush. do you think today that the correct person won election 2000? guest: i think so. obviously, it was incredibly close. i think most studies afterwards did show that bush if they kept counting would have won. by as such a narrow margin few hundred votes. vice president gore was gracious and responsible conceding. and we went on and got beyond that quickly in a funny way. bush did compromise with ted kennedy on legislation a few months into his term and then there was 9/11. such a different world from our politics today. host: e.j. dionne, same question. did the correct person when election 2000 -- win election 2000? not.: i think everything showed al gore winning by more than 100 votes in the end. there were all kinds of problems i am sure we will get into. the butterfly ballot, with thousands of votes were cast for pat buchanan but intended route gore because the structure of the ballot was bad. retrospect% clear in ,s the u.s. supreme court conservative majority, discredited itse

. >>> in the 2000 presidential election, texas governor george w. bush defeated vice president al gore in one of the most highly contested races in u.s. history. the outcome was not decided until december 12th, five years after voters went to the polls when the u.s. supreme court stopped the florida recount. this ultimately awarded the states electoral votes and presidency to governor bush. next, american history tv looks back 20 years to the 2000 election and the landmark bush v. gore decision with journalist e.j. dionne and bill kristol, co-out-e author of "bush v. gore". >> i say to president-elect bush that what remains a partisan rancor must now be put aside and god bless his spew stewardship of this country. neither he nor i anticipated this long and difficult road. certainly neither of us wanted it to happen. yet it came and now it has ended. resolved as it must be resolved through the honored institutions of our democracy. over the library of one of our great law schools is inscribed the motto not under man but under god and law. that's the rulin

george bush has chosen the man he wants to run with him. dan quayle is a junior senator. years old which mr. bush sees as part of his appeal. he has the conservative credentials. >> get back to the room. call this number. i called the number. it's jim baker. he says, hang on for the veep. it was george bush. it's 2:00 now. 4:00 we will introduce you. show up at the spanish plaza. where is the spanish plaza? he said something like, i don't really know. this is your first assignment. don't screw it up. >> george bush decided this was the day for the news. >> i said, i have to be there at 4:00 so they can introduce me. i'm driving around there. it's too early. i drive around the block. ten minutes to 4:00 i go to the spanish plaza. i get out of the car. i turn the corner to go down to where i'm supposed to be. there's 5,000 people. i go, oh, my gosh. how in the heck am i going to get through that crowd? >> quayle, a defense hard-liner, popular on the right, seemed nervous. he arrived barely in time to hear bush's words. >> somebody about halfway through gives me a big elbow

george bush took the white house. we had 9/11 a few months later and wars in afghanistan and iraq. we had a change in the supreme court in 2005 with chief justice john roberts. 2006 samuel alito. we had the historic election then of barack obama and then two more changes with justice sonia sotomayor in 2009 and elena kagan in 2010. and in some ways in 2010, susan's united has replacedp bush v gore as a bit of a rally cry politically at least. yet bush v gore endures for many of us. just when i think people have stopped thinking about it or stopped asking about it, i will give a speech somewhere as in last summer in connecticut and the first question was, what about that bush v gore? it endures and admittedly from folks mainly on the left. but we're here today to take into account both sides and look at not just what happened back then but how the ruling has reverberated through the years. and joining me, i'll start with my immediate left here, judith brown dianous, co-director of the advancement project. she was on the ground in florida and has been on the ground ever since to ensu

so the principal pollster for george h. w. bush, when he advised parts of the campaign in 1988 he said that the environment has entered the dna of the american people. it is there to stay. so i agree with you that it is a reality and i think there is a sense you know of indifference i guess to the vigor that we might now wish to see you know like climate change and i think the public to a large extent as was mentioned in your introduction thinks that some of these problems have been solved because we have been very successful with the manifest, and some of the more offensive items. but before we close, i would like to recount an encounter with president nixon. when i was administrator i attended i attended a lecture he delivered, at the plaza hotel in new york, and it was a fabulous lecture and without any notes, he had all the key ambassadors present, and everybody respected his world view, and he particularly said that we have to be very attentive to our relationship with china, and among the most important reasons, is that we wi

