the official portrait unveiling ceremony was held for president george w. bush and former first lady laura bush. george bush said "we may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends these differences." from the east room of the white house, this is 30 minutes. [applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. obama accompanied by george w. bush and mrs. laura bush. ♪ [hail to the chief playing] [applause] >> good afternoon. i am chairman of the board of the white house historical association. the association is honored to be a part of today's historic ceremony and to have played a role in arranging for the magnificent portrait that is about to be unveiled. the association was founded 50 years ago with two specific missions, the first is to educate and inform the public about the history of the white house and the distinguished groups of americans who have the -- inhabited it. it is an exciting time for us. we marked our 50th anniversary. to the north of the white house we have just launched the new national

. >>> plus, george w. bush returns to the white house. >> when you are wandering these halls as you wrestle with tough decisions, you will now be able to gaze at this portrait and ask, what would george do? >> president obama and bush 43 do a little schtick in the east room later in the show. >>> first to the news. here at 30 rock in new york city. the obama campaign's attack on mitt romney's business record ran into a road block. bill clinton. president clinton praised romney's background at the investment firm bain capital. >> i think it will affect some people who relate well to businessmen. and i think he had a good business career. the -- there's a lot of controversy about that, but if you go in and try to save a failing company and you and i have friends here who invest in companies, you can invest in a company, run up the debt, loot it, sell off the assets and force all the people to lose their retirement and fire them. or you can go into a company, have cutbacks, try to make it more productive with

it is bankrupting this nation. >> he used to confuse me to hear him blame george w. bush, months and years after he got the job, but i understand it now.

economy shape, more blame george w. bush. >> the public doesn't blame bush, they're not interested in hearing that. >> even if they blame george w. bush more than barack obama, george w. bush won't be on the ballot in november. >> right. and it is a leadership question. they don't want a president that whiens about what a terrible situation he is in and woe is me. they want somebody that can lead us out of it. >> we could have gone to the website six weeks ago, found what both of them talked about today, economic conditions in the world changed. we know job growth is less robust than people predicted, we know the european crisis is effecting the united states. will either of these guys change their plans to adapt to today or are they just going to stay in their predictability. >> it is hard to no honestly. i think they're in their safe corners right now. you have to see where this is at the end of the summer, as you head into the convention speeches. some democrats suggested to me that the convention speech for presiden

it now starts and ends with a george w.plause] when the british burned the white house in 1814, and dolly madison saved this portrait of the first george w. [laughter] now, michelle, if anything happens there is your man. [laughter] [applause] i am pleased that when you are wondering these halls he would now be able to the is that this portrait and ask "what would george do?" [laughter] i am honored to be hanging there with the man they gave me the greatest give possible, unconditional love, number 41. [applause] i want to thank john howard for agreeing to use his considerable talents to paint my likeness. you have done a fine job with a challenging subjects. in the portrait there is a painting called "a charge to keep" that hung in the oval office for the eight years of my presidency. it reminds me of the wonderful people with whom i was privileged to serve. these men and women, many of whom who are here worked hard and served with honor. we had a charge to keep. it is my privilege to introduce the great as first lady ever

so while the george w. bush portrait veiling thing was going on and while the nation's news rooms were riveted to the prospect of this john edwards verdict that nobody understood, and what the david axelrod thing was being drowned out by romney campaign aides and staffers, i guess, who were sent there, while all that was going on, what the romney campaign was trying to get people to pay attention to was their big campaign stunt of the day. the romney campaign told reporters that they needed to get on a bus because they were going to be going somewhere with mitt romney. but the campaign would not say where they were going. when the bus finally arrived at its destination, it turns out they were at solyndra, the solar energy firmed that received a loan from the george w. bush era. the company went bust. republicans tried for more than a year to make the solyndra story into a scandal for president obama. but it didn't really work. and while the nation's newsrooms were riveted to the prospect of this john edward

