awhile back "the new york times" republic lishd a letter from george h.w. bushfor president in 1988. the letter is addressed to his son about how bush family members should conduct themselves during the president alcampaign. in the letter the are future president warns that as november draws near, bushes will find they have a lot of new friends. he then goes on, they'll ask for things. do you know anyone at customers? can you call joe doeks at state? this is more from bush. my plea is this, please do not contact any federal agency or department on anything. a call from a bush will get returned, but there is a great likelihood that it will be leaked, maybe deliberately misrepresented. if there is a legitimate inquiry, call my office. it is certainly appropriate to contact your own government, but let's do it through my office so no one can accuse any of the family of trying to use influence. no matter where you stand on the presidency of george bush the elder, it's hard not to take note of the grace, foresight and simple decency of that letter. lights hope this l

i believe it is true that both reagan and george h.w. bush , buted mikael gorbachev

[laughter] bunch, i remember that well because i went to all three of those funerals with george h.w. bush. he was frustrated. all presidents in one form or another, certainly that is true for donald trump, he really wanted -- maybe it wasn't so true for barack obama -- he wanted to sit down with the russian leader and try to work it out. he enjoyed that one-on-one. there was something he said -- he came back from that first he, as they were -- when they were coming to pick them up. him according to to the president, god bless you. , according to president reagan, he saw the gorbachev was wearing a crucifix. to be fair, he had a simplistic view of the russians, the soviets. as being anti-religion. the fact that he saw, here's a , really is religious had a big impact on reagan. i think he felt from that moment .n thatcher famously said, someone he could do business with. before even margaret thatcher mulooney,hev, brian the prime minister of canada, wantedeeting with him, to know about gorbachev. brian said, you know, i thought brezhnev in a $1000 suit. he could not have been more wrong. th

i believe it is true that both reagan and george h.w. bush , buted mikael gorbachev gorbachev was a very different soviet leader than president putin as a russian leader, one dedicated to reforms, democratizing the soviet union, removing forces of soviet foreign policy. i believe the praise for gorbachev was fully deserved. i think today any praise for putin is probably not deserved. host: in researching this book, what did you learn about yourself? guest: that is a good question. i learned i had a pretty good memory, although i did have to rely on wikipedia and google to make sure i got my anecdotes in the right order. you remember things but you don't maneuver quite what year it was. -- don't remember quite what year it was. lanes a trip down memory and it was satisfying to dredge up these anecdotes and stories and conclusions. certainly, looking back, felt it was five decades well spent. host: a quick call from james from denton, texas. you get the last word with james dobbins. good morning. caller: good morning. mr. dobbins, i think you a

i believe it is true that both reagan and george h.w. bush, buted mikael gorbachev gorbachev was a very different soviet leader than president putin as a russian leader, one dedicated to reforms, democratizing the soviet union, removing forces of soviet foreign policy. i believe the praise for gorbachev was fully deserved. i think today any praise for putin is probably not deserved. host: in researching this book, what did you learn about yourself? guest: that is a good question. i learned i had a pretty good memory, although i did have to rely on wikipedia and google to make sure i got my anecdotes in the right order. you remember things but you don't maneuver quite what year it was. -- don't remember quite what year it was. lanes a trip down memory and it was satisfying to dredge up these anecdotes and stories and conclusions. certainly, looking back, felt it was five decades well spent. host: a quick call from james from denton, texas. you get the last word with james dobbins. good morning. caller: good morning. mr. dobbins, i think you ar