she has profiled george h bush, bill clinton, george w. bush, gerald ford, jimmy carter, and barack obama. congratulations on your scoop last night of former president obama and bush and clinton will take covid-19 vaccine. john mentioned the lack of a bus this year. so let's ask each of, you how this campaign was different because it wasn't so many ways. from what we are used to but karen, let me start with you. how was it different for you because of covid? >> at the washington post, we were all sent home the second week in march, and unless you could make an argument that your travel was absolutely crucial, you know the paper put a lock down on it, and we are not even back in our office until next june at the earliest. those who were out there for the primary season, this is the very moment it fits into the general election. we know for the democratic nominee will be. i felt it was really difficult to get a sense of what was going on. we were not the only ones to have that problem. in the middle of march, jenna o'malley dylan join the bid

bush v. gore was handed down, since that concession speech by al gore, that victory speech by george w. bush, do you think today the correct person won election 2000? >> i think so. obviously, it was incredibly close. 537 vote difference when the counting was stopped. i think most studies afterwards did show that they kept on accounting, i guess the under votes there were counted, bush would have won, but it was such a narrow margin. it is really extraordinary. vice president gore was very gracious and responsible, even more importantly than gracious i would say, in conceding. and they went on and got beyond that pretty quickly in a funny way. bush did not compromise the legislation a few months into his term, of course there was 9/11 and so. such a different world. such a different world from our politics today. >> ej dionne, same question, that the correct person win the election? >> i think the answer is no and i think the definitive study had they recounted every stoat in the state shows al gore winning the state by about 100 votes in the end. more than that, obviously it was not cle

under president george w. bush, he served as secretary of transportation, and later, as as president -- excuse me, george h.w. bush, and later as president george w. bush's first chief of staff. john podesta served as chief of staff to president bill clinton, among several other senior roles, a counselor to president barack obama, and co-chair of the obama-biden transition project. i did a little sleuthing around town with friends and former colleagues and even some family members who happen to work for both individuals about mr. podesta. i was told he was "measured a great manager smart on all fronts and willing to listen to all voices, whether senior or carr, ias for secretary was told "he instilled in us from day one how lucky we were to be at the white house that we were public servants. we were to be humble and we were to put the country and the president first." the one word i heard to describe them both was calm. in normal times, the presidential transition can feel unwieldy. call him, steady leadership is e

and egypt since june 2017 senior adviser to president george bush that was in qatar on wednesday and is reported to have also visited saudi arabia. those are the headlines don't go away though the news continues on al-jazeera right after the bottom line which is coming up next. hi i'm steve clemons and i have a question does morality matter anymore did it matter ever in american politics let's get to the bottom line. since election day a few weeks ago many american politicians have been talking about the need for the nation to heal but the rift between people inside america is really deep and there's frustration on both sides of that divide those who voted for donald trump and everything he stands for are wondering who's going to stand up for them now and millions of voters on the democratic side feel their hopes and aspirations could be dashed as well trump once told writer bob woodward that he wanted to bring out the reagan people who are americans doomed to be motivated and divided by fear and anger and is there a way to really heal the nation today we speak with one of the most u

it's also the case that working with george w. bush, we found ourselves in many ways and a crisis of presidency -- things kept happening. and of course, the ultimate was the 9/11 experience and the monday after 9/11, the president made the decision that he was going to address a joint session of congress. or more precisely, he was probably going to address the joint session of congress but he wanted to see a speech wrapped before he made his final decision. and so, it was our job, my colleagues in my custodian and i, to do our speech for the president. that monday, and he asked that he'd be given that, entire speech that day. and the assignment came -- and as much as we protest, it it was made clear to us that we had to get it done. we got to work, it wasn't as if we were lacking for subject matter or material. we knew exactly what we needed to write about, but we did need some policy direction which we received, mike ours talk to congress that morning -- then about 1:00 that afternoon, we get cold over to the overall falls to see the

