what george h.w. bush told me about tension city and that's how it happened. >> rose: did you enjoy it? moderating these debates? >> i did, charlie. there were times... oh god, doing them. actually doing them, the lead-in is the worst part. that's the scary pt. that's when you start thinking, oh, i'm trying to think about what if he does that this? what if she does that. whatever... try to... i always try to visualize the event before itappens and try to anticipate what happens if the audio goes out, what happens if somebody takes a hit on somebody all the things... >> rose: what if the prompter doesn't come up. >> the prompter doesn't come up. >> rose: happened onetime? >> absolutely. >> rose: what happened? >> well, i had anticipated that and i had the script in front of me. >>rose: ofcourse! you always have the script in front of you! (laughs) >> i'm a genius when itomes to that kind of thing. but the real concerns are that somebody's going to say something that's really important and that i missed it.

should the republicans learn from george h.w. busha and cut a deal? >> sean: they don't have an agenda. >> i'm disappointed on john king. if he's going to report that story he was honor-bound to give the whole story. that deal call for the republicans to raise taxes by 137 billion dollars. for the democrats to cut spending by 2467 billion. we when the -- 247 billion. when the dust settled spending went up 20 billion. you think sean hannity on cnn you will ever live to see the day where someone says it takes courage to cut defund planned parenthood. current to defund npr and pbs. it never takes courage to do those things but it takes real courage to raise taxes. >> sean: well say. mr. tink up his leg chris matthews is angry at rick perry for saying obama is appeasing the palestinians. >> this is the kind of language you use when you go to war with another country. not the language you use against your own country as he's about to address the united nations. when you know he's going to give a strong defense of israel. you know he's goin

five months later george h.w. bush and dan quayle lost their bid for reelection to bill clinton and al gore, also with an "e" on the end. two decades since misspelling potato, that's all anyone remembers of dan quayle. in his memoir, dan quayle laid the blame on one specific campaign staffer. "what are we supposed to do, i asked the advanced man who prepared this photo op, just sit there and read these words off flash cards and the kids will go up and spell them on the blackboard. has anyone checked the cards? yeah, we looked at them and they are simple words, no big deal." after telling the 6th grader to put an "e" on the end, he didn't know he did anything wrong. it was after the photo op that a reporter asked mr. quayle how you spell potato. i gave him a puzzled look and the press started laughing. none of the staff people had told me. wow. what happens to campaign staffers who screw up that badly, who essentially end a vice president's career, who end a vice presidency? what happens to a staffer who does something

george h.w. bush lost making him a one-term president. bill clinton was elected. bill clinton, because of the whole ross perot thing, bill clinton was elected with only 43% of the vote. not exactly starting from a position of strength for that new democratic president. and then when the first midterm elections came around in 1994, two years later, president clinton's hand grew weaker. republicans picked up 54 seats in that midterm election. they took control of the house for the first time since 1954. and right after that midterm election, magazine covers like this one started gracing the nation's newsstands. in case that's not subtle enough. i'll never let you live this down, "time" magazine. see what's being crushed under the elephant's foot? the donkey with the eyeballs squirting out of the donkey's head. the eyeballs have to be extended out of the donkey's skull. really. what's holding the eyeballs in? really, "time" magazine? in the wake of the results in 1994 it did not look like the clinton presidency was longed for this world. it turned out, it turned out

i did one in '92 with george h.w. bushll clinton and ross perot for 45 minutes, one half of a 90-minute debate where it was just me and those three candidates with very few rules, no one minute, two minute, whatever. that was scary. really scary and tu but exhilarating and it did work. unfortunately, it worked well but it's never been tried again because the candidates and their handlers are afraid... >> jon: that's what i was going to say. they don't want to take a risk. >> jon: in retrospect, a lot of the participants talk about the debates, while they didn't like them and while they had to manage them, they felt made them either stronger candidates or in president clinton's case a stronger president. they felt it was an exercise in thinking about scenarios you wouldn't normally think about. >> exactly right. clinton felt that very strongly because it forced him... he says it forces all the candidates, okay, what is my position on social security or on whether or not... what... >> jon: i love that. i love that. they've g

