>> no, like bill clinton and george w. bush he doesn't like us talking about him in almost any case. still, the test of the team has been the economy. the state of the union address, all of a sden we were going to shift to the economy and that's happened like six times. now we're going to shift to the economy, now we're going to shift. chris: he keeps getting off his point. >> arizona, the mosque, the mile east. all these things have gotten in the way of a disciplined message. its not been a disciplined communication. >> yeah, but you can't be president of the united states and not resond if a well explodes in the gulf of mexico? he certainly didn't want to do that but he had no choice. chris: you were peechwriter for the president, for the first george w. bush. let's get to the question earlier, he is a great speechmaker and uses the teleprompter too much, i get the message, just listen. what is the problem with communication, can hramp it up the next five weeks before the election with a hell-raising speech? >> as a former sp

you may remember the naacp spent $10 million in 2000 running an ad against george w. bush during the presidential campaign alleging that he had acted insufficiently harsh on some bigoted race murderers in texas. i never once saw the "new york times" utter a peep about this. >> bill: when you give money on-to-organizations on your little clap board. >> there that's a white board. that's not a clap board. clap board is what's on the side of a house in new england. this is a white board. white board, bill. >> bill: i'm sorry. that's a major point. you don't have to say the -- the organization doesn't say who gave the money did. your american crossroads group, if i give you money you are not going to tell them i gave you money, right? >> well, american crossroads is a 527, which does report its contributors on a monthly basis. it has affiliated group called crossroads g.p.s. which is a 501 c 4 and does not report -- >> bill: i got it you say that the playing field is even here

george w. bush actually gets most of the blame for the bad economy, 11% of the voters put the blame on president obama. >>> pope benedict xvi a arrived in scotland on a four-day state visit. he told reporters that the catholic church failed to act quickly enough to deal with priests who rape and molest children. he says the vatican's top priority is to help these victims feel. his first meeting was with queen elizabeth ii. >> coming up, we are back live

and with me here, former george w. bush strategist and now national journal columnist, maureen dowd. i'll start with you, because now i have this year figured out. either the voters aren't that smart because they're not paying as much attention or you democrats need to stop whining, is that the solution? >> i think the vice president was talking about a particular phenomenon on my side of the aisle which is the left. you have a number of prognosticators saying that the president hasn't been progressive enough and at a time when we have had bold, fundamental change and other issues that have been really hard in this election cycle so i think the vice president had a real message which is you know what happens when democrats don't vote, republicans win. >> it would have been good if he had said that, but he did not say that. it's not really a good idea to blame voters right before an election, because they actually might sit at home instead of going out. >> you said a lot of polling and a lot of focus groups, when you say thi

draw a contrast with the republicans and boehner is pretty clear about wanting to go back to george w. bush. and yes -- excuse me, i want to finish my point. the economic proposals are proposals that republicans would like, but is this republican senate going to support them? no. >> let me in here. exit question. we are going to spend a lot of time on politics. exit question. are obama's economic proposals a case of too little, too late for the midterms and about 50 days from now? or have they come back in the nick of time to save the senate and the house democrats? >> there's a couple of excellent proposals in there as monica said. also his own senate is not going to support him on the tax cuts, the bush tax cuts. >> too little or too late? >> those are important things. he's not going to get it. it is too little, too late. >> too late anyway. >> they aren't going to get them through, john. >> it's too little, too late to transform the economy by election day. it does expose the fact that the republicans won't support proposals that they're for and it does set the stage for a lame duck ses

central question, after september 11th of security, we were in agreement. >> reporter: you say george w. bushe had an immense simplicity in how he saw the world. right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership. >> yes, it did. and i think, you know, it's easy and it's easy to ignore the strength that sometimes comes with that. >> reporter: do you think president obama has that kind of decisionmaking way about him or is he more nuanced and how do you think that plays? >> the one thing i think you can identify very clearly about president obama is that he has a huge amount of steel. and is somebody who, you know, on whose shoulders that power sits more easily than i think i've seen in a political figure. when you think of the weight of responsibility that's on him, not just because of the office, but what he represents to people around the world, i mean, around the world. not the tiniest corner of any place in the world that does not know about barack obama and has heard of him. and looks up to him. i mean, that's a huge responsibility and it sits easily with him. >> tony blair's autobiography is

