in a few moments, we will hear from george mitchell who served under george bush.lobal news 24 hours a day, online and at tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. david: thank you. president george herbert walker bush was placed yesterday in the capitol rotunda and there was a ceremony. the current majority leader recalled something the late president said at his yunnan duration. >> 30 years ago, on the west front of this capital, george herbert walker bush addressed the nation for the first time as our president. meet on democracies front porch. a good place to talk as neighbors." >> we meet on democracy's front porch, a good place to talk as neighbors and his friends, for this is a day when our nation is made whole. when our differences are suspended. david: welcome now the man who served as senate majority leader during the term of george bush. welcome. sen. mitchell: thank you for having me. david: you heard what that president said, to talk as neighbors. sometimes you dis

bush's presidency, george mitchell.on meacham, i'd like to start with you since you spent so much time with the former president. what was he like as a person, as a leader, and to that question that we raised at the end, are we going to see somebody like that again? >> there was an innate grace to george h.w. bush. he was nicknamed papi as a child. he and his father had the same name. more interestingly, he was called half half bush because when he had a candy bar he'd cut it in half and give it to the other kid. >> better than i was. >> better than most of us. he knew that to whom much is given, much is expected. and he came out of that ethos of the roosevelts. he very much believed that he had been given an enormous amount in life and, therefore, owed everything he could to the country. it started when he was 18 years old. on his 18th birthday, he turned 18, graduated from high school and joined the united states navy. on that saturday. >> and he enlisted in the navy instead of going to college right away? >> exactly.

i talked with george mitchell, who brought peace to northern ireland. in both cases, they did it by introducing people to other people who they hated. >> i actually have a clip. you want to play it? we can play your clip from george mitchell. >> i said, "listen, we're gonna be here we don't know how long, but these are long days and nights. we're gonna eat our meals together. and what i'm asking you is, during the meals, no talk about business." they said, "well, what are we gonna talk about?" i said, "well, talk about your kids. talk about your wives. talk about your dogs. talk about your vacations. what do human beings talk about when they're not involved in negotiations to try to end a war?" it was awkward at first, but then it kind of worked. >> and it's over and over again. and the funny thing is, it doesn't just work with people you hate. it works with people you love. >> okay, well, let's talk about people you hate, though. >> [ laughs ] >> i mean, 'cause i've been listening to our conversation so far, and i'm thinking i can see easily where this

john harwood, we talked with george mitchell about some of george h.w.ts, the clean air act. one we didn't talk about was the nafta free trade agreement signed by bill clinton was negotiated under george h.w. bush and of course, on the day that he passed, the new version of that was being signed down at the g 20. how much of our free trading system is part of the legacy? >> a significant part. he was an internationalest and the passing of the free trade legacy, not just from h.w. bush but from regan who initiated the talks that led to nafta then to george h.w. bush whose administration negotiated them and then to clinton that passed them then to bush who continued and extended them, that's the example of something else that we've lost, which is the continuity of government. you've had even as the white house changes parties, a lot of durable achievements and one of those was an open trading system. in fact, president obama with the chance pacific partnership. president trump made a big show of ripping up the chantranspaci partnership and said he would re

former senate leader, george mitchell, will share his memories of that time, next. u'lf thinking you've done everything for his well being. but meningitis b progresses quickly and can be fatal, sometimes within 24 hours. while meningitis b is uncommon, about 1 in 10 infected will die. like millions of others, your teen may not be vaccinated against meningitis b. meningitis b strikes quickly. be quick to talk to your teen's doctor about a meningitis b vaccine. to put on our website? i mean i would have but i'm a commercial vehicle so i don't have hands... or a camera...or a website. should we franchise? is the market ready for that? can we franchise? how do you do that? meg! oh meg! we should do that thing where you put the business cards in the fishbowl and somebody wins something. -meg: hi. i'm here for... i'm here for the evans' wedding. -we've got the cake in the back, so, yeah. -meg: thank you. -progressive knows small business makes big demands. -you're not gonna make it, you're not gonna make it! ask her if we can do her next wedding too! -so we'll design the insurance solution th

