mr. wonderful. ere. >> i'm honored and i'm moved. >> i'm not sure you realized what the song was for a minute. >> wonderful time of the year. you know the responsibility i have being mr. wonderful i have to stay wonderful all the time it's not easy. >> calling you that is like calling you curly. >> there's truth in advertising. >> dow is up, andrew. >> equity futures at this hour after the big decision, and some words from jay powell that have been spooking the markets. right now, maybe not spooking it the way it did yesterday dow looks like it's opening up one point higher we just went into the red. >> sell it it's wonderful >> in the mr. wonderful way. >> it's going back down as you talk. >> it's flat, guys. >> shares of newell brands, carl icahn increased his stake, now owns just under 10% of newell, adding four new board members recommended by i cahn. >>> new orders rose 11% on strong demand across al of its products they make cool chairs and stuff. >> it's office maybe that's good. i'm looking f

mr. wonderful.ear where you'd be crankier than usual. [ chortles ] but i have a solution -- pms bites. pms bites are delicious and healthy bite-size snacks specifically designed for women when we need them most. they're made with all-natural, vegan, and gluten-free ingredients, and they contain a blend of herbs that women commonly take for bloating, cramping, and irritability. pms bites are the perfect snack to help women take those 122 days back and satisfy cravings without guilt. sharks, who's ready to take the bite out of pms? greiner: we all are. [ laughs ] -and i have samples for you. -we're ready to try them! -okay. -that's what i mean. herjavec: what's the most common symptom, tania? -i would say irritability. -lori, we know you need it. -oh, robert. -wow. -thank you. [ light laughter ] oh, i love the packaging. look at the package -- very cute. the main ingredients are dates, almond butter, and gluten-free oats. herjavec: these are really good. -great candy. it's great. -thank you. they're 5

mr. wonderful about. >> most wonderful time of the year. >> how appropriate. >> and mr. l is here >> we are going to get back to mr. wonderful and all of that in a minute, and specifically, we're going to talk a lot about the fed and the fed decision i want to show you what's going on in the markets right now. as we get set for the market day, after this big fed decision, u.s. equity futures look like they would open lower, off, we'll call it about 50, 5

mr. wonderful, kevin o'leary is in sixth place.lly go into this really just wanting to beat kevin? >> you know, i love the process with my friend tobin smith formerly have fox. they look at crypt currency. that can affect your profits 12% per quarter. i believe each of them is more sophisticated or at least better than average in terms of risk management with the volatility of the markets so i've enjoyed that, and, of course, a side part is watching mr. wonderful who is sitting right in front of me not do quite so well this year. >> it's not over yet, nick but by the way -- >> it's not over >> do you bet on sports? >> no. in fact, i really don't like that at all. i saw where a running back for the rams stopped just sort of the end zone which was a great mark in shortsmanship. won the game and the markets were talking about the bad beats in espn, it was about money. i was walking down the stairs after we won the game easily and somebody said you blew the over and under. there are a lot of people that bet lots of money that don't car

mr. wonderful, he's a cnbc contributor let's begin where we usually do, the markets. the s&p losing 5%. more questions now about the fed, whether investors no longer trust the central bank end john williams. it's good to have you here clearly there was a thought in the market on wednesday that maybe the market didn't trust the fed anymore to get it right. that was a part of what he said. i asked a lot of different questions and came back to this notion the fed, indeed, does hear the message of the market let's listen to what he said about this specifically. >> we are listening very carefully to what's happening in markets for two reasons. financial conditions have an important influence on the economic outlook >> i think we are hear something and that is a concern around the potential slow down than we expect in our base case. >> he didn't seem to want to go there but did, the reduction of the balance sheet is something they're flexible sheet that they could get to a point where the reduction of the balance shoot planned would be changed. >> that's rebutting the whole autopilot conversa