discussion of the last week has been about tax policy and whether or not to extend the tax cuts under george w. bush's administration. joining us this week is michael mundaca, assistant treasury secretary for tax policy. here to question him is kim dixon from reuters and martin vaughn from dow jones. >> michael, i want to start out by asking you about the proposals that the president put forward, the tax proposals to stimulate the economy. one of those was that he wanted to allow businesses to immediately write off 100% of their newly commit purchases in 2011, the aim being to free up cash to invest higher. what we're leading -- what we're hearing is that cash is not the problem. the issue right now is that folks are worried about the economy neck getting better, continuing continuing to stagnate or getting worse. in that light, how much good can you do by simply offering people a tax cuts if they are just worried about the economy not getting better? >> that is a good question. i think we need to put this in context. these are one not -- these are not one-of proposals. -- these are not one-off propos

you wondered how he would have responded to the circumstances that george w. bush>> yeah. that's where i think it is really interesting reflection. he's somebody who is very different from president bush in the sense that he's in one way very much from the intellectual analysis school of politics. on the other hand, that would have been a decision where he would have had to gone this way or that. and i think he would have given good leadership. i believe. >> had you to make tough decisions too. >> i think the thing that is hardest about the world today is the decisions are very difficult, but they are quite binary. you go this way or that. there's not a lot of third-way in today's politics. i think the single most difficult thing after september 11th, particularly, i had the decision to take as brit teurblg -- british prime minister do we see this as an attack on us as much as the u.s.? or do we say that's a problem for the u.s. to look after? >> sean: you stood steadfast behind the united states. >> shoulder to shoulder. >> sean: it raises what i think is the worl

right now, there's a comparison underway between the tax policies and george w. bush and the proposals offered by president obama and i'm of the view that, that tax debate missed the point because both of those approaches, george w. bush and now what has been offered by president obama in my view involves tinkering with a badly flawed discredited tax system to me the much more relevant comparison. i want to walk you through the numbers and just get your reaction. are the number use have when ronald reagan got together with a big group of democrats and reformed the tax system and compared those and what we saw in our country for job growth and economic growth, payroll growth to what we saw during the years of george w. bush. the 2001 and 202008 years. we get your reaction. here's the numbers. when ronald reagan and democrats work together, 16 million new jobs were created there was a 17 point 6 percent expansion in payroll. that's when democrats and republicans worked together to create a tax system that was more progrowth and more of an engine for job creation. by com

it's also george w. bushserves, most advocates believe, great credit with what his administration did. >> absolutely. president obama has credited president bush with setting the foundation for his own work in this area. i think it's important to know that there is this broad-based coalition that's bipartisan. people come at this issue with a bunch of different motivations in terms of the moral faith community to national security. i think secretary gates is often called for more development assistance to the business community, and the one thing all these seg mentments coalitions in common are just results. as long as they know what we're doing is making a dimfference, and i think aids is a good example of that. >> that's how broad this coalition is. the u.n. did say that we have continuing problems in expansion of disease in central asia and eastern europe. >> i think one of the important things to know is that complicate is an important obstacle to all these things. if you look at the millenium development

will he throw george w. bush turnd the bus?on your side is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find the experts you need, whether you're trying to sell of hoping to buy. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down? introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. >>> just a short time ago sarah palin released a new online ad through her political action committee. it touts the tea party as the future of politics in america. >> the tea party movement is not a top-down operation. it's a ground up call to a, that is forcing both parties to change the way that they're doing business. and that's beautiful. this party that we call the tea party is the future of politics. and i am proud to get to be here today. >> but what do actual members of the tea party have to say about this and some other issues surrounding the party? andrew dodg

former british prime minister tony blair, who sat down to talk about everyone from george w. bush to princess diana, with christiane amanpour of "this week." christiane, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, diane. and i spent a couple of hours with the former british prime minister, who has made at least 36 trips to the middle east in the last three years, trying to help build momentum for peace. the interview coincides with the release of his memoir, "a journey." tony blair explained that he sees the key to breaking the impasse in the middle east. you say the biggest problem with the middle east peace process is that no one has ever gripped it long enough or firmly enough. the gripping is intermittent and intermittent won't do, it doesn't work. if it was gripped, it would be solved. you also say in your book that president bush -- his heart wasn't really into it. >> well, they came to grip it but it was late on in the presidency and that's the important distinction with president obama now. i mean, i -- i think you cannot overstate the importance of president obama coming in,