a democrat congress so, you know, we had to deal with speaker foli, deal with majority leader george mitchell, so we had reached across the aisle to get support for what we wanted to do and look at what we did. we got budgets passed, clean air comprehensive clean air, legislation, disabilities, and then the resolution from the congress particularly in the senate, the house was easy to go and put him back into iraq, because we had to pick-up 10 democrats in the united states senate to support us to get a majority vote and we had the majority leader george mitchell was opposed to us, the chairman of the senate armed services opposed to us, we had a lot of very important people in the senate that were opposed to us on this resolution so we had to work hard to get democrats to support us and sometimes divided government works. it clearly worked in our administration and you can get things done if you reach across the aisle and work hard. maria: and even on a personal level, he did things without theatrics so drama. president bush died nearly seven and a half months after his wife of 73 years, bar

i use to throw stuff at the televisionon to george mitchell when i thought it was inappropriate. the founders created that tension just between the executive and the legislativebu then you add the partisan there is tension but it wasn't that long ago that tip o'neill and ronald reagan those ties and bonds it wasn't just reagan it was all parts of congress and the executives. i traveled on - - i try to tell people about politics it is worse than you think because politics is a reflection. it is not creating and then a reflection so you want to solve washington's problem and then to reach across the partisan? and if you are conservative likeke i am and if you are a liberal read that page of the "wall street journal" it will warm your heart. [laughter] and lift yourim spirits to give you hope and optimism. [laughter] [applause] . >> now i have to start liking maureen dowd. [laughter] >>host: but it is true when your father got to washington as a junior member of the house there was a bond that a lot of those people have because they served in world war i to together - - world war ii

because george mitchell. says the men discussed a recent night out. first can move the focus to kill me if it was on the press corps i'm for food and sit in the crew force you to clean grease which is very typical most notably cruise it will because because it is so opinion or even you know if you force the boss to fall off which if sufficiently it will just make a sip of your fist your glass of peace only to look at circulars for the bucket. to be sheeted optional to continue. to feed. the failure of the far east when by the recession you have to deal with usually. the man who led the violence against the arab youths is least. rescission but if you come to it why should. there. be a moment you don't refuse your body from. its. surface it will keep. you cool. bones move which will be just one more tool was. that. while the. generation identity's roots are in france the group rose to prominence when it occupied a mosque in twenty eight. that has called. for a national referendum on the slim integration. question there are a generation identity fronts i

i mean, i used to throw stuff at the television when george mitchell would do things that i thought was inappropriate or whoever the speaker was, i can't even remember now. gephardt maybe? i don't know. there was, the founders created that tension just between the executive and the legislative, then you add the partisan component, there's always that tension. but it wasn't that long ago that tip o'neill, ronald reagan example is the one used, but it wasn't that long ago those ties, those bonds went way beyond tip o'neill and ronald reagan. it was across, you know, all parts of the congress and the executive. so, look, we're -- what i try to tell people as they try to sort of scratch their head, you know, about washington and about politics is it's worse than you think because this is, politics is a reflection -- see? you don't like it, right? [laughter] well, here's my, this is my admonition. politics is not creating our culture, politics is a reflection of our culture, and our culture is more vulgar and more coarse. and so if you want to solve washington's problem, to a certain extent

because george mitchell. says the men discussed a recent night out. first in one of the sticky tables for the press corps are who food is insisting the crew. is very very notably cruise it will because beauty is. proving you know if. you fall off with me for just a little is it really just sit. on your fist. pieces told me to look for. shelter for the question you know.

they have resolved terrible or horrendous issues like fighting in northern ireland i talked with george mitchell senator mitchell, he had a technique that others have used that during the day at the conference table arguing and yelling at one another he said you cannot talk business during this dinner. what can we talk about? your families, your children, your dog but just not what were here to work out so they got to know one another as people that the next day was harder to yell so that's how you solve generations of murder. i hear that from the hostage negotiator were those that goes to israeli women and palestinian women bringing them to a place where they experience together and pair them up and it is a revelation to both of them how they can make contact with one another as humans and not have to bring up those issues that divide them then that is seen in a new light so i talk to people when they disagree politically i don't want to counter their arguments but i want to know why they feel that way. what is underneath? why do they do it? we all feel with something political it is equivalent