mr. wonderful. i'm ready to rock here." and that person will say, "this is great.ng over." is that true? what he's gonna do -- he's gonna grow maybe 10% of his crops in our product to prove that it works. why? but you -- why? 'cause he's nervous about doing it. absolutely. wouldn't you be? what is your strategy, though? are you trying to service greenhouses? are you trying to sell this to the consumer? are you trying to sell it to farmers? yes. or are you trying to do all three? we think we can scale by going with the commercial growers first... commercial first. ...and actually brand the plants so that we can get into the retail space with the plants, the pittmoss-grown plants. how do you get to the greenhouses? to understand what the product is, what are you giving them? we give them a unit of product, a 50-cubic-foot unit of product, and let them play with it, with all their different crops that they'll use -- they'll grow in one season. herjavec: here's what i really want to understand. how did you come up with it? i mean, it's so creative. robert, i have been

mr. curbelo: i thank the gentleman from illinois who indeed is a wonderful friend. sometimes his jokes aren't as good but his advice has been very good here since i started running for the house for the first time in 2013. the people of southern illinois are blessed to be represented by mr. davis. he has a wonderful family, he's a great friend, and i am -- even though i'm moving on, i'm happy to know that people like rodney davis will remain part of this institution, working for his community and for our wonderful country. i'd like to yield to my colleague from pennsylvania, another wonderful friend, we've shared many great experiences together, we have worked hard on the issues that are important to our communities, to our districts, mr. ryan costello. mr. costello: thank you. i too want to thank carlos for your service to this country, your constituents, you've been an exemplar of what it means to be a gentleman, somebody who comes in to work here every day in the halls of congress, serving the people, doing your best, giving it 110%. what i would like to do if i

mr. wonderful, thank you. happy holidays. thank you for hanging out. >> we'll be here -- >> "squawk on the street" begins right now. ♪ >>> good morning and welcome to "squawk on the street." we are live from the new york stock exchange. let's give you a look at futures a half hour from when we open here for trading. you can see when i walked in an hour and a half ago or so we were sort of flat on the dow. european markets have been open for quite sometime. it has been negative. this doesn't show japan where the nikkei was down almost two percent. you can see across the board losses after our big turn around yesterday after we heard from the fed. ten year note yield, higher rates not there. take a look at it. 2.751. crude we will spend a good amount of time on again this morning because why wouldn't you? 46 had the 51 46.51. stocks sharply lower after the central bank raised rates and signaled perhaps as many as two more to come next year. stock futures to a muted open. >> it's not just about oversupply, but about demand, as w

mr. davis. he has a wonderful family, he's a great friend, and i am -- even though i'm moving on, i'm happy to know that people like rodney davis will remain part of this institution, working for his community and for our wonderful country. i'd like to yield to my colleague from pennsylvania, another wonderful friend, we've shared many great experiences together, we have worked hard on the issues that are important to our communities, to our districts, mr. ryan costello. >> thank you. i too want to thank carlos for your service to this country, your constituents, you've been an exemplar of what it means to be a gentleman, somebody who comes in to work here every day in the halls of congress, serving the people, doing your best, giving it 110%. what i would like to do if i could is just thank those residents in my congressional district, residing in chester county, pennsylvania, montgomery county, pennsylvania, burks county and lebanon county pennsylvania for the opportunity to serve you here in congress for two terms. this was always admittedly a dream of mine and it's something that i took great p

mr. wonderful.ve had to endure while counting your $100 bills. that all changes now with doc spartan's combat-ready ointment, a completely all-natural, fast-healing first-aid ointment trusted by members of the special operations community all the way to neighborhood moms. now, sharks, the only issue remains -- who's ready to join us on our mission to heal america's wounds? we'd love to give you some samples. o'leary: yeah. yeah, why are your shorts so short? -yeah. [ chuckles ] -what's that sticking out? that would be freedom sticking out, mark, but... [ laughter ] unfortunately, barbara -- barbara's not here, but i'm heeding her advice when she said if you want to get attention, wear a short skirt with bright colors. so this is all i had at the moment. herjavec: so, dale, what does the product do? how do i use it? what's it for? so it's more of a, "what doesn't it do?" it's a completely all-natural first-aid ointment. everything that is inside that product came from our community. -and what's your