the election of george w. bush in 2000, whatever we think about it, is an election that ultimately was a choice that the american people made about -- okay. that's not -- okay. okay, that's fine. that was all fine. i had a little -- i've been reading ""the hunger games."" i suddenly thought i needed to duck or something. i'm not even kidding. i really was running through my head what kind of thing the capital might have been sending to us in this moment. so september 11th, 2001, my sense here is when we elected george w bush or when george w bush was handed the american presidency by the supreme court of the united states, that that decision was made in part because we understood ourselves to be in a time of peace internationally, of domestic economic growth, and george w bush for whatever failings or successes he has, does seem like the kind of guy to keep the party going, right? if you're thinking you're coming out of the clinton era and things are good economically and we're at peace internationally, then i

it now starts and ends with a george w.[applause] when the british burned the white house in 1814, and dolly madison saved this portrait of the first door to the idea -- first george w. [laughter] if anything happens there is your man. [laughter] [applause] f four to -- i am pleased that when you are wondering these halls he would now be able to the is that this portrait and ask "what would george do?" [laughter] i am honored to be hanging there with the man they gave me the greatest give possible, unconditional love, no. 41. i want to thank john howard for agreeing to use his considerable talents to paint my likeness. you have done a fine job with a challenging subjects. [laughter] in the portrait there is a painting called "a charge to keep" that hung in the oval office for the eight years of my presidency. it reminds me of the wonderful people with whom i was privileged to serve. these men and women, many of whom who are here worked hard and served with honor. we had a charge to keep. it is my privilege to introduce the

chris: when we come back, is it risky for barack obama to keep blaming george w bush for things?ll be right back. chris: welcome back. president obama welcomed george w bush back to the white house for the unveiling of his official portrait the other day. he gave him a little dig. >> the months before i took the oath of office was a chaotic time. we knew our economy was in trouble, our fellow americans were in pain. george, you went out of your way to make sure that the transition to a new administration was as seamless as possible. >> which brings us to this week's big question, is the president risking trouble if he keeps doing things like that, pointing to w, john? >> i don't think he is pointing at w. he is pointing to the financial crisis. i think that the obama people want to always remind people of the depth of the hole that the president inhabited. people know that, they need to be reminded. >> that was a graceless moment considering what else was going on there. >> yeah, you be is unlikely to have george w sitting in front of him again. he has to carry him. it's a good t

. >>> former president george w.h returned to the white house for unveiling of his official portrait. yesterday's ceremony featured a rare presidential gathering where political difference were set aside. norah o'donnell was there. >> reporter: it was one of those rare occasions in washington where politics gives way to tradition. >> we may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences. >> reporter: those differences disappeared in the east room of the white house as three of the five living presidents gathered to honor president george w. bush. >> george, i will always remember the gathering you hosted for all the living former presidents before i took office. your kind words of encouragement, plus you also left me a really good tv sports package >> reporter: the unveiling of the portrait was a proud moment for the bush family. president george w.h. bush, who turns 88 next month, arrived in a wheelchair. it was a chance for the 43rd president to honor the 41st. >> i am honored to

to president george h. w. bush and barbara, all members of the bush family who are here, it is a great privilege to have you here today. to president and mrs. bush, welcome back to the house you call home for eight years. the white house is many things at once. it is a working office, it is a living museum, it is an enduring symbol of our democracy. but at the end of the day, when the visitors go home and the lights go down, a few of us are blessed with a tremendous honor to actually live here. it's fair to say that every president is acutely aware that we're just a temporary residence. we are renters here. we are charged with the upkeep until our lease runs out. but we also leave a piece of ourselves in this place. today, with the unveiling of the portraits next to me, president and mrs. bush will take their place alongside the men and women who built this country and those who worked to perfect it. it has been said that nobody can ever understand what it's like being president until they sit behind that desk

forward out of the eight disastrous years of president george w. bush.orward out of eight years of traded deficits, by the 1% of the 8% for the 1%, forward out of eight years, wages were actually shrinking. the end of the worst job and home losses our country had suffered since the 1930s. that was the reality of our situation. and you know what, my friends? the truth can darn well defend herself. but she needs to be stated. no president, no president, since franklin delano roosevelt inherited a worse economy, bigger job losses or as many wars or as large of a deficit as our president inherited from george w. bush and the bad choices he made on our behalf when he was our president for eight years. [ applause ] so let's start off with a little audience participation here. let us resolve these for the next seven months, we never, ever say the words -- recession, deficits or job losses without proceeding them with the proper pronoun -- bush. all right? so repeat after me. roman catholics and accustomed to not singing with others, dispend this. repeat after m