george mitchell he said was the most partisan man in washington. george h.w.h believed in the idea of service and governments working together uncompromising in the end result was what was important to him. as such he didn't fight back against any of the criticism, just like us didn't and i think those two facts, the fact that there was more attempt to cooperation, no attempt to defend themselves against some of the most outrageous charges that were they were faced with by the media. it is not the things that led to donald trump. republican voters have just been frustrated that candidates they elected don't fight back. republican candidates don't buy back they are also not defending republican voters. here comes trump doing what republican voters have wished republican candidates would do for 25 or 30 years. it is really not a mystery why he won. >> shannon: to that point, we've heard so much about the bush family being very modest and saying, it is not about you." in frag to the point where the speechwriter for bush in the 92 campaign lamented the fact that t

senator george mitchell is coming up. this is bloomberg. ♪ there's no place like home ♪ argh!ippiekiyay. ♪ mom. ♪ david: from bloomberg world headquarters in new york i'm , david westin. welcome to "balance of power." kevin cirilli will be here on the german automakers meeting with president trump. sarah mcgregor on the china trade truce. and therese raphael on europe, telling britain it is not too late to change its mind. we will start in washington. sara, thank you for being here. explain what is going on. we that we came away from the dinner knowing what happened, but it is getting murkier. sarah: we have had officials sort of blanketing the airwaves and speaking to journalists nonstop over the past couple days, and rather than clarifying details, they are really selling more confusion. we saw larry kudlow say today that actually the announcement yesterday, or on sunday over twitter that china had agreed to lower auto tariffs, that has not been signed, sealed and delivered. so they are already backtracking on promises. and we had

mitchell. and r andrea, let me ask you about the piece over which george h.w. bush presided. tell us about how the circumstances differed then from now? >> the peace and don't forget the first gulf war and the way with that he executed it. i think he was preeminent in two regards. in foreign policy and creating great coalitions, coalitions that helped us fight that war. and as james baker would later privately say, they negotiated so many contributors from japan to the saudis. against saddam hussein that they may have turned a profit on it because america itself did not pay for the gulf war but more importantly that there was a lasting legacy from that. they did not go into baghdad. he resisted some pressure to do exactly that. and he also built a domestic legacy in terms of the budget deal that perhaps doomed his re-election but led to decades of prosperity. decades of prosperity despite a recession that did spoil the last year of his presidency. but the pay as you go agreement that came out of that andrews air force base bipartisan negotiation, he knew it would create polit

because george mitchell. says the men discuss a recent night out. first to move the focus to keep serial newville on the press corps are all food and sit in the crew to clean grease which is very typical notably cruise it will because. it is so freaking you know if possible to fall off which before comes the vision hopefully it will just sit. in a few store pieces only to look for. shelter for the question you know. the failure. is from the recession. to always usually. the man who led the violence against the arab youths is least. rescission but if you're caught a bit why should. he which kicked a movie a moment you don't refuse you got a freak. mr president. was able to cool. bones move which will be. was. a. generation identity's roots are in france the group rose to prominence when it occupied a mosque in twenty eight. that has called for a national referendum on muslim immigration. when there are a generation identity fronts is the main battleground in europe that's quite simply because the muslim community in the country is the largest in euro

we need george schultz or bill perry or george mitchell negotiating things and hopefully he'll find someone better than mattis to replace him. >> you mentioned the saudi-led yar in yemen, backed by the u.s., in terms of equipment and arms sales. mattis was a huge defender. you have been one of the people in congress working most doggedly to try to end that. there's a successful war powers resolution that passed the senate. the house, paul ryan killed it in the obscure rules maneuver. what happens in the new year in the democratic congress on the yemen front? >> we're going to pass it. nancy pelosi is going to bring up a vote in january. it's going to pass the house. with republican support. it's going to overwhelmingly pass the senate. i hope the president will sign it. there is a humanitarian catastrophe in yemen, kids are dying every ten minutes. we need to stop the bombing. and we need to allow food and medicine. we're going to make that a huge priority as soon as we're back in january. >> do you have concerns about the fact there's an acting now who's going to take over department of de

kingdom between catholics and protestants, the good friday agreement reached by former senator george mitchell in the clinton administration created open borders between northern ireland, part of the uk, and the republic of ireland, and that has been incredibly important to keep the peace. it's meant the free flow over dozens and dozens of checkpoints of goods and services and of people. the problem is if brexit succeeds, since northern ireland is part of the united kingdom, they will be out of the european union, and so the irish backstop plan has been created in which, for a transition period, those borders will continue to be open, allowing the free flow of people and goods. theresa may says that can't last forever and the hard line brexiteers say if we postpone this for too long, we will always keep this. so that's what it's all about. that's why she has not been able to even call for a vote, because the plan she reached includes this irish backstop. liz: we know markets hate uncertainty and as a business network, we saw the other day when word came that she would face this no-confidence v