. >> reporter: carvy had questions -- so wonderful, mr. bush himself had to join in the fun. >> dat-dat-dat. >> i never once said not-not-not. >> reporter: he recount the a phone call to carvy. >> he said, i hope i've never crossed the line. and i knew exactly what he meant. and as far as i'm concerned, he never has. and the fact that we can laugh at each other isentang e ha so many war moments with them. >> reporter: in april carvy described his 25-year friendship with the bushes and how times have coarse ened. upon mr. bush's death carvy wrote simply, i think of those times, what i remember most is how hard we would laugh. i will miss my friend. major garrett, cbs news, washington. >> that's the overnight news for this wednesday. we leave you tonight with images of former president george w. bush and wife laura paying respect, again, to his father. good night. we'll see you from washington tomorrow. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome to the overnight news. i'm david begnaud at cbs headquarters in new york. the gra

mr. gowdy: i wonder, sometimes, if we did him a favor. when we drafted him to be our speaker. he is a policy guy, always has been. he is not a bare knuckles political fighter. his bias is toward fairness. his bias is towards working with people. i wonder, sometimes, if we did .im a favor paul, i will tell you this. you may not have loved us enough to be the speaker of the has, but i am glad you loved the country enough to be the speaker of the house. [applause] mr. gowdy: and my sadness is not that you are leaving. my sadness as i do not know how many paul ryans there are behind you, and how many young men and women like you would choose to enter the current political so you were right when we met eight years ago. we are peers. we are colleagues. we became friends. but, paul you are wrong about , one thing. we are not equals. you don't have an equal. people like you don't come along very often, and when they do, they don't come with your humility. when our founding fathers decided to engage in this experiment, this intersection of virtue, knowledge, and freedom, it was people

mr. gowdy: i wonder, sometimes, if we did him a favor. when we drafted him to be our speaker. he is a policy guy, always has been. he is not a bare knuckles political fighter. his bias is toward fairness. his bias is towards working with people. i wonder, sometimes, if we did .im a favor paul, i will tell you this. you may not have loved us enough to be the speaker of the has, but i am glad you loved the country enough to be the speaker of the house. [applause] mr. gowdy: and my sadness is not that you are leaving. my sadness as i do not know how many paul ryans there are behind you, and how many young men and women like you would choose to enter the current political so you were right when we met eight years ago. we are peers. we are colleagues. we became friends. but, paul you are wrong about , one thing. we are not equals. you don't have an equal. people like you don't come along very often, and when they do, they don't come with your humility. when our founding fathers decided to engage in this experiment, this intersection of virtue, knowledge, and freedom, it was people

mr. pappas: chris pappas from new hampshire. put us on the ball -- what is wonderful is we are close to the ground and these are so essential to make sure that congress is always embodying and reflecting and translating the voices of the people of this country. in my district, we benefit from international trade, particularly with canada. i think we are always well served by calm and sober talks and respecting the businesses in our country, the workers and the environment. and come other protections when he to realize in these agreements. we need to see the details of these agreements. but i think the sort haphazard policies is not well-serving and we are well served by common, sober talks. reporter: back on oversight. in light of the michael cohen major revelations yesterday, what would you like to see come january for your committees and specifically trump's potential

mr. comey: entirely consistent in my view. what is your next question? >> the domestic investigations operation guide is the roadmap for all agents. there is a special section -- i'm wondering if you feel comfortable with your handling of that. mr. comey: i do, i do, very much so. >> some people have criticized you for failing to remember -- turning the fbi's reputation into being nonpartisan. what would you say to that criticism? mr. comey: they got truthful testimony from me. sometimes you don't know what form people filled out. that is silliness, and as far as hurting the fbi's reputation, i hope not. we had to make very hard decisions in 2016. i knew we were going to get hurt by it. the question is, how do we reduced the damage? i would rather not be talking to you all, but somebody has to speak up for the rule of law and i hope there was a lot more out there than just me. >> you were telling sally it's about the interview with michael flynn until the day of -- why did you wait until the day of to tell sally yates about that? mr. comey: because i knew if anything came of the interview, the attacks from the trump administration would be that an obama holdover engineered