what do you stand for and would reagan and george w. bush fit into your world now? >> you're looking at the conservative throughout the united states today is firm on lower taxes and bringing back the opening of free market enterprise. if you're lowering the taxes and give breathing room for small businesses and we have a small business ourself. we're looking at the taxes that will come down the pike. we have to protect our business the for what is coming down. we haven't even begun to pay for the legislation that has been paid for in the past year. so, there is a spending spree and nobody has been paying the bill yet. so, we want lower taxes and would like -- >> wouldn't ronald reagan and george w. bush fit into your equation of what the tea party stands for? you brought up reagan. >> yeah, reagan, honestly, depends on what aspect of his, with his, when he was in office is because there is a point when it was a highly democratic congress. when you're looking at reducing the taxes, that is the key part of it. when you reduce the taxes, that's when the economy flouri

a federal judge appointed by president george w. bush in 2002 has issued a federal court ruling late today, essentially dismantling the don't ask, don't tell policy. this is the second very strong federal court ruling against the military's gay ban in less than a month. the plaintiff in this case has not done a national tv interview before. she'll be joining us in just a moment for an exclusive discussion along with someone whose face will be familiar to those of you following our coverage of this issue over the last seven weeks or so. excuse me, over the last year or so. the last seven weeks or so have been an unbelievably good seven weeks for gay rights in america. at least on paper. the proposition that removed existing same sex marriage rights after couples had already been married in california, the prop eight case, prop eight struck down as unconstitutional seven weeks ago. two weeks ago, don't ask, don't tell struck down in its totality as unconstitutional by a federal judge in california. two days ago, a ban on same sex couples a

one of the things that george w. busht done will require actual sacrifice. >> thank you so much for coming on the show today. the book is the "high tide of american conservatisconservatis" >> can't wait to read it. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time... time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. sure, but let me get a little infortion first. for broccoli, say on for toys, say two. ys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 ceral standard time. he's in control. gobye. even kids ow it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. yocan talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. >> vampire weekend. i like that. we got that music up. t.j. said no. he hated vampire weekend. >> harsh words today. >> what did you learn today? >> yank

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush. it's well known that he and i disagreed about the war from its outset. yet no one can doubt president bush's support for our troops or his love of country and commitment to our security. as i've said there are patriots who supported the war and patriots who opposed it. and all of us are united to the love of our men and women and our hope for the iraqi future. our country is grounded on the ability to thrive from our differences. no challenge is more essential to our security than our fight against al-qaida. americans across the political spectrum supported the use of force against those who attacked us on 911. now as we approach our tenth year of combat, there are those who are asking tough questions about our commission there but we must never lose sight of what's at stake. as we continue, al-qaida continues to plot against us. and their members continue in afghanistan and pakistan. we will dismantle al-qaida. because of our draw down in iraq we are now able to apply the resources ne

in 2008, then president george w. bush disapproval rating in europe was 75%. in those countries.f you are wondering why the economic recovery is lagging, we may have another answer for you. the national institute of health put stimulus to work in africa. they spent recovery funds on a study to teach african men how to watch themselves after sex. but they're not sure if the washing regimen works in preventing men from contracting hiv. they hope to do another study about that later on. no word if they'll use more stimulus money for that. finally, anyone who wants to smoke in new york city may just have to stay home. city officials with support from mayor michael bloomberg announced new legislation to ban smoking in public places such as park, beaches, marina, boardwalk and pedestrian plazas. that means no lighting up on a stroll through central park where while taking in the sites in times square. if the ban is passed, violators could be slapped with a $50 ticket. >> chris: top story at the bottom of the hour, tea party backed candidate christine o'donnell is getting national atten