senator george mitchell as special envoy to northern ireland and he shared the all party peace negotiation over a number of years which led to the good friday accords. his work along with his successor were crucial to the success of the talks. and the execution of the agreement. in the u.s. congress a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including our colleague, richard neal of springfield, massachusetts, were frequent visitors and participants during the negotiation answer to think day mr. neal and bipartisan members of the friends of ireland caucus which i am a member continue to monitor the progress and success of the good friday accords and are deeply, deeply concerned that brexit, if it reinstates a hard border on the island of ireland will undo one of the great diplomatic successes of our team. the successful results of the peace agreement cannot be denied. during the trubblets which preceded the accords, over 3,600 residents of the six counties of the north lost their lives due to sectarian violence. 763 service members of the british government in the northern irish government lost their

you have to remember he had george mitchell as majority leader then, fighting him every step of the way. paul: i became a more partisan era. when we come back, president trump signs a new trade deal with mexico and canada, calling it a big win for american workers. can he get the deal through congress? ok everyone! our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition... for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-six vitamins and minerals. ensure. now up to 30 grams of protein for strength and energy! i've always been amazed and still going for my best, even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin... i want that too. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. what's next? reeling in a nice one. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can

. >> he also had a very canny adversary in george mitchell. >> what do you mean by that? he was an extremely shrewd legislature. >> i heard the word candy. not canny. >> george herbert walker bush had minimum legislative experience, when he said, raise taxes and cut spending, they took the taxes and didn't stop the spending. >> he did. but on the house side, he worked and built coalitions. spent hours at the negotiating table, it was real negotiating. they came to an understanding -- i will admit, some people on the republican said it was revenue enhancement, not new taxes, but it violated the deal, and the president understood the consequence that was likely to come. i don't think he did a good enough job of describing the success and the discipline that was being introduced into congress and the executive -- >> was that his fatal flaw, his inability to boast? he wasn't boastful? he didn't know how to do it well? >> i think he also, though, by the time he reaches re-election time, he's being undermined from three different directions. the conservatives are abandoning him

because george mitchell. says. it's the men discuss a recent night out. the first to move the focus to kill me if it was on the press corps i'm full food and sit in the crew to clean grease which is very typical movie notably cruise it will because if you did it is so craven you know if you force the boss to fall off which if i'm sufficiently it will just sit. in a few stores close up pieces for me to look at seventy kilometers for the book. to she'd optional for the question you know from. the failure of the eastern bible for one session. to do it was usually. the man who led the violence against the arab youths least. rescission but if you come to. my shit you know. which will motivate you don't refuse you body from. several. bones move which will be. was. milo. generation identity's roots are in france. the group rose to prominence when it occupied a mosque in twenty eight. that has called for a national referendum on the slim integration. pushing their astronauts a generation identity front is their main battleground in europe that's quite simply beca

because george mitchell. says the men discussed a recent night out. the first to move the focus to keep their home if it was for the press corps on who food and sit in the crew to clean grease which is very typical maybe notably cruise it will because because it is so opinion or even you know if possible to fall off with me if i'm sufficient or is it really just me consider. a few story pieces for me to look at circulars for the book. shelter for the question you know. if they are looking for a somebody would say to you it. was usually. the man who led the violence against the arab youths is ready for least. rescission but if you're coming. why should come. for. the movie the moment you don't refuse you've got a freak. accident or. worse. bones move which will be just one more tool was. one. of the. generation identities roots are in france the group rose to prominence when it occupied a mosque in twenty eight. than has called for a national referendum on muslim immigration. and there are a generation identity fronts is their main battleground in euro

because george mitchell. says the men discussed a recent night out. the first to move the focus to keep their home if it was on the press for a course on who food and sit in the crew to clean grease but is very typical most notably cruise it was because because it is so clean you know if possible to fall off which before constitutional principles will just make us see. a few story pieces only to look at circulars for. shelter for the question you know from. the failure of the far east with the recession. was usually. the man who led the violence against the arab youths is ready for least. the issue of rescission but if you're caught a bit more should come up for. which the movie the moment you don't refuse you've got a freak. mr president. mr. bones the job is just one more tool was. the. generation identities roots are in france the group rose to prominence when it occupied a mosque in price. that has called for a national referendum on muslim immigration. laws in the us read a generation identity from is their main battleground in europe that's quit