mr. speaker. having to follow this wonderful lady, i want to follow what she said. you know, christmas and hanukkah is a season of hope. and with the signing of this bill today right before christmas, you are giving hope to hundreds of thousands of americans. mr. goodlatte: literally, millions of americans. it's been a long time coming. many of us have worked on this for six years. but it took you and your family to show the leadership that was needed to put us across the finish line and i really want to thank everybody from both parties, both sides of the capitol for working together to get this done. it's the first step. there's much more that can be done for criminal justice reform. we need to think of it as the first step. president trump: [inaudible] it's already begun. this is the first step. there's going to be a second and a third. and possibly a fourth. e'll see how it all works out. it's great. [inaudible] >> thank you very much. mr. goodlatte: shout out to doug collins. [applause] senator collins: thank you. just a few months ago i had somebody come to me

mr. giuliani. that's way back years ago that that relationship existed. and i wonder what mr. pecker has to say and knows about rudy giuliani. >> just when you don't think this could get any more interesting. frank figluizzi says the darndest things. joyce, we have mr. pecker and mr. weissenberg. it sound like the tag line that follows, have you been in an accident? weissenberg is the long-time family accountant of the trumps. he was fred trump's accountant. he goes back to 1974 with this family company. he is said to have been donald trump's tax preparer. are we kind of forgetting every night how much he is able to share with the feds? >> weissenberg is an important witness. he's the guy who had control of the checkbook in large part, so when these checks would have been written, he would have been a critical player. we hear in that tape where trump and cohen are talking in the context of the campaign these payments that are going to be made. there is talk about running the formation of the business that will be used to hide the payments past wieselberg. wieselberg can also t

mr. bush: i said "dad,yo love you anhave been a wonderful father." st words he would ever say on earth were, "i love you, too." s he was close to perfect. but not totally perfect. his short game was lousy. [laughter] mr. bush: he was not exactlyre fred astn the dance floor. the man could not stomach vegetables. especially broccoli. [laughter] mr. bush: and by the way, he passed these geneticts on to us. aughter] jon: finally, an emotional farewell from a son to his father. l. bush: through our tear us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man. the best father a son or daughter could have. and in our grief, let us smile knowing that dad is hugging mom and holding mom's hand again. jon: as president, george h.w. bush said he wanted to see a kinder, gentler nation, something not at the forefront in 2018. the end of an era indeed. jon sopel, bbc news, washingtonn jane: presbush had established his political career long before he reached the white house. he was vice president for 8 years under ronald reagan, serving at the pinna a

it has to be a part of everything that we do. >> i appreciate that. >> mr., i wonder if you understand the interplay with australia and china. and the influence that china has in australia and the activities that china is actually taking place in australia to influence elements of australian society. could you give me a sense of that and how is it that we put our relationship, which started off a little rocky under the administration, in a way that promotes australia as a critical partner in this part of the world. especially with a rising china that seeks to exert its influence throughout that region in a way that seeks dominance at the end of the day? >> yes, senator. it's an excellent question, excellent point. other members of the committee have mentioned it as well. the fact is that china is, australia's largest trading partner. that gives it outsized influence, and outsized opportunities to a nation that's already let us say aggressive. and i know that from my commercial experience representing companies, u.s. companies in asia pacific. the australians have recognized some of the