and in new orleans cnn contributor mary matalin which includes the presidential victories of george h.w. bush and his son, george h. bush. and peter, the president is no longer favored to win re-election, and it's a collection of very bleak numbers. >> bad news. a lot of bad news. but let's understand one thing. it's not quite the same thing as saying you're going to lose. he's no longer the favored. and i would have said that george w. bush was not the favorite in 2003, so the president's got a lot of work to do. but the other thing that's fascinating about this poll is that on a personal basis they still like the president, so for all the bad things that are happening, they like him, and secondly they make the distinction between how he's handling the economy and how he's handling foreign policy. 50% give him a positive rating on foreign policy. so, does he have a lot of problems? you bet he does, but the other side is they give him good news on foreign policy. >> mary, i'm going to guess you get a sense of deja vu when you hear numbers like this and you hear peter hart say they still like

george h.w. bushr sure it would cost him support with his conservative base to violate the central domestic policy pledge of his campaign, read my lips, no new taxes and called everybody out to camp david and agreed to a package that caused him to violate that promise. there are people now that say we need a moment like that and the republicans should give president obama some tax increases as long as they get from him significant spending cuts and a big deficit package. should republicans learn from president george h.w. push abus cut a deal? >> i wouldn't put it that way, john. the special debt reduction panel clearly has its work cut out for it. you have good people on that panel. they have to come up with some kind of package that can gain broad support in this congress. >> conservatives are still furious at george h.w. bush. they say that's proof and why you have grover norquists of the world to pledge we will never raise taxes. >> the notion of a big tax increase whatever the rationale is exactl

george w. bush or bill clinton or george h.w. bush. all presidents have a responsibility to address this kind of inequality and none of them have up to this point. >> reporter: despite vocal critics, an august nbc news wall street journal poll found the president enjoying an overwhelming 92% approval rating among black voters. >> i'm exhausted of defending you. >> reporter: obama supporter velma hart who famously confronted the president in the fall over the stagnant economy defends him on this point. >> the hopes and dreams of the african-american community are equal to anyone else in this country. we are going around saying, because he's the black president he has to show us favorites. >> reporter: the real rub here may be between the president and the black political leadership. >> when you talk about the civil rights establishment his brand of doing politics sometimes rubs them the wrong way. they want to hear more of the word black used, more of targeting toward african-americans which of course as president of the united states h

george h.w. bush threw up all over himself and the prime minister of japan!s called trickle down! (laughter) a president does not need to be articulate. when the moment of truth comes, he pushes the button. he doesn't convince the button to push itself. he's not the convincer in chief, he's the commander-in-chief. and by "command" i don't mean of the english language. (laughter) and america is clearly on this with... with me on one. (laughter) (cheers and applause) clearly america is with me on this one! cnn's poll after his mumble-mouthed train wreck gives perry an eight-point lead. clearly he needs to show upat the next debate with a mouthful of angry bees. (laughter)ñr and while bachmann has iowa and roomny is strong in new hampshire, my home state of south carolina loves rick perry-- andÑi that's the proble, folks, because south carolina is the third primary state but arizona governor january crewer has announced she is moving their primary up to february 28, south carolina's date! well, governor brewer has messed with the wrong stephen colbert. this one!

even george h.w. bush was not about george w. bush, about george h.w. omney who could you put forward as a credible candidate with a chance of winning. >> that's what i'm saying. they don't exist. >> jon huntsman at 2% and he will stay at 2%. but the former chinese ambassador could make a very good run in a general election but that won't happen. >> on a purely superficial note i was talking to some republicans this past weekend and talking about perry's performance. >> where were you? >> a telephone call. >> i was going to say. holy cow. >> partly because of rick perry's performance mitt romney quote looks presidential. it sounds silly but matters to people. he stands up there and he looks like the adult on the stage. they also said -- it wasn't just gail collins saying this. perry was quote palinesque meaning some of his answers appeared to be word salad. >> if rick perry ends up with a debt, romney should retire it. if it weren't for perry's entry, and romney was just thrashing michele bachmann, we would all be saying he hasn't been tested. >> what yo