joe watkins, republican strategist and white house aide to george h.w. bush and rick tyler, now an msnbc political analyst. guys, good to see you all. rick, i've got to get right to this profanity-laced tirade against priebus and steve bannon. should anthony scaramucci be the one looking for a new job today after whether the new chief of staff, general kelly, will tolerate being a baby-sitter day after day. i think scaramucci has other problems. he has a company for sale he only has one chinese buyer for. it's a very ten use situation. it may be all too convenient he has to leave anyway. i don't know how it's tolerable to have someone who so crudely disparaged the seniors adviser to the president and if californkelly does not control the charge -- >> if that's the director's way of communicating, certainly there's scrutiny. the white house chief of staff chop is all about politics. the fact that the general's background is not political, does that put him at a disadvantage? >> not necessarily. for the most part a chief of staff really understands his or her p

there was nothing about the way he cracked down, and his corruption, the kinds of things that george h.w. bushbush, clinton, obama, all pushed back on the universal western human rights that applies to everyone and the russian government. >> he went to asia the last time before his european trip. he went to poland first, they bussed in 15,000 people, they say trump, trump, trump. they control dissent, where it's not about democracy. then he goes to g-20 and meets with vladimir putin, to go in and try and delegitimize the rush -- if you air putin who wants a more multipolish system where everybody has influence in their backyard. russia doesn't get bothered by the americans, china's their biggest problem. but look at trump's tweet this morning where he says until we have movement on ukraine and syria, i can't move on sanctions. look at what he had to say to the russians, had to at least say, look i actually did push them on the hacks. we know he doesn't care about the hacks, we know there are no consequences, but the reality of these investigations which are only going to pick up steam constrai

you could find some similarities between barack obama, bill clinton, george h.w. bush, george w. d others. not just on policy, but specific way that they approached the job. president trump has taken a very different look. you couldn't think of two more opposite figures in temperament, personality and outlook on life than president trump and president obama. president obama was reserved, not a people person, not given to bombastic statements, sometimes cautious to a fault. sometimes his own staff would grow frustrated with the lengthy policy reviews before he would come to a decision. he was a very controlled, disciplined figure. president trump is the opposite. he is impulse unrestrained. there are no unfiltered thoughts. he is unmanaged by his staff, something some of his supporters is a good thing. he has decided to govern basically the way he ran his reality show. an ad hoc, very much kind of sometimes unprecedented type of presidency. susan: but barack obama, to offer the counterpoint, also came into office determined to undo george bush's legacy. he talked about restoring am

george w. bush and george h.w. bush and barack obama all passed major pieces of legislation, why not president trump? we have a presidential hisser to ran whhis -- historian, who said that president trump is dealing with a dc disfunction never before seen. ron hainsey go reagan got tax cuts passed in his first year in office. bill clinton was able to get a family medical leave initiative done. george w. bush got a tax cut, and obama passing a stimulus bill. what is difference with president trump? president trump has a smaller republican majority than the democrat majorities, enjoyed by clinton and obama. now ronald reagan, and the bushes had democrat horse traders and wheeler dealers. in a were willinthey were willing to get deals done, instead president trump has to deal with chuck schumer, nancy pelosi, bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, they all created the now collapses obamacare. they will not take responsibility for it. >> president trump's blame game makes him look small and diminished. people will just begin

you were press secretary in the reagan and the george h.w. bush ut white house.hat do you make of this. >> it's not a surprise. mr. spicer lost the confidence of the president and he couldn't stay in that role anymore. now you have a new communications director and he was going to be basically put into a closet and do talking points. it's no surprised that he left. it was only a matter of time. >> you have done this job. you have seen -- how do you characterize how sean spicer did the job? what does it say about the divisions in the trump white house? you have got jared and ivanka pushing the new guy, anthony scaramucci. reince priebus looks on the outs. it looks like a disaster. >> well, it's an audience of one. i think that the president didn't think that mr. spicer was defending him and appropriately putting his messages forward and he felt compelled to do it him on his twitter. i'm not sure anybody can live up to what the president's expectations are. being the communications director is a big job arc hard job. >> he has to have relationships with the press e