east room of the white house as three of the five living presidents gathered to honor president george w>> george, i will always remember the gathering you hosted for all of living former presidents before i took office. your kind words of encouragement, plus you also left me a really good tv sports package. ( laughter ) >> reporter: the unveiling of the portraits was a proud moment for the bush family. president george h.w. bush, who turns 88 next month, arrived in a wheelchair. it was a chance for the 43rd president to honor the 41st. >> i am honored to be hanging near a man who gave me the greatest gift possible, unconditional love. and that would be number 41. ( applause ) >> reporter: president bush joked that the exclusive portrait collection now starts and ends with a george w., referencing himself and george washington. >> when the british burned the white house in 1814, dolly madison famously saved this portrait of the first george w. ( laughter ) now, michelle... if anything happens... ( laughter ) there's your man. >> reporter: mrs. obama told him not to worry. >> and i promis

chris: when we come back, is it risky for barack obama to keep blaming george w bush for things?e'll be right back. [ mechanical humming ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. ♪ then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx. this is the next chapter for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and let's not go there. see beyond labels and judge people by their actions. you can help create a more united states. the more you know chris: welcome back. president obama welcomed george w bush back to the white house for the unveiling of his official portrait the other day. he gave him a little dig. >> the months before i took the oath of office was a chaotic time. we knew our economy was in trouble, our fellow americans were in pain. george, you went out of your way to make sure that the transition to a new administration was as seamless as possible. >> which brings us to this week's big question, is the president risking

times were not good during george w. bush. l he created were mcdonald's jobs, except for his friends. host: george bush was at the white house last week for the unveiling of his and his wife's portraits. the article says -- north carolina, ricky, a republican. i think we lost him. let's move on to st. louis, missouri, dane on the democratic line good morni. caller: good morning. i don't think it matters. republican blowback of republicans and democrats will back a democratic. host: what about when they -- a republican will support a republican. the democrats will think their way and the republicans will think their way. that is just partisan politics. that's just the way it is. host: let's go to harvest, alabama. william is a republican. caller: hi. tooon't think it matters much what clinton says, his endorsements. if i want to know what clinton thinks, i will go ask the neighborhood pervert. host: i don't know what that has to do with what we are talking about the. we're talking about former presidents, their influence in camp

presidential libraries george w.is--i read three shakespeares and a kamo, and they're talking about presidential libraries. if that wane enough they put in three bullet holes and put his birth certificate and it says barak hussein on it and it's atrocious in 18 different ways. now when we talk about that, there is an interesting study i want to tell you about. first, let me show you the margin by which president obama won the 2008 election. it was a comfortable 52.9% of the popular vote. that's a larger margin than scott walker had and every republican in the country called that a landslide and a mandate to do whatever he liked. when president obama won by a larger margin, oh, he just squeaked it out barely. given that race could have been an issue. so well, here's the interesting part. there is a harvard doctorate candidate, and he did a study of google searches and how they relate to politics. first some generic things to see if google searches are is a good way to see if you're looking in the right category. so wh

. >> last week portraits of former president george w. bush and first lady laura bush were unveiled at the white house. it was their first visit since leaving office. >> as fred mentioned in 1814 dolly madison famously saved this portrait of the first george w. now, michelle, if anything happe happens, there's your man. >> watch the entire event online at the c-span video library. >>> federal communications commissioner robert mcdowell gave an update on a proposal to give the united nations more control over the internet. the proposal is backed by china, russia, brazil, and india. other speakers include the state department be and representatives from google, verizon, and the advocacy group public knowledge. this is about an hour and 45 minutes. >> okay. well, that was very nice. i appreciate the cooperation. i'm randy may, president of the free state foundation. i want to welcome all of you to today's event. as most of you know, the free state foundation is a free market oriented think tank specializing primarily in communications, inter

