gorbachev, open this gate. mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall.applause] host: why was that speech so important to his presidency? guest: that was vintage reagan. reagan going to the heart of the matter, using plain language. anyone could understand it. what he regarded was the moral issue involved, but it coexisted with this desire to find a peaceful path to coexistence. we do not know to this day -- we may never know all of the influences, all of the factors that shape the reagan's attitude, evolving attitude towards the soviet union. i would not underestimate the role of nancy reagan, who was the ultimate protector about his legacy and who wanted that legacy to include the role of peacemaker. host: as the head of the reagan library, you had a chance to sit down with former president ronald reagan in the early 1990's. how did he reflect on this time in office? what do you remember in your conversations with him? guest: he loved to tell stories. he did not tell a lot of washington stories. he told lots of hollywood stories, lots of dixon, illinoi

gorbachev, open this gate. mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall.host: why was that speech so important to his presidency? guest: that was vintage reagan. reagan going to the heart of the matter, using plain language. anyone could understand it. what he regarded was the moral issue involved, but it coexisted with this desire to find a peaceful path to coexistence. we do not know to this day -- we may never know all of the influences, all of the factors that shape the reagan's attitude, evolving attitude towards the soviet union. i would not underestimate the role of nancy reagan, who was the ultimate protector about his legacy and who wanted that legacy to include the role of peacemaker. host: as the head of the reagan library, you had a chance to sit down with former president ronald reagan in the early 1990's. how did he reflect on this time in office? guest: he loved to tell stories. he did not tell a lot of washington stories. he told lots of hollywood stories, lots of dixon, illinois stories. after his illness was diagnosed, you could almost me

back from new zealand fly fishing and you said, you said i just came back from fly fishing with gorbachev. what have you done that is only brokawesque? >> i'm getting ready to go on a big biking trip in patagonia. >> stephen: really? must be nice be tom brokaw. >> it's not bad. >> stephen: you are him. you've been him for years nowch as a man drin of the news business. you've covered nine presidents since j.f.k. what does a second term mean to the president? >> it means it's a perilous enterprise because the a-team goes away. >> stephen: mr. t and -- >> exactly right. they have qualified people. and there's always a loss of presidential focus. ronald reagan did a very good job of winding down the cold war but at the same time he had the iran contra scandals going on in his sec term. >> stephen: what is obama's scandal. the conservatives have been going after him with big guns. benghazi, the corbomight maneuver? it's just an episode of star trek but it sounds dangerous. what are they going after him with him? >> they are going to continue on what was not so successful is that he has social

gorbachev was a visionary who came to power. he saw he needed to change the country. he used his powers to do that. he withdrew from afghanistan. he called for nuclear abolition. he worked with ronald reagan. he understood you need political solutions, not military solutions. when the soviet troops were ready to come out of the barracks so the berlin wall would not come down, he told them to stay in the barracks, the empire is going. we cannot be a country that will be one of glasnost and perestroika if we live the way we have. it is the 20th anniversary of the soviet union, the end of the soviet union. many people in russia blame him for the economic conditions in which they live. they blame him for the end of the country that many felt was the cradle to grave welfare state instead of a totalitarian system. i have great respect for him. you can also see people's weaknesses. you talked about all salvador. what about the priests and nuns? to me, that is the people power in that situation. flm was a revolutionary force seeking power. the people power were trying to alle

gorbachev and say there's no longer an evil empire that belonged to another time. later the year he left the office ten months after he left washington the berlin wall comes down. so i think michael's exactly right about yes, coming out of the presidency he seemed to be an era of greed and deficits but it's pretty safe to say right now he's remembered for pretty effective foreign policy. >> rose: i wantto focus on foreign policy. so what is the challenge for the president in foreign policy? >> my discussions with him for the first book i did obama's wars and looking exactly how he makes decisions, it's very clear he does not like war, he has a deep aversion to war. his challenge in the next years is going to be convince people that even though he doesn't like war and he wants to avoid war, he will do it. he will use military force as necessary. the credibility of that threat needs to be very very high. >> rose: it shows that when we as historians look back, we never know what's going to come in these next couple years ahead. think about fdr, what maybe that he pack

