nancy on that. i think a lot of reagan people feel that way as well.e prefer to give thanks to god for the survival of our president and we are especially thankful for the neurosurgical excellence at gw hospital. i don't know if everyone has heard the story about when the mistaken announcement that jim had not survived, his classic response, no one told me or the patient. it's hard to think of a world that still turns without jim brady. in the belief that he is up there listening and probably critiquing our remarks, for me a big special high-five with jody powell. two thumbs up for jimbo. thank you. [applause] >> i realize that this is not the signing of health care reform, this is a big deal. to paraphrase a great man. mr. vice president, sarah, members of the brady family, it is an honor to be at this podium today to speak about my boss mentor, and friend. thank you sarah for the privilege of representing the brady bunch. when people speak of those who of passed on it, history is re-created. sharp edges are softened. reality is replaced by fuzzy imag

as nancy reagan wrote, he was a patriot. he served his nation with honor. y. >> good morning. that is exactly what i did when i heard that jim brady was coming to the reagan campaign. i had known him in chicago. we had a good time there too. it was a grill treat to meet him. john conley's campaign had just collapsed. it spent $11 million and gotten one delegate. jim brady was known as the bear after winnie the pooh, came to reagan's campaign. he brought with him his wonderfully extroverted personality. there was nobody in politics quite like him. he brought with him and enormous store of information and a gift of irish gab and a fearlessly sharp wit. these are dangerous traits for a press secretary, even more for his principal. they were catnip to us. brady referred to his bosses and the candidate. that was when humor was safer. there was no social media to speed along to everybody. brady had been around for twitter, god only knows what might've happened. he was always ready with a quip and i quote. it seemed to be right of the top of his head, but it always

but nancy reagan didn't like george bush. nancy reagan did not like the fact that he had coined the term voodoo economics. bush had gotten out of talks to walter cronkite. cronkite interviews him and cronkite's got pieces of the story. he says are you a candidate for the vice presidency? and ford goes on for two minutes without saying the word, "no." reagan is looking at this on television and goes crazy. he feels he's been betrayed. he feels you know, this -- and what he really says is this just shows that the co-presidency won't work. that jerry ford is not going to be that kind of a team player. and reagan turns to i think it was len and he says to him, bush. now, this -- someone who was close to those people in those days said to me that ford actually knew what he was doing. that in fact he -- he -- i don't want to say committed suicide, but he did that so that reagan would, in fact choose bush. do you think -- >> i don't know that for a fact. the one thing that would argue against that henry, is that ford there is plenty

obama and also the red dress that was worn by nancy reagan. and the implications in terms of accessibility to affordable clothing and the impact of this power red with the republican party. and i'm interested if you can speak a little bit more about the role of the first lady and how her style can speak volumes to the climate of the nation through whether it's the selections they make based on the economy, just like the affordable clothing, or the politics of style, so to speak. i know we've talked a lot tonight about individual styles, but it's an interesting thing to think of how the first lady represents the nation and where we are at the time that they are in the white house. >> well, i think that most first ladies want to create an image which is not just about expressing them as an individual but they understand that they're also expressing something about their husband's administration and the politics of that. so whether it's more or less egalitarian or more or less kind of an elite style, that's going to be played out in the clothing.

that nancy reagan did not like george bush. nancy reagan did not like the fact that he had coined the term voodoo economics. bush had gotten out of the race at time -- in time. he had gotten out of the race, so he was not holding on like pat buchanan and some other people, but there was a bad taste in the reagan people's mouths about george bush. they thought he was too moderate and that he would not be a good match. reagan himself comes up with the idea, along with kissinger, who is in reagan's ear, about bringing ford in. there is nothing that prohibits gerald ford from coming in. he can be elected vice president as many times as he wants. the constitution does not say, so the negotiations go through between henry kissinger, brent scowcroft, i believe, and the reagan team, and they are this close. reagan is about to drop this bombshell, and ford goes on up into the skybox in detroit, and he talks to walter cronkite. cronkite has got pieces of the story, and he says, are you a candidate for the vice presidency, and ford goes o

seen also with nancy reagan. so what would we like to say about mrs. bush's style? >> laura bush was not apparently very interested in fashion opposed to barbara bush. we think she looked like a granny and fake pearls and she was good friends with scazi and laura bush doesn't seem to have been particularly interested. she wanted to look appropriate and everything but it wasn't an interest of herls. >> i just always think of her as being so mild and seeing photos of her wearing soft colors and it's relatively demure. nothing that's going to shout out because i think she just has a very gentle, mild presence. >> no fake cowboy looking like he sometimes would put on. >> there was an interesting color shift, though. >> yes. >> that went on because she was very taupe. and sort of beige when they were running. and when she came in and -- and the beautiful red dress. and michael fairclose tells a story about coming to see the first lady's exhibit and mrs. bush asked him to look at the exhibition and see what color hadn't been used recently and didn't repeat a color. he did