. - george h.w. bush. - that was the last person. - is the exception that proves the rule. - that's right so when you start thinking about the framework of that, it was always gonna be tough. secondly, there's no question that something was in the air in 2016, populism, to a certain extent nationalism, this idea of america first that trump ran on. - russia. - russia, we don't know what the impact of that was or wasn't right now, but yeah, it's conceivable that that contributed, of course. so i think that the overall dynamics of the race, if somebody were looking back on it, they would say that they were not good for democrats. - easier to see now when you look back over the totality of it. - and trump was an unconventional candidate. he also did a very good job of, and i think here is where the russian influence and social media influences comes into play, they did a very good job, and by very good, i mean effective, of smearing hillary clinton. basically on social media, they turned hillary clinton into

all three would later be reunited on george h.w. bush's presidential campaign two years later. even with this topnotch group and a tremendous personal effort, both jim and mary agreed election night was tense. tense. it got to the point where mary could no longer sit around waiting for the returns. as she recalled, when i get nervous, i go shopping. to which jim replied and then i get nervous. ultimately there was no need for them to be anxious. jim won handily 55-44 which in our line of work is a nice margin. not long into his house tender he secured a seat on the house ways and means committee with jurisdiction over taxes and many entitlement programs. committee assignments are much more important than in the senate. it's a reflection of how floor proceedings operate in both chambers. in the house the rules traditions ensure that. the setting with which individual lawmakers typically exercise influence is in the committee. while house members can introduce any bills they want, house leadership and the rules committee with few exceptions decide which bills come to the floor an

the kinds of things that george h.w. bush, george w., clinton, obama all pushed russia on the difference between the west universal human rights, right, which apply to everyone, and the way the russian government behaves. and there was none of that. >> he went to saudi arabia before he went to europe on the last trip. the reason for that, they promote him. they controlled. he's transactional, doesn't care about human rights. he went to poland first. they bus in 15,000 people, and say trump, trump, trump. they control dissent, where it's not about democracy. then he goes to g20 and meets with vladimir putin, to go in and try and delegitimize the russian system is a win for putin. the other thing that's a win for putin is the fact that the united states gets more divided. divided internally. divided from the transatlantic relationship and europe is divided, too. if you're putin, who wants a more multipolar system where everyone has a sphere of influence in their backyard, russian doesn't get bothered by the americans. china is their bigge

george w. bush. george h.w. bush different than clinton. it's interesting.s a bit of a mind-number to me, john podesta on a road trip with his wife. we find out on twitter because he decides to respond to twitter. the president tweets and john a podesta says i'm on a road trip with my wife to see our whack jop potus, president of the united states, from john podesta, is tweeting about me at the g-20. get a grip, man. the russians commit add crime when they stole my e-mails to help get you elected. by the way, i have nothing to do with the dnc. dude, get your head in the game. you're resting the united states at the g-20. >> may be the first time john podesta's ever used the word "dude." >> it was his evil twin. >> a major topic of conversation. yeah. >> but this is, again -- >> speaking of the, the base. right? i don't know. i agree, i don't know if there's a grand strategy, to the extent, when donald trump uses twitter he's speaking to a different audience. right? it's not really meant to be conveyed to the leaders of the g-20. >> speaking to the base, an h

george w. bush talking how bill clinton and george h.w. e good friends, clinton didn't lord over his father. a loaded appearance. george w. bush's brother beating, both presidents, you know, they're watching the white house closely. >> of course they are. let's not forget, both former presidents bush did not vote for donald trump. it's been reported. so you know, this is the personification of the sort of bipartisan establishment that was so against trump that was so convinced he couldn't win and now is so distressed by his behavior in office, and i think given that his whole campaign was premised on toppling this entire cabal, i don't think trump is listening to these gu s s. >> exactly right. what donald trump beat, willingly, gladly, what he ran against sitting on that stage right there true, and at events, easy to feel bipartisan and be chumming they're not in office. their presidencies weren't exactly golden eras of bipartisanship either's inpower, go on attack, seize attacks, and now retired sitting in nice, comfortable chairs, easier