this is -- gorbachev is offering and, as he said, and oyster.take all the soviet troops out of eastern europe. he's going to let nato take over germany, united germany. data can have germany as long as nato doesn't go. these tens of things are in the year. what does bush to? tennant -- @booktv square happens in the suspense relations. he does business as usual behind-the-scenes in china. he goes into panama in december of '89. on the forget because before the july. it kill the business that week, and the american people loved it. they back the invasion. it was our backyard. it was a war on drugs, and that was a new issue. communism had been forgotten. it was a war on drugs and noriega look like a bad guy. he was a new stalin at that point. and then a year later that's another until story because the first iraqi war is depressing when you go into all of the false intelligence and the doctrine of the photos. do you want to talk a bit about it? because it breaks my heart personally. and the veterans of vietnam, the next ten years redraft. we don't

we talked about kim jong-un being like gorbachev opening the country a bit. nixon going to china on a smaller scale. is google going there for business to crack the north korean market considering how few computers are in north korea, it doesn't need to. google hasn't come up with within agreement with china and that's a huge market. perhaps google coming to the peoples republic even in the form of one guy that's still considered fairly exciting. we're talking again earlier about gorbachev. we weren't quite sure what he was up to early on. this dates us a little bit. he made early steps in the early '90s with the most minor of things. we got to see his wife for goodness sakes and kremlin watchers thought that was fascinating and kim jong-un has been showing off his wife and maybe a maybe as we see cracks in north korea. >> in the secrecy. thank you very much. >>> this morning we are also watching the weather as we give you a live look outside. this over the south bay in san jose. it is not a spare the air day as it has been the last couple but the state is as

if you don't do immigration and -- like reagan did at the end and make a deal with gorbachev and don'to things that appear in what we used to call the encyclopedia britannica you aren't transformative. >> he's got health care but he needs immigration and needs another big policy issue. and he needs republicans to come along to do it with him. if they want to stop him they can. i think the public wants him to do something. chris: thanks to a great roundtable. chuck todd. kathleen parker. kelly o'donnell. and chris frates. that's the show. thanks for watching. see you back here next week. we are "on the money." i'm maria bartiromo. coming to you this week from davos, switzerland, where the world's economic forum is taking place. the mood of davos, where will the global economy go next and what will it mean to your portfolio as the u.s. stock market sets a new five-year high. >>> i'll have any candid conversation with outspoken jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon. we'll talk real estate, banking, his pay cut. >> we had run terrible year. >>> and she's called the oprah of china. remarkable entr

if you don't do immigration and -- like reagan did at the end and make a deal with gorbachev and don't do things that appear in what we used to call the encyclopedia britannica you aren't transformative. >> he's got health care but he needs immigration and needs another big policy issue. and he needs republicans to come along to do it with him. if they want to stop him they can. i think the public wants him to do something. chris: thanks to a great roundtable. chuck todd. kathleen parker. kelly o'donnell. and chris frates. that's the show. thanks for watching. see you back here next week.

hello to mr gorbachev well due to a low turnout of the referendum it's hard to say really whether the majority of bulgarians support the building of a nuclear power plant or not so in european how legitimate is the result of this referendum. i believe we're having some technical problems there was that live from saffir well in the meantime a more international news will be coming your way in about thirty minutes at the top of the hour i'll be back with more updates before that we have a short break and then our special report fragile people will be coming your way stay with us. you know i can kind of sort of understand the mindset of an evil dictator i have trouble understanding what is going on or maybe not going on in the minds of the terrified cogs who believe all the propaganda give up all their rights for the illusion of safety to coach jerry seinfeld who are these people well maybe some of them may be working at your local school braindead bureaucracy zombies at a pennsylvania school suspended a kindergartner note kindergartner as a terrorist threat because she threatened to sho

gorbachev, tear down this wall. [applause] host: why was that speech soguest: that was vintage reagan. reagan going to the heart of the matter, using plain language. anyone could understand it. what he regarded was the moral issue involved, but it coexisted with this desire to find awe do not know to this day -- we may never know all of the influences, all of the factors that shape the reagan's attitude, evolving attitudei would not underestimate the role of nancy reagan, who was the ultimate protector about his legacy and who wanted that legacy to include the role of peacemaker. host: as the head of the reagan library, you had a chance to sit ronald reagan in the early in office? guest: he loved to tell stories. washington stories. he told lots of hollywood stories, lots of dixon, illinois stories. after his illness was diagnosed, you could almost measure his progress because the repertoire of stories narrowed. at the end, i am told he would still talk about -- the thing he was proudest of was a lifeguard in dixon,