you wonder after all this time, and we'll get to mr corbyn in a moment, but you wonder...er than me whetherjohn bercow is in his last days. i can't say i have an answer to that, that's a very big questions, but there's certainly push for these to be his last days. he's frustrating both sides of the house, i'io frustrating both sides of the house, no question. as endearing as this term pantomime is, so many people will pick up copies of the times and the macro ben baby independent —— i and they will think it is not as sweet and funny outside westminster as some of us will —— i. westminster in the heat and the height of this brexit debate is falling apart. when you watch politicians being described as pantomime characters, knowing in 100 days they're supposed to be getting an orderly, clean, well documented, well structured brexit over the line, this is going to strike fear into the hearts of remainers and believers alike. this is what happens when you have a country that's as divided as this country that's as divided as this country is at the moment —— levers. since the out

mr. comey: it is entirely consistent, in my view. what do you mean? reporter: the domestic investigations operations guide is a roadmap for investigations for all agents. there is a special section for sensitive matters. i'm wondering if you feel comfortable with your handling of that? mr. comey: i do. very much so. reporter: people have criticized you for failing to her member events for may be hurting the fbi's reputation. what would you say to that criticism? mr. comey: they got truthful testimony from ap or when you are direction of an organization -- director of an organization, sometimes you do not know what form you fill don't come about as silly. as far as hurting the fbi's reputation, i hope not. i knew we were going to get hurt by it. the question was how do we reduce the damage? what i am doing now is not what i love to duke it i would rather not talk to you all but somebody has to stand up and speak for the fbi. i hope there are more somebody's out there than just mean. -- van just me. the fbi was conducting until the day after why did you wait until the day of to tell them about the investigation? mr. comey: because i knew that if anything came of the if it advanced our investigation, the attacks from

happened back in september however the article only came out ten days ago there will be people wondering why it took mr shane three months to write about this plus buzz feed is now citing a report with assessments and conclusions of how well project birmingham worked and if you compare the language of that report with the language in the n.y.t. article you'll find many differences the journalist calls the operation a secret experiment however in the cited report it is referred to as an operation to influence the out. of the alabama senator race as to how much influence the project had on the actual election tallies the journalists wrote that probably it was too small to have a significant effect however the report says that it enormously effected the turnout our producers have reached out to both the new york times and scott shane himself however they haven't gotten back to us yet former u.s. congressman michael flanagan gave us his views on why the new york times decided to break the story he's got to break it eventually it's going to get out there's no way it can't be hidden like this for any length

look at pence i did wonder what the hell was he thinking? >> thank you, mr. president. >> god, "the greg gutfeld show" is so funny. i wonder what that guy is like. bet he's awesome. bet he would be fun to go fishing with. can i buy a boat? i don't live near water. doesn't matter. >> you have the right house. you have the senate. >> would gregg make fun of me? president trump: i can't get it passed in the house if i can't get it passed in the senate. >> the boat first, then or should i move the boat it's a bad idea. greg only likes me because i have a boat. i have a boat. he's a big jerk with a big stupid face. greg: while others saw this as another week. some said things could you lose your job over. >> is that a patriot speaking or a wannabe take day day tore's butt-boy. greg: she called the secretary of state a anti-gay slur. >> the term is offensive and i apologize to everyone, especially the lgbt colleagues. it was a mistake. my father would have found it disrespectful and he would have told me, i will work hard to be better. greg: we should accept apologi

mr. jordan: wonderful. we're happy for you. but you were there when the targeting of conservative roups started groups started then, right? mr. hackney: apparently did did but i was not involved in any of that. mr. jordan: it says you advised the commissioner. this all took place in the exempt organization division of the i.r.s. mr. hackney: i did not handle any -- mr. jordan: do you know anything about it? did you work with lois learner? mr. hackney: i did work with low ills. mr. jordan: but you didn't know anything about the be on the lookout list or anything like that? when did you first find out that the i.r.s. was targeting conservative people and this whole double standard i mentioned was going on right in the very division you were supposed to be advising and overlooking? mr. hackney: i appreciate the question. i would disagree with characterization of targeting. but i was at the meeting -- mr. jordan: you don't think people were targeted? mr. hackney: i don't believe they were. mr. jordan: there was a list that had three