responsabilidad ahora hay que voltear la pÁgina. >> el presidente dijo que hablÓ con el ex presidente george w. bushrra. >> nadie puede dudar el compromiso y el amor del presidente bush con nuestro paÍs y nuestras tropas. >> estuvo de acuerdo con el presidente george w. bush que nada es mÁs importante que el honor del paÍs. >> ahora van a enfocarse a la guerra de afganistÁn. dijo que no sirven al interÉs de nadie las guerras sin fecha lÍmite. >> gates llegÓ a irak para reunirse con las tropas en irak en el cese de los combates en ese paÍs. pocas horas despuÉs de que el presidente barak obama dijera a los estadounidenses y al mundo que era el momento de pasar la pÁgina en irak. >> en otras informaciones edgar valdÉz villarreal, alias la barbie dijo a la policÍa federal mexicana, confesÓ que manejaba la ruta panamÁ- mÉxico y que el dinero en efectivo le llegaba desde los estados unidos. y dijo que mandÓ a hacer una pelÍcula con parte de su historia. >> investigan un atentado con bombas molotov en un bar de cancÚn. hay 6 muertos por asfixia. propietario del bar se habrÍa negado a pagar seguridad. >> en

impuestos sobre la renta que adopto su predecesor, george w. busha las familias que ganan ( o declaran ) mas de 250 mil dolares anuales. ---y en el tema de discusÓn esta noche...la economia familiar...cada dia mas afectada... quien es el responsable de esto?.... ¿el ex- presidente bush...o el actual mandatario obama?... ---mas adelante, abriremos nuestras lineas telefonicas para que pueda usted opinar ... en vivo, y sin restricciones. ---el numero gratis es el 1- 866-229-4848....o escribanos a noticiero 48- arroba- telemundo- punto- com. com. ---tal parece que la masacre de ayer ocurrida en llamará salva trucha ha sido culpable de gran parte de asesinatos a principios de este año la hondureña descubrió un plan de los zetas mexicanos otros 4 fallecieron en el hospital, un pandillas se comblo koe bloqueo redujo el tránsito entre 40-60%. si no son así los que pagarán son los familiares de ellos >periodista: las maras pro peso participantes en la matanza de 72 inmigrantes provenientes de diversas naciones latinoamericanas ...--- tras la detencion, fuero

which one of these famous people is not from houston, beyonce, george w. bush or roger clemens? easy. george w. bush. >> reporter: that is correct. that's so easy? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: what was the first word spoken from the moon on july 20th, 1969? the first words dropped when the astronauts went to the moon were? >> houston. >> reporter: houston is correct. you are on fire! okay. last one. the word texas is an indian word originally that means sack the quarterback, the cattle are dying, marshmallows or friend. which word does texas mean? >> that's a hard one, man. never heard that. >> reporter: think about it. >> well, texas always say what, friend? >> reporter: that's correct. you were perfect. normally it's 5-5. you went 6- 6. >> i keep telling you i'm a texan. >> reporter: are houstonians smart? >> we all are. we don't walk around with cowboy hats on. you know what i mean? >> reporter: you were perfect. nice job. thank pho yore playing know your opponent. i noticed you were trying to play along. did you go 6-6? >> st. louis not. >> did you know the first word -- absolute

. >> reporter: getting most of the attention is the section on george w bush and the iraq war. george had huge simplicity in how he saw the world, right or wrong. in 2003 in spite of the protest, blair decided to black the invasion of iraq. a decision he is now having to defend constantly on his book tour whether on late night tv or in top political interviews. >> how you can not feel sorry about people who have died. you wouldn't have been human but when i'm asked if i regret the decision, you don't -- i take responsibility for it but i can't regret it. >> reporter: mindful this book is his legacy in more ways than one blair will give all the proceeds including his 7 million-dollar advance to a charity that helps wounded british soldiers. elizabeth palmer. >> are you able to avoid the controversy this weekend with your weather forecast sniffle lot of pressure. folks want to see sun. we fog ruined the bay area today. you know, we are still seeing a couple patches tonight. most of the inside of the bay looking good. there is still patchy fog out toward the coastline. latest satel

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush. t is well known that they agreed for the war and that known can doubt president bush's support for troops or his love of country and our security. with that said will take the support of the war and all of us are united with appreciation for our service men and women. our hopes for a rocky future. the greatness of our democracy is grounded in the abilities to move beyond our differences. we need to learn her mark experiences and confront the many challenges ahead. the no challenge is worth our security then the fight against all kinds. americans supported the use of force against those who attacked some and 11. now, as we approach our 10th year of combat in afghanistan and for those that are having a tough time understanding us. as we speak all kind of continuous to mess with us. their leadership is anchored in pakistan. we will not disrupt, dismantle and dc oxide. because of our drawdown in iraq will go on offense. in fact in the last 19 months a dozen all kind of leaders and their al