but brought gorbachev back to the table after achia vick.ortant was that card that he played, even when some in his own country were skeptical about its use? >> well, i think it had a pretty significant impact and reykjavik is the best example of it, although we include a lot of soviet scholars in the film. a number of them talk about the fact that gorbachev paid the dysition to ignore sdi and act as if it didn't exist. the soviet union had a whole lot of other problems because sdi. their war in afghanistan was incredibly draining on their economy. so a lot was going to happen in the soviet union with or without reagan. >> accounty kay? >> did you find when you were looking at the film, i'm thinking about the middle east side of things and the criticisms might have set the clock back. how much influence could reagan have had in the middle east during the $1980? we look at the american situation today with the middle east in turmoil and america's power is somewhat limited. was reagan in a very different position back then? >> i think he did h

if you don't do immigration and -- like reagan did at the end and make a deal with gorbachev and don'tings that appear in what we used to call the encyclopedia britannica you aren't transformative. >> he's got health care but he needs immigration and needs another big policy issue. and he needs republicans to come along to do it with him. if they want to stop him they can. i think the public wants him to do something. chris: thanks to a great roundtable. chuck todd. kathleen parker. kelly o'donnell. and chris frates. that's the show. thanks for watching. see you back here next week. ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

close to mr gorbachev well due to a low turnout in the referendum it's hard to say really whether the majority of bulgarians support the building of a nuclear power plant or not so in european how legitimate is the result of this referendum. i believe we're having some technical problems there was that live from saffir well in the meantime a more international news will be coming your way in about thirty minutes at the top of the hour i'll be back with more updates before that we have a short break and then our special report fragile people will be coming your way stay with us. you know i can kind of sort of understand the mindset of an evil dictator i have trouble understanding what is going on or maybe not going on in the minds of the terrified cogs who believe all the propaganda give up all their rights for the illusion of safety to coach jerry seinfeld who are these people well maybe some of them may be working at your local school braindead bureaucracy zombies at a pennsylvania school suspended a kindergartner note kindergartner as a terrorist threat because she threatened to sho

gorbachev, open this gate. mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall.ause] host: why was that speech so important to his presidency? guest: that was vintage reagan. reagan going to the heart of the matter, using plain language. anyone could understand it. what he regarded as the moral issue involved, but it coexisted with this desire to find a peaceful path to coexistence. we do not know to this day -- we may never know all of the influences, all of the factors that shape the reagan's attitude, evolving attitude towards the soviet union. i would not underestimate the role of nancy reagan, who was the ultimate protector about his legacy and who wanted that legacy to include the role of peacemaker. host: as the head of the reagan library, you had a chance to sit down with former president ronald reagan in the early 1990's. how did he reflect on this time in office? guest: he loved to tell stories. he did not allow lot of washington stories. he told lots of hollywood stories, lots of dixon, illinois stories. after his illness was diagnosed, you could almos

not a big budget surplus and ronald reagan, i think iran-contra is overblown and historic gorbachev diplomacynd margaret thatcher said reagan ended the cold war without a single shot and the spth feeling good about the second term. he doesn't have the curse mentality. >> what are the priorities, what would you like to see the president focus on? they say in the second term you get a maximum of about 18 months to really shove through the agenda that you want to do. what should he be looking to do? >> there's the stuff on the table, you know, talked about in the media, immigration reform. you know, gun control. a couple of other issues but i would like to see him work on the great ideas he's put forward in terms of linking education with workforce development. making the united states more economically competitive in the 21st century global economy investing in community colleges, improving the education system and linking that with the business sector. if he can do that, he can leave four years from now with an america with a better economy and much more well positioned for prosperity in the 2