without nancy reagan would not have been elected to anything. another misunderstood aspect is his conversion to republican. it occurred over a decade. during the early 40s reagan was threatened with an acid in the face attack. in response the burbank police department offered protection and offered a concealed weapon permit. not well understood, he was also packing heat. he came to understand the following, the lofty ideals of communism could not be enforced without terror. from the political political movement, the korean war, reagan's enthusiasm transferred to harry truman. as truman. as the korean war dragged on a concerned. the invasion of the south,, but two years later there was no end in sight. it was a lot like the war in vietnam. reagan to his war hero. reagan campaign on his behalf. he worked for the eisenhower designated successor, but always as a concerned democrat. a decade after his original connection with eisenhower he reregistered as a republican because his party had left him. interestingly enough as a result of that relationsh

this is coming after eight years of nancy reagan, who was a very different kind of woman.he walked out like this, and she walked up to this lady, and she took the microphone and said, well, what you see is what you get. [laughter] i thought, good for you. did we get out of sequence or something? i don't think so. i think he is emerging. >> that is his hair, anyway. >> i interviewed reagan in the white house very soon after he was shot. i thought it was wonderful that he would be willing to do an interview so soon. when i went in to sit down with him, i was studying him to see if there was any sign of the stress or the trauma or the loss of weight, the scar on his head, anything, any sign. nothing. i was within 3-4 feet of him. absolutely incredible. he looked not like an older feller who has been carefully done up and touched up, not a bit. he was just as natural and as calm, as cordial as if we were old friends. in no hurry, very likable. obviously with a good sense of humor and a good sense of the fact that he had a job and he better do it. >> he liked the story, dignity

t's lap. >> we showed this picture. >> she was so cute. >> teeny tiny nancy reagan sitting on the lapas giving out mr. t dolls to the kids. perfect shot, nancy ray gone sitting on his lap. >> who is your first lady you worked with -- who is your favorite first lady you worked with? >> i couldn't pick because they are all amazing and thankful to mrs. bush for bringing me to the white house and they're all amazing. >>> rating for movie, can you say "s" for al sharpton? al sharpton having a say on what hits the big screen? >>> the billboard turning heads this christmas. >>> good morning to you. it's saturday, december 20th. i'm ainslie air heearhart filli this morning. >>> fighting back against the united states for the very bizarre request. how should the president respond? >> and caving to absurd pressure. harvard removing labels from the soda machines because they might offend some israeli students. has the pc police gone crazy. >>> the billboard turning heads this christmas. i love this show. >>> hi, this is brett and this is wade. hap merry christmas and happy new year. >> good morn

. >> nancy -- >> reagan? >> really? >> republican or democrat?oks like a republican. >> republican? >> republican. >> there's only one answer. >> next person. >> michelle obama. she is pretty powerful. >> she is telling everyone what to eat. what do you think about that? >> i think it's great. >> i'm so hungry, i could eat a sandwich from the gas station. >> i think she has gotten her power given to her rather than earning it. >> behind every powerful man there is an extremely powerful woman. >> who are you? >> i could be behind you. >> the day is young. ♪ ooh dream weaver >> honk my hooter. >> what about her? >> i know ellen degeneres, yes. >> why do women love ellen so much? >> because ellen will speak her mind. >> are you reacted to to her? >> i just love her energy. >> do you like women? >> i love women. >> what about after a few drinks? >> no. >> you've got to cut that out. >> she could dance pretty nicely for a white girl. >> yeah, she gets down. ♪ >> nice moves. >> who is that? >> i don't know who this is either. >> i'm looking at her. i d