it was tip o'neill, george mitchell, it was ted kennedy, and he related to people, because he had a deep and abiding sense of humility. he knew who he was, from start to finish in life, he had a great sense of himself, and so he carried himself with an ease that i think made him accessible to people regardless of their backgrounds. >> yes, i remember going up to maine to see him on one occasion, and you're absolutely positively correct. walker stapleton, thanks so much for join can usion and sharing your memories. >> thank you, wolf. appreciate it. thank you so much. >> thank you. and please join cnn later tonight, as we honor the life and legacy of george h.w. bush. we begin at 8:00 p.m. iran with a cnn special report. remembering 41. just ahead, our other big story that is unfolding right now, president trump having what the produce describes as an informal conversation with the russian president vladimir putin, after president trump canceled a planned meeting between the two men. what are we learning right now about this informal conversation? i've always been amazed by what's next. a

having covered those budget negotiations atndrews air force base, he had bob dole and george mitchellrguing that you need to do it. and in fact the budget restrictions, the so-called pay go rules that required you're going to spend money, you have to shows where you're going to raisbuit in the et, that created the momentum economically that bill inton inherited, built upon with his r '9e votes without a republican vote and even into the george w. bush presidency we had e>>nomic growth. hat was the last time a republican would get away with raising. before then republicans would regularly raise taxes when necessary. ronald reagan did it. >> but that moment made it your party can't do it without probably total political loss, ght? >> i'm not sure either party can do it at this point in time. everyone is now saying why can't they compromise in washington, and maybe it goes back to thi president, who idcompromised, d what people said, get along, work outm a deal aong republicans and democrats and wh happened to him? the republicans turned on him and the democrats did everything they could

that is just -- it's just such a remarkably different time, and he still has relationships with george mitchel who was the majority leader in the senate. at the time to the end of his life, he did. and i just think that says so much about the man he was and about how much our politics has changed. >> here they are getting off the aircraft. getting ready for their motorcade to the capitol building. i know some things about him and that his personal relationships were not set -- they did not end at the aisle. he had really good friends on the democratic side. he kept in touch with all these guys. he was friends with tip o'neal. tip may have voted for dukakis out of party loyalty, but he liked george bush in terms of who he would like to hang around with. and i think this was just a fact. he loved the fact he'd been elected to the house of representativi represen represen representatives. when you get elected by the people in the area, when you're elected by them, you're okay. you're representing people at home. his people from harris county from houston, and he would come back to the gym years l

because george mitchell. says the men discuss a recent night out. first can move the focus to keep their own if it was the press corps on who food and sit in the crew to clean grease but only know diddly whose it was because. it is. written you know if possible to fall off which before constitutional two is really interesting because it. a few story pieces only to look circular for. shelter for the question you know. the failure of the far east to bargain for the recession.

guest: george mitchell. right. that the u.s. played a somewhat damaging role in terms of predatory policy with u.k.. the closer the u.k. lines with the u.s., the farther apart it will be from the european union, which is of course where interests lie. host: we have the phone lines open for dr. amanda sloat. this is henrietta, new york, peter, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you very much for the chance to talk to you. i am interested on her thoughts about the different economy, for one thing. the rest of britain, how that affects the boat in this situation. it seems like a lot of the economics in london is depending on the european union and not so much the rest of the country. is a greatink that question, and actually if you look at the way the vote totals roke down with the effects brexit referendum, 59 percent of london voted to remain in the european uni so there has certainly been stronger support by those in london, those in the financial services sector, and those to remain. the issuee problem, around brexit is