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush and it's well known that he and i disagreed on the war. but no one can doubt president bush's support for our troops or his love to our country and our commitment to security. as i said, patriots that supported this war and patriots who opposed it. and all of us are united in appreciation for our service men and women and our hopes for iraq's future. the greatness of our democracy is grounded in our ability to move beyond our differences and to learn from our experience as we confront the many challenges ahead. and no challenge is more essential to our security than our fight against al qaeda. americans across the political spectrum supported the use of form against those who attacked us on 9/11. now, as we approach our tenth year of combat in afghanistan, there are those who are understandably asking tough questions about our mission. but we must never lose sight of what's at stake. as we speak, al qaeda continues to plot against us and its leadership remaining anchored in the border

spending problem. >> was forced to be bush wrong in fighting two wars and not paying for it -- was george w. bush wrong? >> president bush has said that is what we had the deficit. >> that is part of the reason we had the deficits, but it does not explain the bulk of the deficit. one example, there was a report the other vets said both wars from the date of inception have not yet cost one trillion dollars. the total long-term structural obligations of the united states federal government, at least 70 trillion dollars. many experts believe it is closer to $100 trillion. to look at that and say the war's costs the bulk of the problem really is not looking a the full picture picks are there any circumstances in which you would raise taxes? >> no, i am somebody who wants to stop the growth of government and reduce it. if you continue to have the escape hatch for all the pressure of the interest groups, all the bureaucracy and public employees and unions and entitlement programs, all the spending that takes place, if e escape hatch is simply to raise taxes to keep it going, i am notnterested in that.

continue the stimulus that george w. bush started.y are doing the things that they said they would do. >> i wanted health care changed but i had the same plan that didn't cost much money. maybe you miss. that i don't think americans oppose the change. they oppose the bankruptcy that we're headed for. >> we know according to the cbo the costs are less than they would have within without the change. >> bill: oh, please. >> he identified a couple of specific things. he said look, millions of more college students will be able to go to college. we under the age that kids can be covered by their parents' health insurance to 26. >> bill: all of that costs an enormous amount of money. >> that is the point. that's why americans are so infuriated. this is costing american people so much money that we don't have. >> bill: wouldn't be so infuriated if the economy were better and they felt more secure. >> correct. and if the policies worked. it's the tandem of the fact these are anti-free market approaches that are not working. >> they are workin

democrats did that, nationalizing the congressional election around george w. bushe counter strategy to that has always been been get them to go local and, by the way, go negative. go against the individual candidate. don't try to get into this national debate because we will lose the national debate. republicans did the same thing. in 2006 when the democrats went after them nationally with george w. bush they changed the subject. they tried to change the subject to local. >> isn't the other way to run against that, all right, you want to talk national, let's compare what barack obama's offering to what you're offering, joe miller in alaska. if republicans are trying to set the script, shouldn't democrats recognize that they shouldn't accept that framing and do what the republicans don't want them to do? >> when we recall that this only matters in the swing districts, most of these are settled. the outcome is settled. it's been settled for a year. there's no contest. in the swing districts the democratic accomplishments are not popular. the obama democrat health car

. >> you say george w. bush was very smart. he had an immense simplicity in how he saw the world. right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership. >> yes, it did. and i -- and i think, you know -- it's easy to mock that simplicity. it's easy to ignore the strength that sometimes comes with it and a decision like the surge in iraq. i can't think of many people that would have had the courage to take that decision in the way that he did. >> let's move on to bill clinton. you describe him as your political soulmate. why is that? >> i think he was one of the first people really to understand, to articulate, how progressive politics couldn't be a rainbow coalition. that you 45d to stand up and be connected with people, not activists, simply. >> you say he was one of the smartest political minds. you have come across. >> he was phenomenally smart. i would say the smartest politician i ever came across. yes, i would say bill clinton. yeah. >> you had dealings with him in the height of the troubles, the monica lewinsky scandal. the impeachment. how did you see him get through his political