the portraits of george w. and the lower bush will hang inside the white house, continuing -- and laura bush will hang inside the white house. >> with the british burned the white house, in 1814, dolly madison saved this portrait of the first and george george w. now, michelle, if anything ahppens. [laughter] there is your man. >> there was a lot of laughter but tears too. >> i am honored to be hanging near a man who gave me the greatest gift possible, unconditional love. that would be number 41. >> painted by an artist from texas, he is portrayed standing in the oval office. the current president paid a gracious tribute to his predecessor. >> i will always remember the gathering you posted for all of the living former presidents. your kind words of encouragement. plus, you also left me a really good tv sports package. [laughter] i use it. [laughter] >> there is much more that divides than unites these members of an exclusive club. with an election looming, the warmth and spirit. mr. obama tries to put off the

if this guy is going on the campaign trail and trying to make george w. as a big spender -- i wrote two books attacking george bush as a big spender. this guy makes george bush look like calvin coolidge. >> mike, can i add? he left obama with a trillion dollar deficit and an economy -- >> that's fine. >> on the brink of an epic meltdown. please continue. >> but hold on a second, though. you can't keep saying -- >> separate them. >> you can't keep saying well, i came in this house four years ago. there was mud all over it and boy, it was really messy. and then you go around and you dig in shovels and throw in a lot more mud. he's got the responsibility -- >> the reason he says this -- >> as president of the united states to clean it up and he hasn't done it and spent more money in every category at a faster clip than any president in the history of the planet and his defenders that keep going back and blaming george w. bush, for his spending now, for -- look at his budget where it goes ten years from now. it is mind blowing. it is eye popping. it is bankru

but eight years ago in 2004 when george w. bush was running for re-election, new mexico was a battle ground. as part of the republican effort of 2004 to win that swing state, then vice president dick cheney scheduled a big speech in albuquerque just a few months before election day. the point was to encourage them to come out and hear their president's message. you had to jump through one strange hoop. in order to get a ticket to attend that dick cheney event, you first had to sign a loyalty oath. an oath of loyalty not to the united states of america, but to george w. bush. the oath read, i, full name, do hereby endorse george w. bush for re-election of the united states. the grammatically challenged form warned anyone who signed the pledge they were consenting to use and release your name by bush/cheney as an endorsing of president bush. what if you didn't want to sign it? what if you just wanted to hear what your vice president said? too bad. a couple months later in 2004 at a republican event in florida, a party official a

when george w. bush tried to be a moderate on immigration, the reason he got no legislation passed through it is because he ran up against that other post-prop 187 pete wilson wing of his own party. pete wilson himself was essentially lost to history and forgotten after his role in the prop 187 con flag rags in california, and for all the fallout that it caused, for all that he did to rip the state apart and drive this divide down the state's population on the issue of immigration, for the generations worth the damage that pete wilson did on the relationship with hispanics, ultimately prop 187 never went into effect anyway, it was ruled unconstitutional. then pete wilson retired or something and became largely forgotten until, until mitt romney dug him up. for his presidential campaign this year, mitt romney went trolling through the dust bin of republican history and lo and behold he found pete wilson there. mr. romney went and found pete wilson from whatever he's doing now and brought him on board

it now starts and ends with a george w. when the british burned the white house, as fred mentioned, in 1814, dolly madison famously saved this portrait of the first george w. now michelle, if anything happens, there's your man. and i'm also pleased, mr. president, that when you are wandering these halls as you wrestle with tough decisions, you'll now be able to gaze at this portrait and ask, what would george do? it is my privilege to introduce the greatest first lady ever, sorry, mom. >> it was really gracious of you to invite us back to the white house to hang a few family pictures. and i'm sure you know nothing makes a house a home like having portraits of its former occupants staring down at you from the wall. >> the portraits, by the way, were done by the renowned artist john howard sanden. they'll hang in the entrance hall of the white house, president bush to the right of president clinton. that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thanks for being with us. i'm matt lauer in for brian tonight, and i'll see you to