latterly from a background as one of the people who made phenomenal fortunes in the tail end of the gorbachev period. that is trading, buying and selling computers, building up from there, developing a bank. he ha a bank called -- [inaudible] and so on. he was a go-go financier. among the assets that he picked up at that time, was an -- oil field which was losing money and not particularly attractive property but then came the asian flu. rub the asian flu of 1998 and the crush of the russian economy at that time. and suddenly he was out of the banking -- and so he was in the oil business. and so he made a go of the oil -- what followed was remarkable. he was free of the hangup you have to respect the oil. present value oil today is worth nor today. how he went after it. and he brought in westerners to help him do that. and double oil production. the problem was that he was a rebel on every front and in particular he defied the president which was a very unwise thing to do. and so he ended up in a blood match with putin. whom he regarded with contempt. he consistently underestimated putin. i'l

gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> humor can also go a long way. like when president clinton, with a little help from his wife, mocked his own lame duck status with unforgettable video from his final months in office. >> i really think bill has everything under control. >> wait, wait, wait. you forgot your lunch. >> for "today", peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >>> up next on "today", our love affair with presidential mets as we continue live from washington, d.c. right after this. we continue live from washington, d.c. right after this focus on your long-term goa, not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. if you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do: face time and think time make a difference. join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing. something this delicious could only come from nature. new nectresse.

came in ase of the people who made phenomenal forchubs in the -- fortunes at the tail end of the gorbachev period and the first years under yeltsin in finance. that is trading, buying and selling computers, building up from there, developing a bank. he had a bank and so on. so he was a go-go financier. among the assets that he picked up at that time was an oil company which was losing money and was not particularly attractive property. but then came the asian flu of 1998, and the crash of the russian economy at that time. and suddenly he was out of the banking business. the bank went broke. and so he was in the oil business, and so he made a go of the oil business. what followed was absolutely remarkable, but the point is he was free about all these hang-ups about how you've got to respect the oil. he was, in fact, very western. that was his creed, and that's how he went after it, and he brought in westerners to help him do that and doubled oil production. but the problem is that he was a rebel on every front, and in particular he defied the president which was a very unwise thing to do. a

on june 12, 1987, he cold mikhail gorbachev to, tear down this wall. i like vodka. he called russia an evil empire. every day i call dana perino an evil person. and i know you think she is adorable and talks about the dog -- whoa, whoa, whoa. >> you guys actually think jasper is a dog? that's an armenian man she hired as an indentureed service, and he walks around central park, and they take pictures. disgusting. somebody has to tell the truth. that's what i'm here for. lastly, ronald reagan was a charismatic leader who influenced millions of people concerning freedom and individuality around the world, and i think that i and all of your are products of that. it's not a joke. [applause] >> i should stick to the joke thing. all of you looked at me like, what was that about? so the book is kind of -- has been born from the reagan era. at it about people who pretend to be tolerant when in fact they're not at and all they use tolerance as a weapon to shut you up. who was the first real target? ronald reagan. what was he portrayed as in the media? what kept you talking a

you look of gorbachev, when he first came to power you weren't sure what he was used to. we saw his wife for the first time. we saw kim jong-un's for the first time recently. look at what happened. it changed forever. russia got away from him. it's an interesting tiny first step. >> we know you'll be on top of it. thank you very much. >> on top of the forecast always for us, meteorologist christina loren joins us right now with a look at the forecast. >> good morning to you, jon and laura. good morning to you at home. hold on a second. a wild hair there. we got temperatures out there that are freezing cold and it's really dry so, ladies, that means your hair will hold that curl all day long. 30 degrees in gilroy. 34. good morning in san jose. 36 degrees in san mateo. temperatures are running just about as cold as it was yesterday morning. this is the last day of frigid conditions. 5 to 10 degrees below average for this time of year. bring in those sensitive pets and plants. you'll also want to layer up this morning because we have a good looking finish to the day. tempera

gorbachev, tear down this wall. ( cheers and applause ) >> that the torch has been passed... >> all superbakers who delivered moving speeches -- speeches that lift us to want to attain more and higher achievement than we might believe we were capable of. that's leadership. >> ask what you can do for your country. >> presidents nixon ford, reagan >> reporter: john kennedy's words launched david gergen's career as an advisor to four presidents. >> i do believe that president obama has got to be the unifier in chief >> reporter: he would add another trait that defines the best: persuasion. like f.d.r.'s fire side chats in world war ii. >> my fellow americans... he told everybody before he gave a speech go out and buy a map of the pacific. while he was on the radio he said get out your maps. i want to talk to you about where we are >> i ask you to look at your maps again particularly at that portion of the pacific ocean lying west of hawaii. >> he talked about the various islands and where we had been. that's the role of a persuader is to bring the country along with him. >> reporter: but for