george w. bush who decided they should expire at the end of this year. all of them should expire at the end of this year. so, that's why we are in this fix. this isn't something of barack obama's doing or the congress's doing. george w. bush says let's give some tax cuts and have them expire at the end of 2010 with. >> senator byron dorgan, great tough with us tonight. thank you. >> good to be with you. >>> up next, chivalry must be dead. of all people, the drugster is sticking up for his conservative women. america's top conservative ladies' man bounce his way into the zone next. stay with us w [ female announcer ] doing a little painting with food? you forgot...her glasses. [ female announcer ] bring it. trust new bounty. in this lab test new bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. super soft. super clean. new bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. [ male announcer ] an everyday moment can turn romantic anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be m

if you retired under a privatized system like the one george w. bushas pushing in 2005, would you just have to hope not to need the retirement money in a year that looks like 2009. there's another element to privatizing social security that even republicans who say they're in favor of it, don't like to talk about very much. and that's overhead. the cost of administering it. right now as it is, with the government in charge, social security is cheap to administer. as our friend ezra klein pointed out, administrative costs for social security are less than .9% of total spending. in other words, it costs relatively nothing, sort of to run social security. less than 1% of the total cost of the program is spent running. it is super efficient and it's a government program. i know your head's exploding, how is this possible. some programs like medicare and social security have zippo for overhead. if you privatize social security you start paying private for-profit wall street financial firms. and they're not going to operate like the super efficient governmen

what prompted the idea that called former president george w. bush? >> i think the president thought it was an important thing to do on this day. they disagreed on the wars the president mentioned. i think this is a day which whether you agreed or disagreed, it was a day to pay tribute to the troops, to reflect on what they've done, and he felt to touch base with the former president let him know exactly how we were proceeding was the right thing to do. >> larry: was it a long conversation? >> i don't think they spoke particularly long, larry, and i'm not going to get into the details of the discussion other than to say it was a cordial discussion. again, i think the presidents, whether they agreed or disagreed, it's a lonely fraterni fraternity. no one understands it but the guys who have sat in that chair. i think on this day the president thought calling the former president was the right thing to do. >> larry: and one other thing, david, with the pullout from iraq, is there some fear that this now strengthens iran's hand in that region? >> no, i d

george w. bush seems to gr grow -- he seems to be the one giant, the one giant on this stage, the one great man left. in american politics. what did you call mim? >> the last gentleman. >> the last gentleman. >> i do think that's true. i think that -- i think carter's presidency will be seen as a pivot point. you had this moment where the country comes out of watergate, comes out of the imperial presidency -- >> vietnam. >> and basically, michael, do you agree with this, basically experiments with, all right, let's have a quieter presidency. let's see if what we all say we want when we disagree with a strong president. when we disagree with a strong president, we're all for legislative power, when we ask grow wi grow -- disagree with a strong president, we're all for that and created the possibility for reagan. carter didn't win by much, another four or five counties in ohio. >> or texas. >> mississippi. >> that's right. mississippi. >> it was close. >> i didn't go there, actually, from 1976, to --

they also remember that the george w. bush expansion of 2001, 2007 was a sort of a phantom recovery, that was built on debt and median wages dropped those years. bill clinton represents really prosperity and i think that a lot of democrats want to be associated with that. >> do you think his ability to position himself as a third way, as a centrist democrat was important. i'm looking at our independent. you have probably seen it, in our nbc news/"washington post" poll. out yesterday, he is leading 4-1, approval over disapproval. only one in six independent voters have a problem with bill clinton at this point. >> bill clinton, remember, he famously triangulated in 2006. dick morris said it wasn't better before, you haven't seen anything yet. the economy is humming well. dick morris said don't talk about specific issue, don't mandate anything specific in the second term, just tell everybody things are getting better and bill clinton did that. he kept some distance from the democrats and obviously some distance from republicans.