seven of 11 sitting presidents, including george h.w. bush and bill clinton have attended the annual scouting event. >>> the girl scouts want more women to take up stem careers. the organization is adding 23 badges related to science, engineering, math and the out doors. they can design model race cars, write code and take environment tally conscious camping trips to earn their badges. engaging girls this stem goes a long way in helping them in careers. >>> now we move forward towards truly great health care for the american people. >> this has john mccain returns to the senate after his brain cancer diagnosis. >>> drought and wildfires tear across parts of europe and now even the food. water. internet. we need it to live. but what we don't need are surprises, like extra monthly fees. i see you, fee, played by legendary actress anjelica huston. you got me, mark. we just want fast internet for one, simple rate. for all the streaming and the shopping and the newsing, but most of all... for the this. internet for one everyday simple price and no

and her sister ship, the george h.w. bushinto the wind in the mediterranean, while the ronald reagan stands watch over the western pacific. and yes these ships stand as a , symbol of united states strength and united states resolve. they are our nation's great instrument of security and of goodwill. so, skipper, as we marvel about dauntingology and numbers of this ship never lose , sight that, in time of crisis, you will be the first to respond. and when called upon, you will deliver the final word in the bidding of our nation. whenever you sail, wherever you sail, you will be a symbol of united states resolve, and you will be a symbol of the man whose name you bear. so, steady she goes. there is truly nothing like it in the world today. godspeed, gerald r. ford. god bless her sponsor, who gives you strength. and god bless these united states that you will defend. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, secretary. ladies and gentlemen, the honorable james mattis, secretary of defense. [applause] secretary mattis: ladies and gentl

would have been difficult for me to be and richards in 1994 because i spent my time defending george h.w. bush in the last two years of his presidency. by losing, it it enabled my brother jeb and me to run on our on. >> both of you ran for congress and you both lost. you had that in common, but maybe you lost when you are beating in incoming congressmen. did you say i am out of politics? former president clinton: i got a break in a way. in the house the democrats did well in 1974. president nixon resigned, but i ran against a congressman -- he had an 85% approval rating and 99% name recognition. i was 0-0 and he beat me 51-48. it is the best thing that ever happened to me and we wound up being friends too. the district we ran and had the highest amount of gasoline use because it was so rural and you had to boost up -- people do not do it anymore. you have to do retail campaigning. i lend 75% about politics -- i learned some effect percent about politics at that time. >> hillary rodham clinton helped you in that campaign. did you think that she would stay down in arkansas in marry you because a

george w. bush and bill clinton and george h.w. bush, blah, blah, blah, had all done this.ut this is so jarring because it's so classically presidential and so un-trumplike. >> can we go back 60 seconds to a ruling by tweet? drop the tweet with the beleague beleaguered a.g. i think the president and the ag haven't spoken since the president threw him under the bus and said i wouldn't have hired him if i had known he would be involved in the russian investigation. calling your a.g. beleagueured, how do you interpret that? >> i think there is no doubt he's trying to push him out. his underlying message is, i think, i really would like a new a.g. it's open to interpretation that he wants an a.g. who has not recused himself, that he'll have his own personal charge overseeing the investigation. i think that's what's going on. it's hard to know for sure. >> if you're jeff sessions, what are you thinking? >> you've, i'm sure, seen the apprentice, brooke. >> you're fired? >> no. at the end, the last two remaining contestants are there and usually they bring in all the losing contes