. >> nancy -- >> reagan? >> republican or democrat? >> looks like a republican. >> republican? >> republican. >> there's only one answer. >> next person? >> michelle only? she's pretty powerful. >> she's telling everybody what to eat. what do you think about that? >> i think it's great. >> crack open a sandwich from a gas station. >> i think she's had her power given to her rather than earning it. >> well, behind every powerful man, there's an extremely powerful woman. >> who are you behind? >> i can be behind you. >> the day is young. ♪ >> what about her? >> i know ellen degeneres, yeah. >> why do women love ellen so much? >> because she speaks her mind. >> are you attracted to her? >> i love women. >> what about after a few drinks? >> no. >> you've got to cut that out. >> she can dance pretty nicely for a white girl. >> yes, she gets down. >> nice moves. >> who's that? >> i don't know who this is either. >> i'm looking at her. i don't know her. >> i feel like, you know, a lot of people make fun of her. >> hillary clinton? wow, what's she been eating? >> i'm a big fan of her h

what he said, according to nancy reagan, is give me the word and i will turn that bleeping island into a parking lot. what would seem puzzling -- think of this will stop 16 -- six feet to 1500 feet relationship, what would seem puzzling to a visitor from another planet is why, when the cubans have refused to behave of way we want them to that the castro government was not thrown out of office and cuba wasn't turned into a parking lot. how did they manage to get away with it? we could squish them easily. how do we manage to get away with it? it's costly, especially in the currency that might matter most in the end, which is global opinion. so unless there is a crisis like the cuban missile crisis of 1962, which i would be happy to talk about, this is a crisis, why bother? we have so many other important things to do. you living right now in a week where more attention has been given to cuba than any time says they shoot down of the brothers to the rescue plane in 1996 -- this is a very unusual moment. the first goes up to president bush, after the cold war when the soviet union was pres

there's a great picture you have of john travolta and princess diana dancing with the president and nancy reaganking on, just a wonderfully festive moment at the white house. >> that was quite the night. ploywas all a mrs. reagan him in that princess diana, one of her favorite actors was john travolta. the she made sure that john travolta was invited to this thatr, and she made sure the marine band that you see on the right side there played a medley from saturday night fever , which is what they were travolta then went and asked her to dance. you see him whirling her around the dance floor. >> and she was sure you're going to take a picture of that? >> well, this picture was not released until the end of the administration. think the thought was at the time that this was not a state the prince ofe wales is not a head of state. it was a private dinner. there was some agreement with not to makealace any of these pictures public thomas and then at the end of the administration, life magazine made a big push to try theublish this photo in 80's decade issue. they went to buckingham palace and asked

what he said, according to nancy reagan, is you just give me the word and i will turn that bleeping island into a parking lot. what would seem puzzling to a visitor from another planet is why when the cubans refused to behave the way we want them to the castro government was not thrown out of office. cuba wasn't turned into a parking lot, how they managed to get away with it. we could squish them easily. how have we managed to get away with it? first of all, it is costly especially in the currency that might matter the most in the end which is global opinion. so unless there is a crisis like the cuban missile crisis of 1962, which i would be happy to talk about later if you like unless there is a crisis, why bother? we have so many other important things to do. you are living right now in the week where more attention has been given to cuba than any time since probably the shootdown of the rescue plan in 1996. this is an unusual moment. basically if someone goes up to a president like the first president bush after the cold war when the soviet union was gone, go up to a president like firs

. >> nancy -- >> -- reagan? >> [ laughter ] >> really? >> republican or democrat?looks like a republican. >> republican? >> republican? there is only one answer. >> next person? >> michelle obama? she is pretty powerful. >> she is telling everybody what to eat. what do you think about that. >> i think it's great. >> crack open those sandwiches i got at the gas station. i'm is so hungry i can eat a sandwich from a gas station. >> i think she has gotten her power given to her rather than earning it. >> behind every powerful man lived an extremely powerful woman. >> who are you behind? >> i could be behind. >> you the day is young. [ laughter ] ♪ oh dream weaver. >> honk my hooter. >> how do you know her? >> i noel len degeneres. >> why people love ellen so much. >> she is attractive behind. >> are you attracted to her. >> what about after a few drinks. >> you have got to cut that out. >> she can dance pretty nicely for a white girl. >> yeah, she gets down. >> >> mice move. ♪ who is that? >> i don't know who this is either. >> who is that. >> bill clinton's mistress?

what he said according to nancy reagan is you just give me the word and i will turn that bleeping island into a parking lot. whatwould seem puzzling, would seem puzzling to a visitor from visitor from another planet is why when the cubans refused to behave the way we want them to the castro government was not thrown out of office. cuba was an turned into a parking lot, how they managed to get away with it. we could squish them easily. how have we managed to get away with it? first of all, it is costly especially in the currency that might matter the most in the end which is global opinion. so unless there is a crisis like the cuban missile crisis of 1962 which i would be happy to talk about later if you like, unless there is a crisis, why bother. we have so many other important things to do. you are living right now in the week where more attention has been given to cuba than any time since probably the shootdown of the rescue plan in 1996. this is an unusual moment . basically if someone goes up to a president like the first president bush after the cold war when the soviets were gone -