george w. bush actually gets most of the blame for the bad economy, 11% of the voters put the blame on president obama. >>> pope benedict xvi a arrived in scotland on a four-day state visit. he told reporters that the catholic church failed to act quickly enough to deal with priests who rape and molest children. he says the vatican's top priority is to help these victims feel. his first meeting was with queen elizabeth ii. >> coming up, we are back live with the breaking news in baltimore, a doctor is shot inside a hospital. >> i melted to the guard to say run. he said yes. >> a chilling experience describes minute by minute the discovery hostages speaking out to oprah. we have a closer look plus the trouble in the gulf. another hurricane with heavy rains are pending mexico's beaches. doug hill is tracking all that and what is at our weather for the rest of the week, next. >> ...berber carpet. it was a whole bowl of stew. nooo. why? i could have saved this one. i could have saved this one. ♪ call 1-

this week george w. bush actually beat barack obama in a theoretical poll. then the water may be safe for jeb. on the christian conservative bracket side, mike huckabee is running but sarah palin polls best among republican voters. in a new "vanity fair" article, in july, the quarterly filing by palin's p.a.c. revealed a foormedable war chest and hefty investments in this fundraising and direct mail. the hottest part, the glenn beck part of the party. you have huckabee out there. pagen boub the star, right? >> she is the star already. i was down at the southern republican leadership conference meeting in new orleans, which is the base of the modern christian evangel cal republican party. haley barbour, who's from next door, was a blip on the radar screen. it was all about sarah palin and everything she did there, including handing out souvenir moose meat beach jerky for everyone showed me she's runnorg f president. it looks like she's running. >> that's a sign you're running for president, if you hand out moose meat. >> if you're from alaska. chris: you've s

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush. it's well known that he and i disagreed about the war from its outset. yet no one can doubt president bush's support for our troops or his love of country and commitment to our security. as i've said, there are patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. >> the president talked at length about afghanistan, and made clear the commitment by the u.s. there, although the president has sent more troops, is not open ended. >> next august we will begin a transition to afghan responsible beability. the pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground. and our support for afghanistan will endure. but make no mistake, this transition will begin because open ended war serves neither our interests nor the afghan people's. >> this was largely a speech about foreign policy. the president did talk about the economy, saying it was this country peace most urgent national priority. brian? >> savannah guthrie from the white house. thanks. >>> in the seven plus

i did vote to go after osama bin laden, george w. bush turned away from it and went into iraq. i do support the president trying to see we can train the afghan people to again defend themselves, but i do want to see more timelines drawn there. i think it's important to send that signal. this is the time frame. i'm on a fine gold bill which you can read that says give us a timetable, give us the conditions in which we can bring our troops home. i think we're on that track. i support beginning the withdrawal by 2011, but i'm happy our troops are coming home. they are the bravest, they are the greatest, and now we have to take care of them. they have some terrible injuries and wounds, i just went to that comprehensive causality care center. they are doing -- >> time is up. apparently the lights aren't working. real quick follow-up before we go to your answer. >> if the president doesn't come up with a written timeline as you suggested he do, would you call him out on that as you did president bush? you were very critical of president bush. not as critical as president obama. i've

we'll ask our exclusive guest, secretary of state to president george w. bush, general colin powell. >>> then, another leader on the world stage, president bill clinton prepares to hold his sixth annual clinton global initiative meeting, to tackle the most pressing problems. >>> plus, what's ahead for democrats in november? can president obama turn things around and the future of the economy. our conversation with former economy. our conversation with former president bill clinton. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. social conservative activists gathered this weekend in washington for their annual values voters summit, attracting a field of potential candidates. winning the straw poll for president, sarah palin finished fifth but did not opt to attend a keynote event, where she has rallied behind tea party candidates, leaving the establishment reeling. mid-term primaries are over and the tea party won. >> when the people fear the government, there is tyranny. when the government fears the people, there is liberty. >> christine o'don

. >> because i'm recalling all the time you made that an issue when george w. bush was in power. going to get back the independents. it's ridiculous. >> i don't think we'll get back the majority. we live in a political climate. i'm going to give them a 3. >> zero. it's not happening. at least not by november. >> really? >> zero. >> certainly not happening by november. if anything, it's going to get worse between now and the election. will say one. ruel of a figure. issue three, pentagon featherbedding. >> we spend too much on national defense. nearly $700 billion. that's what secretary of defense, robert gates believes and says. he wants to slash $100 billion from the defense budget over five years. the current defense budget is almost 1/5 of the total u.s. budget and the total u.s. budget is $3.5 trillion. >> the culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint. >> secretary gates is practicing what he preaches. he said that last year the department made more than 30 tough choices. canceling or curtailing major weapon system tha