>> in 1988, george h.w. bush is running to take on the reagan mantle. ge bush holding the bag. >> when the president calls, some come running. all agree the savings and loan crisis an urgent problem. >> could they be bailed out without a tax increase? >> i don't think there is, and that's the conclusion of most people. >> bush had to fill this smoking hole and the only way to do that is pass new legislation. because now we had to start dipping into taxpayer money. >> the only bailout is for depositors, not bad bankers. >> no one needs to worry about one nickel in those institutions. >> this legislation says to tens of millions of s&l depositors, you will not be the victim of other's mistakes. thank you all very much. and now i'm proud to sign this monster. >> essentially, george bush is covering the biggest overdraft in history. >> bush caves. he raises taxes. that kills him politically, but saves america economically. >> listen carefully to this number. $500 billion. that's the latest estimate of what the failure of hundreds of federally insured savings

they thought george h.w. bush deserved a second term.inning, they were not going to work with him. >> president clinton said today he's very pleased with his first year in office, but not a bit happy about how it's ending, under a cloud of controversy over his personal life and business dealings. >> the white house is anticipating questions about whitewater. >> the whitewater controversy. >> whitewater. >> whitewater. >> whitewater affair. >> the president, the first lady, a bad real estate deal, a failed s&l. >> whitewater, nobody knew what it was. >> the story begins in 1978. hillary and bill clinton when he was governor of arkansas invested in a land development project. it was a fiasco. >> the clintons say they lost almost $70,000. their partners are the focus of widening federal and congressional investigations. >> the press starts asking more and more questions. who was involved? where did the money go? what happened to all the records? >> the more puzzling questions may concern whether the white house engaged in a cover up. >> in

. >> the closest presidential relationship is george h.w. bush and clinton.nk literally ran against each other. and now they have this incredibly close relationship. for some reason the oval office humbles people at times, and that has not happened with donald trump. he's on an island. >> president obama said he thought -- he said that the office has a way of sort of creating gravity or just bringing you to a place where it changes your mind about what's at stake. >> we're only six months in, so perhaps things will change. this was such as interesting conversation. we could go on and on. >> i wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't, though, pamela. >> again, nothing surprises me anymore. thank you to the three of you. >>> shane spicer's return to the podium moments ago as we get really to hear the white house briefing. stay with us. >>> plus a woman calls 911 to report a possible assault. when cops arrive, she's shot dead by police. what happened here? the event that led up to the shooting, up next. ompany won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the

--ler: i vote republican first i voted for was george h.w. bush.hen he betrayed us when he said "read my lips." host: you identify as a democrat now echo caller: yes i do because i am angry at republicans for being such pansies when they should be standing up to help donald trump. host: charles is democrat. what does it the democratic party stand for? democratic party stands for the average person in this country where is the republican party -- i guess i can't talk about invoking party on this call. host: you can talk about whatever you want to. caller: the people who called in on the hook inside to find it in my book. term limits are ridiculous. when we go to the polls, that determines term limits. we have a right to vote for whoever we want and the government to get the hell out of the business of dictating who we vote for. in oure said the calls first half hour to find think the republican party stands for and what did you mean? they are for corporate enterprise, corporate business. host: you heard that in the calls from the first half-hour? ca

george h.w. bush, when he was cia director, i think was responsible for putting that statement there. and that is a hallowed hall. you know all know that with the tars on the wall of those, some of whom still can't be identified, who gave their lives to keep this country safer. but we need the most robust intelligence community we can field, pete and i worked on helping to reshape it in 2004 after the failures of 9/11 and the iraq wmd analysis and i think we reshaped it in a better way. the director of national intelligence authorities are not perfect. it was congress for gosh sakes. but we worked closely together. we were two of the so-called big four working on that bill. the authorities are adequate to give the i.c. tools that it needs to do its best job. not a perfect job, there is no such thing as a 100% security and you just heard that the terrorists are very agile and try to work beyond us. and we have to scramble to keep up. pete is exactly right about red teaming, by the way. so my bottom lin