>>brian: you say one of the things the soviets did wrong, the soviet union collapsed, gorbachev takes and the reason why what the afghans left collapsed is because the soviets cut them off. >> gorbachev continued to arm them. it was yeltsin. as soon as yeltsin took over at our behest, he took overt marxist regime and within months it fell. >>brian: you look at egypt and iraq, you've been to iraq when saddam was in power in afghanistan, and you say wait, when we pull out, they'll realize we are best friend they could possibly have. >> i think what they're going to find is their problems aren't over. in other words, they've got an awful lot of enemies in that part of the world. everyone hates each other more than they actually hate the united states, and that they're going to eventually, they're going to -- different actors are going to conclude that working with the u.s. is better than being left without the u.s. >>brian: these insurgencies, when they take power, like morsi, the brotherhood, the al qaeda in iraq, they always make the same mistakes. they are too brutal. it's easy to be

gorbachev, tear down this wall!eporter: humor can also go a long way, like when bill clinton with a little help from his wife mocked his own lame-duck status. with this unforgettable video from his final months in office. >> i really think bill has everything under control. >> wait, wait, wait, wait! >> reporter: and of course depending upon what happens four years from now it may well be bill clinton making more lunches for his wife as she could potentially be among those vying for a chance to call the white house home. but as it comes to the second-term agenda for the president, the first thing at the top is complete your remarks for tomorrow's inaugural address, roughly 24 hours from now. we are told by valerie jarrett, one of the president's closest advis advisers, that those are done. >> and i'll bet they are great. peter alexander, thank you so much. let's bring the panel in. presidential historian michael beschloss, "washington post" columnist sally quinn, james peterson, director of africana studies and asso

gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> reporter: president obama told matt last year he has a lot of unfinishediness. >> do you deserve a second term? >> i deserve a second term, but we're not done. >> is battle fatigue a factor? >> there can be mistakes made and there can be fatigue that sets in. president obama, from what i've seen, is highly energized at this moment, does want to leave a positive legacy. >> advisers say that the president is focused on guns, immigration, energy policy and, of course, the economy, but knows he has a year to at most 18 months to get things done before he is seen as a lame duck. the white house game plan is to campaign aggressively outside washington in order to keep maximum pressure on congress. matt? >> andrea, thank you very much. joined by a couple of familiar faces in david gregory and tom brokaw as well. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> his goal has been to get a second term. mission accomplished now. how high will this president set his goals for the second term? how high should he? >> economic restoration, comes into office amid financia

ronald reagan did not meet with mikhail gorbachev until the first year in his second term in office.l empire. he struck up a famously productive relationship with mikhail gorbachev that led to a softening in relations between our countries, and the easing of tensions as the berlin wall fell. >> as we watch this procession, i want to see if reena ninan can hear us now. she is right there from the white house. >> hi, diane. good to see you guys. this is where the party is supposed to end, at lafayette park. the president taking off right now. i'm told the motorcade is moving slowly behind us. there are multiple parts of the motorcade, as you can imagine. the president, at one point, will be walking the streets, when he comes to make his way to this viewer station. wherever you are, you are probably at the best possible spot to watch it. to get to where we are, you can't just walk up. you have to have multiple passes here. stick around where you are. we are approved the scent of pepperoni pizza. we want to know what pizza place has hard passes to make it to where the president is right

gorbachev, tear down this wall."always remain an unflinching beacon of freedom. i do not think the answer is for us to be the world's policeman and solve every problem across the globe. my view of the military is exactly that of reagan's. it should be driven by the national security interest of the united states. we should go in with overwhelming force. when we are done, get the heck out. >> thank you for coming here. senator ted cruz of texas. [applause] >> thank you. god bless you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> hello, everyone. incredibly loud. i apologize to your eardrums. i'm with national review. this is our panel on what is wrong with the right. we will take the next 72 hours -- i hope you'll have provisions for the next couple of days. i am here with the editor of commentary magazine. joe scarborough of msnbc, ross -- that, a columnist from "the new york times." we will get right into it. john, hot you wrote a book