mr. president, there are so many wonderful people who can help our country.nd here is my number in palo alto and give me a call if there is anything you want to talk about. [laughter] condoleezza: but i am really, really happy. david: time after time, your name has been mentioned as a vice presidential and presidential candidate. can you say for sure you're not likely to run? condoleezza: i can say that with even more certainty. because you have to know your dna. and i don't have the dna of a politician. i love policy. i don't love politics. it is just innovating for me. david: you grew up initially in birmingham, alabama in the segregated south. and some of your friends were in the terrible birmingham, alabama church bombing. did you ever think that from a segregated south beginning you would rise up to hold these kind of positions you held? condoleezza: it never occurred to me, but more because i thought i was going to rise up and be a great concert pianist. i know -- but my parents were people who had me convinced that even if i could not have a hamburger

i was wondering if mr. kurson had any information about that particular bit of the apollo 8 mission. guest: i don't, i am sorry to say. that sounds fascinating. host: we are looking at their return and pictures and celebration of what that meant for them. what was going through their minds? guest: it is hard to say. when you ask them, what they felt most when they got on the recovery ship was grateful to be americans. they felt very proud of their country or what it represented and what it had done and what it had wrist -- risked. we were still in a cold war and this was a battle of ideals. freedom and communism. spy --thought that the the side that could win the space race would go far in winning the cold war. appreciating the sense of where they had come from and where they return to. that and the ability to breathe fresh air after six and a half days in this spacecraft. host: the fact that all three crew members, still alive, and in putting together this book you had firsthand accounts. guest: it was the

mr trump has already said that he is very unhappy with his toys as mr powell as the fed chairman —— with his choice.|j wonderllen is thinking, she's at home watching closely at imagine, i wonder what thinking. let's look at city am, eu olive branch is as city fears, what is the olive branch? the eu's response to regulation the bank of england has already implemented a few months ago for the case of a no—deal brexit scenario. the regulations saying that the current regulation, which means london based banks can trade in the eu will continue for a certain amount of time, about 12 months. business as usualfor a period of time. time, about 12 months. business as usual for a period of time. only a period of time, that is important, this is something the european commission hasn't aimed for, they would have wanted to settle this, not with a no deal contingency plan, but with something real in the settlement, concerns about... that trillions of derivatives contracts could be moved in a very short amount of time, and have now been found to be unfounded. but, as you said, it is something which is only covering a cert

mr. president. this showcases a nation that is rich in diversity, heritage and national wonder.s christmas, i encourage every american to visit our celebrated national parks and find your part. mindo ask that you keep in and your hearts, the empty seats at the family dinner tables across this great land. whether that is a loved one that is currently deployed or one gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country. our warmest thoughts and prayers to those members and families who defend this great land. thank you for your sacrifice. lastly, it is my high honor to introduce a man who has made america strong and safe again. as a former navy seal commander, i know that this president and commander in chief loves our troops and will always have their back. ladies and gentlemen, they are introduced the president of united states, donald j. trump -- his lovely wife, first lady, melania. ♪ >> the man who brought christmas back to america. president trump: thank you very much. --ant to thank you for being doing such a beautiful job on throughout the season. welcome, everyone. this is a specia

and it does make you wonder why anybody, including mr.r, would want to come into this white hous i mean, you leave with a worse reputation than you enter, almost in every case withon may exception and you have to put with all of this midnight haeeting. look at whatened to jeff sessions and now john kelly. his lled rex tillers former secretary of state dumb and lazy today. >> dumb as a rock. >> dumb as arock. excuse me. which is good for an oil man, i guess. it is like you are drilling in the rock. okay. but the point is, why would you want to come into this. really it is maybe because barr is at the end of his career, not looking to move on to something bigg and better. >> sometimes they just want to sorve. that was questioned when john kelly took the job and some said he did it ou of sense of duty to country. >> that is exactly right. if you are a patriot and you feel the country th going over sid of the cliff, would you try to help out and i know a number of peopleed have been a whether they should join the trump administration and they