. >> abby: there's a reason why every president starting with george h.w. bush, they put their options on the table and they say we have filled a diplomatic option because nobody wants to have a second war with north korea. nobody wants to go down that path. you think about south korea and japan. they're the ones that are going to be hit. if you put military action on north korea, they're the ones that are going to the targets. that's my president trump to say he does or does not have a plan, it's different whenever the commander-in-chief sitting there looking at your options. you realize how complicated this situation is. and how important it is to work with china, even with russia, you forget the russia borders north korea as well. >> meghan: he uses antagonistic language. there is a ramping up and the idea that sooner or later we will get to some kind of showdown, all indications point to the fact that it's going to happen. i always go to madison mcmaster. they're completely brilliant individuals. history, unfortunately ling from behind, has led to the point

he proves early on to understand the major vulnerability of george h.w. bushe economy. >> that's why today i proudly announce my candidacy for president of the united states of america. >> americans compete for fewer jobs and unemployment will be growing again by election day. >> 83,000 jobs gone. >> 140,000 americans became unemployed. >> i know the pain up here. i have heard about the lost homes and the shattered lives. we had won the cold war and i thought instead of putting countries abroad first, it was time that we started looking out for our own country and our own people and all of these things led me to believe if nobody is going to do it, i think i might. >> we are tomorrow. so i am declaring my candidacy to the republican nomination for president of the united states. >> pat buchanan is a super smart guy who worked in the nixon administration and pushing nixon to the right. pat buchanan became george bush's worst nightmare. he starts talking to the american people who are feeling a little unsure as the reagan prosperity engine sputters. >> while geo

it would've been difficult and 1994 because i would've spent my time defending president george h.w. bush. by losing, it enabled brother run on our owno for governor in our respective states. host: both of you ran for congress the first time you rant and you both lost. you are trying to beat an incumbent compass minerals and you lost. incumbenty, -- congressman and you lost. did you say, i'm done what politics -- with politics? pres. clinton: iran against a congressman who was -- i ran against a congressman who was one of his father's friends. -- a 99% approval rate. we wound up being friends. this district we ran in had the highest amount of gasoline used for registered vehicles in america. you had to do stuff people don't do anymore. learned 75% of what i know about politics in that first race. host: it was that time hillary clinton came and helped you in the campaign. did you think at that time she would stay in arkansas and mary you? thensas was not considered place that was the center of the universe, exactly. pres. clinton: i did not know. having just one step at a time, i asked her

buchanan: i challenge george h.w. bush, 10 weeks before the new hampshire primary in 1972 and my sister and i went up to challenge the president of the united states in the new hampshire primary. when i got up there, the polls showed bush at 65-70%, the cannon at 16%, and even duke at 6% in the polls. we ran a tough campaign against bush, state of their constantly, and he closed the gaps at 50 or some odd points at 15 points. 51-37 or something like that. it was a tremendous moral victory and the press played it up huge. we went to georgia and did almost as well, then we had super tuesday and there were eight areas. i got wiped out in every single one. so nixon was in new jersey and i lost 10 in a row. i called nixon in new jersey, and i said mr. president, 10 for 10, not bad, eh? [laughter] he says, buchanan, you are the only extremist i note with a -- the only extremist i know with a sense of humor. come on up, bring shelley and bring your secret service detail. it was a pleasant visit i had with the old man. that was tw

george w. bush, george h.w. bush and so on, not necessarily just on policy but specific ways they approach the job. president trump has taken a very different look at that. you couldn't think of two more opposite figures in temperament, personality and outlook on life than president trump and president obama. president obama was reserved, not a people person, not given to bombastic statements, sometimes cautious to a fault. sometimes his own staff would grow frustrated by the lengthy policy reviews before he finally came to a decision, but he was a very, you know, controlled, disciplined figure. president trump is the opposite. he's impulse, unrestrained, there are no unfiltered thoughts. he sun managed by his staff, something his supporters think is a good thing, and he has decided to basically govern in the way he ran his reality television show. it's basically a very much ad hoc kind of sometimes unprecedented sort of, you know, type of presidency. >> glasser: yeah, but barack obama, just to offer the counterp