. ♪ emma: coming up later today on balance of power, george mitchell, former senate majority leader.rgo expects to spend $9 billion on technology. about 800 million of that will go to cybersecurity. ceo tim sloan told goldman sachs financial conference the bank is on track to achieve expense targets and net interest income will be up. tri istte maker all tobacco company into the marijuana industry. the autopilot system of a tesla to stop the car efforts driver fell asleep at the wheel. the driver was not responding so police pulled him to a slowing stop. the driver assist programmed in the same. the driver was arrested for driving under the influence. david: the automobile industry is facing softening demand and trade uncertainties with larry kudlow saying moments ago that a deal to auto tariffs is "coming" but is not done yet. the one certainty is it needs to be investing in a fundamental change to autonomous electric vehicles over the next 10 years. something the new head of vw america told me will require substantial capital from the companies and partnering with others. ,> some o

so we had to deal with speaker foley, we had to deal with majority leader george mitchell.aisle to get support for what we wanted to do. look at what we d we got budgets passed, a comprehensive clean air legislation, disabilities, and then the resolution from the congress particularly in the senate, the house was easy, to go and take saddam hussein out of kuwait and put him back in iraq. we had to pick up 10 democrats in the united states senate to support us to get a majority vote. and we had the majority leader, george mitchell was opposed to us, we had the chairman of the senate armed services opposed to us. we had a lot of important people in the senate that were opposed to us on this resolution. we had to work hard to get democrats to support us. sometimes divided government works. it clearly worked in our administration. you can get things done if you reach across the aisle and work hard. maria: even on a personal level, he did things without theatrics or drama. president bush died seven and-a-half months after his wife of 73 years passed. not long after his mother pa

a cool description of mitchell is he is george's successor. mitchell: no, no, we all wavered in his shadow. rob: he identified with the concept of a strategy of containment, which was essentially an answer to the question, what do you do when states -- when authoritarian states will not go a long with the preferred american strategy? which is integration that when states -- our grand strategy is that we want to integrate states into the system but they may not be ready. we may need to contain them to internal processes to play out. we have two authoritarian states currently, great powers, russia and china. neither of them is offering a revolutionary alternative to what international order should be. it is not back to stalin. as my colleague here says, who in -- putin has given up on the west. 115 million russians have not given up on that. in china, china has succeeded largely by integrating into the system, but they want to do it on their own terms, adapt the rules, etc. how should we think about whether these two great powers that have been o

. >> so when you're up against george mitchell, did those relationships mend themselves? >> i think it was president bush i spent a lot of time back then with mitchell, he was doing his job, too he was tough and if you're going to get a compromise, they did it but he was doing his job and i have a lot of respect for senator mitchell and i think he had a lot of respect for president bush and they were very friend ly friendly. >> you saw the king and queen of jordan in the cathedral. rick perry among the many guests assembling there that event will begin in just under an hour's sara fagan joins us as well. sara, what are you looking for today? >> well, i'm really interested in seeing president bush 43's remarks and to really, i think, put a bow around what has been a remarkable several days highlighting the life of this really incredible public servant. i think it will hit on the strongest themes we've been talking about here today. >> i thought it was interesting. according to alan simpson who will be one of the yule gists, he said when he was first approached by the famil

. >>> drea mitchell covered george h.w. bush for decades. this was a presidency of highs and lows.he success at the end of the cold war, the gulf war and the collapse of the economy. what was it like to cover it? >> it was a difficult time to cover this man because he was struggling with different impulses, the political side versus knowing what he needed to do. he, in the end, made very good choices, made solid decisions, and i think history will be very kind to him in terms of his foreign policy and his domestic policy, making the tough economic decision to do a budget deal and raise taxes, even though he knew it was almost guaranteed to cost him a second term. >> andrea mitchell tonight, thank you. >> you bet. >>> president trump flying home from abo the passing of former president bush. white house correspondent peter alexander is in buenos airer: pnisident trca conference today, he said, out of respect for the former president. george h.w. bush's death puts a damper on his high stakes dinner tonight with president xi. president trump tonight, honoring the memory of george h.w.

andrea mitchell covered george h.w. bush for this was a presidency for highs and lows. the gulf war, the cold war and the collapse of the economy. what was it like to cover it? >> it was a difficult time to cover thi man, the political side versus knowing what he needed. to he, in the end, made very good choices, ma solid decisions, and i think history will be very kind to him in terms of his foreign policy and his domestic policy making the tough economic decision to do a budget deal and raise taxe eve though he knew it was almost guaranteed to cost him a second term. >> andrea mitchell tonight, thank you. >>> president trump flying hom from the g-20 summit in argentina tonight, shortening h public schedule after learning about the passing of former president bush. peter alexander is in buenos aires tonight for us. peter? >> reporter: president trump can a news conference today he said out of respect for the former president. george h.w. bush's death puts a dper on his high stakes dinner tonight wh president xi. e'll be spending three days of mourning and three days of