this reminds me of george h.w. bushe republican establishment knew he was next in line, they just couldn't bring themselves to love george h.w. bush. he was a wimp. he is everybody's first husband. remember that one, lesley. the parallels between what people were saying in '87 and romney are similar. >> news week had a cover with his name and the word wimp on it. >> ouch. >> it happened. >> that was 1988, i think. >> 1988, lesley stahl and george h.w. bush go out. lesley has to explain to her mom what george h.w. bush was talking about. it wasn't animals. >> that's embarrassing. >> it was embarrassing. >> he's a nice guy. i laughed it off. i did. totally laughed it off. >> 12 people may know what we are talking about here. it was a wonderful interview. kell yy o'donnell, what do republicans on the hill think of romney and perry. >> they have a function of kind of giving it a vanilla quality that is not helpful to someone like romney. there's such an expectation that the great surrogate is so likely to do well there isn'

george h.w. bushot to oversee the echnd of the cold war. >> very successful middle east -- >> figuring out iraq in a way that seemed to work at the time. >> correct. >> and the american public was like, yeah. that's nice. almost like they expected it to be done. i think as somebody else was talking this morning, they said, yeah, they got bin laden and now there is an expectation, of course we're good at this. >> i think it's partly that but also people are hurting. unemployment, you know, remains stagnant. and moving in a negative direction. and that the american public doesn't seem to feel that there is any solution to this. the vice president said it, our unscripted vice president. but the president said the same thing in a radio address in kansas city in the summer time when he said this is going to be a referendum on me. we all know that presidential elections largely are referendums on the incumbent president. and right now his numbers, i think the last thing i saw in real clear politics were at

george h.r. bush. the question is whether -- chris: that's hardly a case for re-election. >> i think george h.r. bush was an extraordinarily good president. and i think ob, and like george h.w. bush, can turn on the vision in the oorty. people want change, yes, but they also get nervous and they sometimes stick with the devil they know rather than pick the devil they don't. that's why romney really has to reassure people and that's why perry is a disaster for the republicans. chris: same thing that gets people to vote for romney rather than perry can get people to vote for obama -- >> right. you have seen that in some of the polling in florida where the president is well ahead of perry with the support of independence but well behind romney with romney getting the support of independence. >> here's the problem. people are not just afraid things aren't going to get better. they're afraid they're going to lose exactly what they already have. >> and that's such a problem. >> this is the terrifying thought, what if this is the new normal. what if these jobs are never coming back from india and china? what if the globalized economy -- what if the advantages the u.s. historically

>> well, i'm gonna go back to george h.w. bush herbert walker. >> yeah, yeah, in fact, the sharks were 7-0 in ,,,,,,,,,,,,

>> well, i'm gonna go back to george h.w. bush>> herbert walker. >> yeah, yeah, in fact, the sharks were 7-0 in the preseason the last time and that was -- >> herbert walker bush. >> is that what? >> yeah, well you know. ,,,, i couldn't afford my health insurance anymore so i just started wearing this helmet instead... which, you know, it's... to me it makes sense. i mean, it can get awkward sure, when you're meeting new people but i just explain to them that i wear it because i dropped my insurance plan, and they're like wow, this is a smart guy. i mean they don't say that out loud, but... [ male announcer ] we know it can be tough out there. that's why we offer a wide range of plans for a wide range of budgets. blue shield. >>> what's her name. >> que okay oh. >> on next with david. >> blue blood, fridays, only on cbs. >> from new york, the greatest city in the world,

george w. bush didn't know much about what policy bill clinton didn't know much more policy when george h.w. bush was the last real expert on foreign policy to be elected president. you know jon huntsman who has about the same chance of winning the nomination as ron paul obviously knows more about war policy but he's not going to nomination. and so i think it's absolutely right that you know we have to look at the guys here is that these people. who are telling them what to say. when residency but again so i don't know that much i don't like. yeah unfortunately i am with you there but i maybe it's normal but it just makes me makes me a little bit nervous makes me a little uncomfortable inside now you mentioned earlier of course one of the statements or at least the statement that anonymous officials have been trying to walk back they came from matter all in was that there is a very close relationship between the i.s.i. and between the carney network something that everybody kind of already knows so then what do you make of this push your rumors at least at the state department to get the kind

you look at george h.w. bush where he said, read my lips, no new taxes and then raised taxes. we have been promised by candidates in the past they would govern as conservatives and then they do things liberals wouldn't even try to do. we're looking for someone who is authentic as a conservative that we can trust. that's why i think you're seeing there's going to be a search for that authentic conservative. whether it be a herman cain or rick santorum, michele bachmann's had her chance up to bat. michele is very authentic in her beliefs but that's where it comes down to, you have to be authentic and you also have to be electable and ready to serve. really take somebody who can ring the bell in all three aspects. that's what republican conservative activists are looking for. herman cain is being tested. i think christie would face the same fate as perry where, you know, he looks good on paper, then you start digging into it and you might find flaws that would make people flee. >> howard, speaking of authenticity in republican politics, mr. donald trump. the candidates have been