george bush has chosen the man he wants to run with in this presidential season. l is a senator from the state of indiana. he is 41 years old, which mr. bush clearly sees as part of his appeal. he has the conservative credentials, which will please this convention. >> gets off and goes back to the room and here, call this number. i call the number. it's jim baker, and he says here, hang on for the veep. it is george bush. it's 2:00 now. 4:00, we're going introduce you. show up at spanish plaza. i say where in the heck is the spanish plaza? he said well, i don't really know, but this is your first assignment. don't screw it up. >> george bush clearly decided this was the day for the news. >> i knew he was very punctual, so i said i got to be there right at 4:00 so he can introduce me. i'm driving around. we get there at 20 to four. it's too early. ten minutes to four, i go to the spanish plaza and i get out of the car and i turn the corner to go down to where i'm supposed to be, and there is like 5,000 people. and i go oh, my gosh. how in the heck am i going to get

bush v. gore and we have to think of what has happened since. george w. ush took the white house, we had 9/11 just a few months later, we had the wars in afghanistan and iraq. we had a change in the supreme court in 2005, with chief justice wrought john roberts, in 2006 samuel alito. we had the historic election, of barack obama and then two more changes, with justice sonia sotomayor, and it lena kagan in 2010. and in some ways 2010, citizens united replaced bush v. gore as a rallying cry at least politically politically at least. but bush v. gore endures. for many of us. and just i think people have stopped thinking about it, or stopped asking about it i will give a speech somewhere, as in just last summer in connecticut and the first question was, what about that bush v. gore. so it endures, for folks mainly on the left. but we are here today, to take into account both sides, and look at not just what happened back then, but how the ruling has reverberated through the years. and joining me now, i will start with my immediate left here, judith brown diana

governor whitman served under president george w. bush as administrator of the epa from january of 2001 until 2003, june of that year. she is the 50th governor of the state of new jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001. as governor, she earned praise from both republicans and democrats for commitment to preserve a record amount of new jersey land as permanent green space. she's also recognized by the national resource defense council as having instituted the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. as epa administrator she brought about water protection policies. governor whitman also championed regulations requiring nonroad deefl engines to reduce sulfur emissions by 90% and a host of other environmentally crucial innovation. william riley was the administrator of the environmental protection agency under president george h. w. bush. he served as founder of the wildlife fund and adviser to several business efforts. in 2014, he was hired by president obama to watch the water supply in mexico. and

you're recalling riding to your inauguration with president george w. bush in the limousine and you take this turn and see the protesters with their signs, indict bush and war criminal. you write in the book, i felt quietly angry on his behalf, to protest a man in the final hour of his presidency seemed great graceless and unnecessary. more generally i was troubled by what these last minute protests said about the divisions that were churning across the country and the weakening of what boundaries of decorum had once regulated politics. and i couldn't help but wondering, will you be angry on president trump's behalf at those who show up to protest him and would those -- what would those demonstrations say about where we are at a country right now. >> well, look, i think that 2008 is very different than 2020. the way donald trump is behaving in transition is different than the way george bush behaved on his final months of -- when he was in office. and because we're in the middle of a pandemic, we don't know what inauguration is going to look like. but think

carter joins the list of former presidents -- barack obama, bill clinton, and george w. bush -- who volunteered to take the vaccine on camera, if it will help promote public confidence. joining us now, physician and fellow at the brookings institution, dr. kavita patel, a former obama white house health policy director and an msnbc contributor. dr. patel, it's great to see you again. thank you so much for being here with us so early in the morning. i actually want to start with what we were just focused on, which is this question of public confidence in the vaccine and the best ways to build that confidence. obviously, we saw these former presidents come out and say that they would do it. i'm personally wondering, is president trump going to do something similar, especially considering how his followers seem to pay so much attention to what he does? i mean, the mask-wearing, obviously, became such a political act. they want to take credit for the "operation warp speed," so it seems like he may be willing to, but i'm not sure he's gone so far as these other presidents.

the 2000 presidential contest between george bush and al gore. morning at 8:30 eastern, we lock back at the election with "washington post" columnist ej deon. live saturday at 8:30 a.m. eastern on "american history tv" on c-span