dagen: and democrats did not lower spending in the way george mitchell the democrats, in congress ando he went he went against what he promised american people on that. many. >> also, i would say in terms of one of his personal legacies was his ability to heal his leaderships we were all moved by scene of bob dole struggling to stand up from his wheelchair. >> very emotional. >> to honor the president. but you got to think back, that they did not always have an easy time of it in terms of of the relationship, you think back to that botched nashua presidential debate when dole called him a nazi, bush was able to heal to inspire respect, you think of the successful relationship that he had with even president clinton after their extremely divisive presidential campaign relationship forged with reagan after their divisive campaign i think that is something we can all takeaway funerals are a time for healing, they are a time for healing in our families when we reach out to a strong relative this can be a time of healing for the nation as well. >> yeah. dagen: i want to quote to your point

he was fighting george mitchell who he used to call the sammy sosa of partisanship.ika knows this from her dad. on, we were going to win the cold war. not necessarily. bismarck is alleged to have said god loves drunks, little children and the united states of america. i think -- as you know, i think we're going to come through our current crisis because ultimately i believe the institutions created by james madison and given life and form by people like eleanor roosevelt and franklin roosevelt and ronald reagan and i think those institutions are far stronger than the storms we face. >> we appreciate it. willie, john brings up a great point. we will learn a hell of a lot more from sinners than we do saints, which is why i think we provide more teachable moments. >> we're going to be reading the new issue of time magazine which features more of your reflects, john meachum, of 41's life and legacy. thank you very much. >> you see that moment yesterday, mika, where once again "w" passed a mint -- >> to your hero. >> to michelle obama who is rapidly becoming not only my h

i used to throw stuff at the television when george mitch wool do things i thought -- mitchell would do things i thought was inappropriate, whoever the speaker was, i can't remember now, i don't know, but there is -- the founders created that tension just between the executive and the legislative and then add the partisan component, there's always that tension. it wasn't that long ago that tip o'neill and ronald reagan, examples one used, it wasn't that long ago those ties, those bonds, went way beyond tip o'neill and ronald reagan. it was across all parts of the congress and the executives. look, we're -- what i try to tell people as they try to scratch their head about washington, about politics, is it's worse than you think because this is -- politics is a reflection -- see. you don't like it, right. here's my -- this is my admonition, politics is not creating our culture, politics is a reflection of our culture and our culture is more vulgar and coarse. if you want to solve washington's problem, to a certain extent we need to take the first step which is to reach i cross the part

. >> i'm hallie jackson in for andrea mitchell, as we continue the life of george herbert walker bush, a nation in mourning. you saw his cask now on the plane normally known as air force one, along with dozens of family members, including his son, president george w. bush, that plane renamed special air mission 41, for what would be the former president's final trip to washington in just moments from now. president bush will lie in state at the capitol rotunda on wednesday, and then return to a service at st. martin's church, and then laid to rest in college station, texas. as we do, i have our panel here as we watch the door to the plane about to be shut. peter, i'm going to start with you. you had a very moving touching piece about the final words of president george h.w. bush to his son. >> well, that's exactly right. you know, president bush 41 has suffered from a form of parkinson's disease for the last four years. he seemed to be inching up closer to the end to only rally, fight back and return home. when this last few days he began to fade, he was in bed, wasn't eating much, so

george w. bush jokes that he was a brother from another mother. they were so close, yet,o very different. >> andrea mitchel, thank you. >>> we'll have the latest in the passing of george h.w. bush coming uprn this g on "today" j online, and all day on nbc. this has been an nbc news special report. >> as we bring you back followpeg that nbc newsal report, as you saw much of the focus on t late president george h.w. bush was on his time here in wash agton. justad on news 4, we're going to share some of the personal ties that some of the fos whoorked here at news 4 had with a man who lived in the white house for those four years. that as our continuing coverage on the death of former president george h.w. bush continues on george h.w. bush continues on news 4 today. the best internet meets the best things to do on the internet. switch to fios, the 100% fiber-optic network, and get a year of amazon prime and an amazon echo on us. already have prime? we'll cover another year. it's all yours when you sign up fios gigabit connection plus tv, plus phone, all with a 2-year price guarantee, all for just $79.99 per m