george h.w. bush, first gulf war, a tremendous success. everybody thought, hey, he's in. he lost. maureen barracks blown up right near the election, we thought he's going to lose. boom, he won re-election. things change. there is that. we don't see much changing in the economy even by the white house's own predictions. what we're looking at can they sell, as ronald reagan did, the trajectory of things. can we sell things are getting better. not where we want them but on the right path that's where we have to go. >> the president, the big fund-raiser this week, he said his chances of being re-elected in 2012, they are better than his chances of being elected in the first place. sort of telling his supporters, come on, there's a long time nobody thought a guy like me could be elected in the first place. he was trying to inspire confidence that way. diane swonk, she joins us. americans are not motivated to spend. no increase in july retail sales, how important is confidence here at this stage of the economy? >> there's no question on the margin confidence matters a lot. unfortunately

a lot of people argue without perot, he was tied almost in a dead heat with george h.w. bushes a lot of oats away from him. a lot of people argue bill clinton would not have been elected without ross perot. >> the series looks fascinating. can't wait until it's all out in one session as well. i got my tivo already set. >>> if it's wednesday, it is our hump day panel. we got special election results to break down. we'll talk about what this double whammy means for the obama re-election. >>> white house "soup of the day," a good day for this one, chicken noodle soup. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. these nasal allergies are spoiling our picnic. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose. did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nose bleed, and sore throat. got allergy symptoms out of my way. now life's a picnic. [ man ] omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy sympt

. >> remember how george h.w. bush was kind of uncomfortable sometimes? but george w. bush had a winning earnestness about him that overcame his -- >> well, he was great one on one. >> he was great. >> one on one. so was there one too many wars with the guy? >> i have interviewed mitt romney one on one, and maybe it was just me, but it was a difficult interview. >> but you didn't write him a check. you're not going to vote for him, you know? >> there's a statement. pay to play, huh? >> and i know andrew romano, he's a terrific young reporter. >> i see a problem. no man on the left here weighed on to rick perry's bad week yesterday. here he is going after the other frontrunner, and they're getting back even here. let's listen to brit hume here. >> perry really did throw up all over himself during the debate, at a time where he needed to raise his game, and he not only -- he did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates. perry is about one-half a step away from almost total collapse as a candidate. >> i have this idea, not in reference to what brit said

george h.w. bush won in '87. and bob dole won in '95.t on to win the national republican nomination. a new quinnipiac poll that assumes correctly that sarah palin will not be on the ballot shows that amonged florida republican voters texas governor rick perry leads the field with 31%. mitt romney trails with 22%. the rest of the candidates all poll in the single digits. one asked if the primary came down to a choice between perry and romney, florida republicans prefer perry 46% to 38%. when republican and democratic voters in florida were asked if the general election came down to perry and president obama, rick perry, who called social security a ponzi scheme, trails the president 42% to 44%. mitt romney runs stronger one on one against the president, leading president obama in florida 47% to 40%. at the faith and freedom coalition rally in orlando today, the republican candidates reviewed how they will define their candidacies tonight. >> i'm proud to be the son of tenant farmers. and i can tell you one thing. i wasn't born with four a

period there where bill clinton, most of the summer of 1992, was running third behind president george h.w. bushand perot, and then perot dropped out of the race for a while, and then bill clinton picked al gore. they had the most unified democratic convention in my lifetime. clinton emerges from that in the number one spot and i don't know that bill clinton has ever trade a republican in a head-to-head poll since then. >> ifill: all thanks to the guy who lost. let's go back, richard. would any of these losers have made good presidents? >> oh, a number of them. i think henry clay maybe of may be the best president we never had. >> ifill: how is that? >> well, abraham lincoln said he was by ideal of a statesman. he was a constructive force. first part of the 19th century, he's the bridge between alexander hamilton and abraham lincoln. the idea that government had a significant role to pli. i mean, it's curious, conservatives in the 19th century, believed in using government as an agent of capitalist development. >> ifill: not so much now. >> absolutely. just the opposite. clay was like the speake