. >> last week portraits of former president george w. bush and first lady were unveiled. >> as mentioned in 1814 dolly madison famously saved this portrait of the first george w. now, michelle if anything happens there's your man. >> watch the entire event online at the c-span video library. >>> the senate foreign relations committee held a confirmation hearing for president obama's nominee for ambassador for iraq today. served under president george w. bush and president obama. he is joined by the nominees. pennsylvania senator fills in for chairman john kerry during this 90 minute hearing. >> good morning. today the senate foreign relations committee meets to consider the president's nominees to serve as ambassador to iraq, sri lanka. i want to thank the witnesses for appearing to discuss challenges in these countries and to discuss each nominee's work as well as their work upon confirmation and also, of course, u.s. policy in each of the countries. let me go through a little bit about each place first. in iraq the picture, of course,

>> my other former boss, george w. i worked in the white house for almost six years where the dissemination of classified information to the "new york times" and others is not something that's just fodder for our discussion here today, but it's actually something that lives are in jeopardy, sources and methods are in jeopardy. in the white house i remember we went to the "new york times" when they learned of information about our methods for tracking al qaeda after 9/11 and told them that national security was on the line. it's the most serious thing that a white house deals with. i think two things. one, to say that someone asking questions about how that information's being disseminated and it's not a matter of someone showing up with a little love letter for david sanger, but it's information is passed in all sorts of ways and the fact that it falls into the hands of reporters who feel they have a duty to put it on the pages of their newspapers, very complicated and very serious and it should be lifted out of politi

that is 80 years of george w. bush and at three and a half years of poor -- 8 years of george w. bush and three and half years of barack obama. that is a terrible, terrible record. >> what did you make of it jeb bush's comments about the republican party and that it will have eight horrible time if you define it as orthodoxy that is not tolerate disagreement? >> it is seditious truth. it is so orthodox that you -- it is a vicious truth. it is so orthodox that you saw him try to walk it back the next day. the extremes in both parties, more at the moment in the republican party, but it will be truth in the democratic party eventually -- that is where the money is. the money gets plowed into clever is the most orthodox candidate in the primary -- whoever is the most orthodox candidate in the primary. whoever wins is by a factor of x more to the right or left than the previous candidate. it may be that the vast majority of americans think of themselves as moderates or middle-of-the- road or want to compromise, but the system, especially with the gusher of money we now see on the outs

george w. bush. he has a b.a. from brigham young university and his j.d. is from the university of virginia school of law. he and his wife are the proud parents of six children and the grandparents of four. we're particularly proud to have the judge here. we were glad something could entice him to come back. >> thank you very much. a pleasure to be here. my congratulations to the conference organizers and thanks to michael, yvonne and barbara. although, eli, i wish you hadn't just remarked i was out here two weeks ago in light of mr. grey's comment, the last panelist at the d.c. circuit is woefully underworked. so, good morning. for those of us who are familiar with gatherings of the federalist society, this is obligatory panel on the part of the constitution that seems to be of the greatest interests to federalist society event organizers everywhere. at least on a conservative administration is in power. those three enigmatic and inviting words in the constitution, "the executive power." as th

it now starts and ends with a george w..he white house in 1814, dolly madison famously stave to this portrait of the first george w.. now, michelle. laughter >> >> if anything happens, there is your man. >>darya: he also credited the artist. he said he did a fine job with a challenging subject. >>mark: we will be right back as the kron4 news continues. here is a live look out over san francisco looking over the bay bridge. a lot of sunshine with fog at the coast and through the golden gate. >>darya: this is the new spelling bee champion. she won the national spelling bee last night. she won cash, a savings bond and a trophy. she is from a great and from san diego, she finished tied from 27th place last year. i guess it just depends on the word that you get. >>mark: today is the 75th annual national done a day. >> the salvation army says that this holiday is started with the chicago chapter in 1938 as a fund-raiser during the great depression. the group wanted to honor the man. those women were called donna classes. they ofte