mr. president. >> senator from tennessee. >> i wonder if-- to the president i'd like to ask the senator from indiana, then what you're saying is, you're doing everything you possibly can to ensure that if your amendment passes, never in the future will your amendment be relied upon to say that if we're refueling, that means that we're involved in hostilities, is that correct? >> i think the chairman for clarification, so that i can further clarify for the record that this amendment only applies for purposes of this resolution and in the section i offered it. so let's say in mali, for example, our country in the future were involved in refueling operations of our partner or allies' aircraft. this wouldn't apply. this would establish absolutely no precedent. we've had national security legal counsel look at this. we've taken a belt and suspenders approach. no reasonable reading of this could construe this to establish any legal precedent that ought to cause concern to anyone concerned. >> mr. president, i would ask again for the senator, then for those of us, many in this body including i think the se

i hope you got a chance to see some of the wonderful photos of mrs. ford in the vestibule. they capture at least some part of the strength and joy and love with which she lived her life. i'm honored to introduce today's featured guest here to tell us more about mrs. ford's life and legacy. started with a host for conversation, mr. mike ford. the other son of former president gerald r. and betty ford. mike and his wife have three daughters and eight grandchildren. he currently shares the presidential foundation served on the ford school of visiting committee for many, many years. mike is a b.a. from lake forest and a masters in divinity and for the last 36 years he's built a long and successful career in student affairs serving multiple leadership roles at lake forest. as he retired earlier this year, wake forest presented make with the medallion of marital award in honor of his many years of service to the school and students. commenting on that award, one of my ex-colleagues, university chaplain tim almond models for students what it means to be a person of integrity a tru

i was wondering, did mr.son have any information about that particular thing with the apollo 8 mission? host: melvin, thank you. guest: i don't. i am sorry to say that i don't. that sounds fascinating. i do not know about that experiment at all. host: what was going through their minds? guest: boy, it is hard to say. you know, when you ask them, i think what they felt most when i got on the recovery ship was grateful to be americans. they felt very proud of their country, for what it represented, for what it had done, and for what it has risked and dared to dupe your you must remember that we were still in the cold war, and this was a battle of ideals, a battle of freedom and communism. it really was thought that the side that would win the space race was going to win the cold war. so i think they really appreciated the sense of where they come from and where they returned to most. that and the ability to breathe fresh air after six and a half days in a spacecraft. host: and the fact that all three crew membe

mr. baker: i agree with you. i think if we could get -- i agree with you that if we could get to the point that independent commissions would draw our district lines, it would be wonderful. the problem with that, mr. president, is it means taking power out of the hands of the politicians. i don't know where it is going to work. i know it is beginning to work in california. mr. obama: you just had a referendum in michigan passing this. so you are seeing citizen initiatives around this, in part, because they recognize what is currently in place is not working. one thing i will say, my observations during the time i was in the white house, sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that the problem has to do with the people who are there. and if we just kick all the bums out, it will get fixed. there are some bums, don't get me wrong, who need to get kicked out. we will not mention names. i am sure you have a list, i have a list. some of them overlap. some may not. john: some just got reelected. [laughter] mr. obama: but i will tell you this, if you don't change of the incentive structures and the underlying dynamics, then we will continue to see these problems. good people

mr. president, you have me follow this wonderful lady, but i want to follow what she said. you know, christmas and hanukkah is a season of hope. and with the signing of this bill today, right before christmas, you are giving hope to hundreds of thousands of americans. when you count their families, really millions of americans. and it's been a long time coming. many of us worked on this for six years. but it took you and your family to show the leadership that was needed to put us across the finish line. and i really want to thank everybody from both parties, both sides of the capitol, for working together to get this done. it's the first step act. there's much more that can be done in criminal justice reform, and i hope we think of that as the first step. pres. trump: and we have started that, we'll call it "phase two"" but it's already begun. and this is the first step, but there's going to be a second and a third, and possibly a fourth. we'll see how it all works out. but it's a great it's a great subject. it's a great topic. people are very happy. thank you very much, b