there's a great picture you have of john travolta and princess diana dancing with the president and nancy reaganlooking on, just a wonderfully festive moment at the white house. >> that was quite the night. this was all a mrs. reagan ploy? that, you know, princess diana, one of her favorite actors was john travolta, so she made sure john travolta was invited to the dinner and made sure that the marine band you see on the right played a medley from "saturday night fever" which is what they were playing when travolta then went and asked her to dance. so you see him kind of whirling her around on the dance floor. >> al: and she was sure you were going to take a picture of that? >> well, the interesting thing, this picture was not released until the end of the administration. >> al: why is that? the thought was at the time this is not a state dinner because the prince of wales is not a prince of the state. add the end of the administration, "life magazine" made a big push to try to publish this photo in the '80s decade issue and they went to buckingham palace and asked if this photo could be release

>> so i pitched nancy reagan.h red gown, lounging on a couch. and i thought that would make a great cops show. if she just kind of, would like nudge people with her foot. like, and who are you? [ laughter ] and you right away were like, "okay, and why? why now?" >> seth: i'm sorry. because now that i'm not there, i will say, sitting at home, that's the thing i'd really want to see. >> well, call lorne. >> seth: i will! >> do it now! let's do it on the show. >> seth: thank you so much for being here. i can't wait to see you next week. [ cheers and applause ] give it up for cecily strong, everyone! "snl" returns live on november 15th with host woody harrelson. we'll be right back with music from ella henderson. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ so, your mom and i thought you might like this. my dad brought me out here when... anyway. ♪ ♪ i get a strange magic dad! did you see that?! ♪ got a strange magic hey dad! wait up! the bed reacts to your body. it hugs you. it's really cool to the touch. this zips off so i can wash it

then came in nancy reagan who loved everything about christmas.ta claus and the magic of it all. she would say i must confess i still believe in santa claus. no one can forget this amazing moment with mr. t. i know you love that moment. when barbara bush moved in, she was shocked that the decoration planning started as early as february. basically as soon as they moved in. that first year she went with a storybook christmas. she believed that the white house was the people's house. hillary clinton often joeked about the theme being a state secret until december. in 1993 she went with angels. she and bill would wander the white house and take in the beauty. laura bush picked the theme home for the holidays in 2001 which ended up meaning so much more in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. sadly the white house was closed, no parties, no tours and no candle light. it was not until 2004 that the white house opened up its doors again for the holidays so naturally that theme was a season of merriment and melody. what i love most about the white house dec

she writes very, very damning things about her mother, nancy reagan and she was suffering horrible depression she's one of two reagan's two children who apparently attempted or thought about attempting suicide. she was in college -- no, i think she was back in california at the time, maybe she was in college, and she wanted to go into therapy. but nancy and ronald thought that that was for people who were crazy or whatever it was and so what she did was she got hold of a pound of marijuana, and she sold it. and that paid for her therapy. [laughter] while her dad was the governor. [laughter] and the future just say no first lady of california. none the wiser. she wrote of how her mother nancy, beat her was addicted to pills and used the house's state of the art intercom system installed by general electric as a tool for orwellian surveillance. now, maureen described that same intercom system as a providential gift. [laughter] it broadcast the sound of little ron, the youngest crashing to the floor in the nursery allowing them to save his life. now it gets to the political party. call maureen's

nancy reagan had him fired, fortunately for me. the access you had to the president himself and staff members. they would roll down their windows and she would talk to them and ask them questions. that's not something they would let happen today. >> palmer sent me out there which democrat is he trying to lobby. let john and judy know in the southwest gate who is coming in for the evening sessions in the oval room upstairs with the president. he would go with them and take the assignments from the legislative strategy. the lobby was sense to try to get the sale through the saudis. it could have been on them or anything else. that's the way the lobbying went. you had mobility. you could move around on the grounds. >> i want to circle back and ask you to talk about your knowledge of the president and the personal interactions with the president and whether that made a significant difference in your reporting. on that point i top the go to brooks and ask about the visual element of this. were there -- did you have meaningful access to

nancy reagan comes to the hospital, and she is just distressed. she is talking to the doctors in fines and find sentry two season, he looks up and says nancy, i forgot to duck. he looks at the doctors as they are wheeling him into the operating room and says i hope you are all republicans. they said sir, today we are. he stayed in touch with all of those doctors who saved his life throughout his life. he maintained correspondence with them. she was at a dinner party and the guy she was sitting next to says my father was one of the doctors, and he sent letters all the time. was a nurse there that was apparently beautiful, and she was holding his hand. he never found out who she was. he woke up after surgery, he can't eat, but he is awake. he can't talk. he asks for paper and pen, and someone does handed to him, and writes white room, white ceiling, beautiful nurse, i'm alive, aren't i? he asked the nurse, does nancy know about us? [laughter] after the recovery, he has to give his first speech. the whole staff was trying to find out how we going to