. >> remember when george w. bush made the dead or alive comment about osama bin laden just days after the 9/11 attacks and he was la mbasted. >> they did the same thing with ronald reagan. a cowboy. the new york times which almost never finds anything to criticize this president about in the lead editorial on thursday said that his ability to decide like cesar thumbs up or thumbs down on the coliseum is too much power for a president. so at least we know according to the new york times where the line is with this president for too much power. >> does this kind of leak,. >> doug: did i, have any effect on national -- does this kind

. >> find out why george w. is back in the white house, for good. >>> we're going to begin with a warning. what you're about to see and hear is gruesome. but i caution you against changing the channel. if you don't hear this, there's a chance someone you know or love could die. >> a man chews out the eyes, nose and mouth of another man, eating off 75% of the victim's face. in maryland, a man is accused of killing a man and eating his heart and brain. next in new jersey, a suspect there, stabs himself repeatedly and hurls his intestines at police. and in canada, another man kills his lover, tosses the body parts in the garbage and mails others. in at least two of these crimes, investigators believe the suspects were driven to cannibalism or dismemberment by a legal drug in a dozen states. the link to bath salts. alex, you're a former detective for the georgia bureau of investigation. i want you to hear me what an e.r. doctor told me about these bath salts. take a listen. >> this is a terrible drug, because it tak

. >> obama's still kind of running against george w. bush. >> how divisive of a figure is george w. bush? >> behave yourself. >> the months before i took the oval office were a chaotic time. >> what would george did? >> it did not work. >> it now starts and ends with george w. >> fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you. > fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. fool me -- you can't get fooled again. >> i can never get enough of can't get fooled again. the obama re-election campaign made today massachusetts day on the campaign trail. it began this morning when the obama campaign released this ad. >> we're going to have a stronger economy because i'm going to be governor. i have experience in the private sector i know how jobs are created and lost. >> i'll work tirelessly as governor to bring more good jobs to massachusetts. i know how to solve a budget problem. >> i stand very clearly for lowering the taxes. >> there are times when i watch mitt romney saying the sack same things now that he said here in massachusetts in 2002 in a robotic way that is completely hollow. i

but she began by asking about one of the most memorable interviews when going face to face with george w. bush. >> i did and interview with president bush on the fifth an verse i of 9/11 that was contentious. the two of us were standing in front of the desk and we started talking about secret interrogation of terror suspects and he got very animated to the point where he was basically jabbing me in the chest. >> you can't expect me and people in this government to do what we need to do to protect you and your family if we don't have the tools we think are necessary. >> okay. which is always a difficult scenario when you have the leader of the free world in the secret service so you really can't do it back.

if you're talking about president george w. bush, six executive privileges were used during the course of his presidency. 14 under bill clinton. and just one so far in the first term of president barack obama. erin, as we look at the score board as john would like to point out, there's not been a lot of executive privileges used within the obama administration. so, there might be a valid point as to why they feel they need to at this point but is it the fact to stand up and fight back against what is as some called from this hearing itself a witch hunt? >> they do. and look. you know, one of the criticisms about the president is especially from his own base that he hasn't stood up to the republican party as much as they would like to see and between the order on friday that stopped the deportation of some illegal immigrants and then this executive privilege order today, it looks like he's starting to show fight in him and resonate with the base opposed to what john might be suggesting. >> all right. richard, thinking about the

george w. bush. george w. bush took on the immigration issue and tried and did not succeed. as did other presidents and other senators. now we've got a case where both sides are accusing each other of failure of leadership. >> yeah, that's the difference between george w. bush and our current nominee in the republican party. george w. bush embraced the issue of immigration and tried very proactively over a number of years to get something done. it was clear by his tone, clear by his rhetoric, this was something he recognized as part of the american dream. now it's being portrayed as part of the american nightmare. mitt romney said it was model legislation in arizona. what the courts have said -- >> they would point out to you when he said that in the debate, he clarified that he meant the e-verify portion. the campaign has been very specific about that. wasn't speaking about the arizona law per se. at least that's what they say. >> well, what is clear is that it is muddled and we need leadershi