obviously nancy seemed very involved in influence on that regard but how do you see him in connection with that? >> the question is reagan's connection with astrology. i think it was essentially zero. nancy was his lover and wife but she became the protector. therefore all the things that she talked about he was very thoughtful but when it became involved with her involvement of affairs in state he absolute to drought. example, stu spencer tells me of having dinner upstairs in the white house after he had just given the evil empire speech and nancy was on his case. you can't say that, that's terrible. we have to have detente and get along with the soviets. ron was eating dinner and stu spencer was there and he turned to stu and said what you think of the info -- evil empire speech? spencer said approximately well mr. president you were going to scare a lot of people. it is an evil empire but you are going to scare a lot of people. without missing a beat he said wells do it is an evil empire. we are going to push them over backwards. what's for dessert? he viewed his astrology stuff as part of what nancy was doing and that

nancy had these shoes with red pompoms on them. i guess they were her christmas shoes. >> and then mrs. reagan was also known for bringing a little bit of celebrity to the white house. there were secret santas and some of them were well known from hollywood. that one is her husband. >> there's one. [laughter] >> that's a classic photograph. >> this was actually done at the press preview. and mr. t wearing multi gold neck laces, came down the grand staircase. so it did see the light of day early on. >> i loved that he is giving out these dolls to the children. >> this weren't today, i would say this was photo shopped. but it really happened. remarkable. i would have failed this multiple choice test. [laughter] >> and now we are to -- >> if i can back up just a second. the idea of those trees. go to the trees there. the idea of those trees started in the third year of the reagan administration. the trees with the snow. it was the idea of the designer that was mrs. reagan's designer from california. and the second year of the administration, we had baby's breath put in amongst the branches of the

reagan who was one of mine in 1947. he says i want to have you come to washington and testify in front of the house. eisenhower, who was one of nancy's, was involved in the 1968 republican convention. he was behind the scenes helping reagan get organized as a supporter of reagan and as a candidate. they positioned themselves for 1968. that suggested the club had relationships long before some of the members were in the white house. >> how did you write this together? how long did it take? >> we had been working on it for better than four years. we could easily spend another four years. the stories are so rich. in a way, it is hard to stop the research and trying to get these stories onto the page. we would both pushed each other to set deadlines. i would draft a chapter and send it to michael. >> what about your personal situation? >> we have day jobs. i am an editor at "time" magazine. one thing we found, at the risk of this sound like a rationalization, is everything we were reading we would hear these echoes in the stories that we were covering every day in a real-time. now we are in an election year. this has been true. we kept o

nancy pelosi and elizabeth warren aligning with ted cruz. ed rollins is a former principal white house adviser to ronald reagan. a long-term strategist and political and business leader. and judith miller is adjunct fellow from the policy research. she's a pulitzer prize winning columnist. and we have the head of the hedge research and good morning to you. strange bedfellows. >> i promise they'll all hop out of bed the next morning. this is not a long term engagement. i think the overarching thing for the white house and john boehner was not to shut down the government. they were willing to make compromises all the way. two people who have emerged that have been long-term leaders and have been thorns in their side, elizabeth warren and she may run for president and ted cruz, a great champion of the base. >> will they pull their parties in their direction and sort of muck it up for others? >> no. they're not leaders of the party. the thing about cruz he doesn't care. cruz is the outlier all the way through. warren i think was a little bit more responsible. she is against the banks. no friends of business though

reagan the man, who he met at the white house in 1986. >> he invited me to lunch. all of a sudden, what i'm hearing from him is a story about when he and nancy were in the guest house of president demard demarcos in the philippines. i don't get it. this is the most accessible president in my lifetime, he seems to be out to lunch. what's going on. >> it was later what alluded him about reagan. >> he had no need to show how smart he was. he knew what i was asking, he didn't want to talk about it. he didn't care. >> it would be some time before krauthammer embraced a conservative domestic policy, taxes, welfare, small government and other reaganesque sins. >> it took me a decade. i was skeptical of tax cuts and smaller government. by the end of the '80s, i had a chance. as a doctor, i had been trained in evidence. if a treatment is killing your patients, you stop the treatment. i sort of, i moved gradually to the idea of a more limited society, smaller government. >> by that time, krauthammer's world was falling into place. in 1985, his son, daniel was born. two years later, he won the biggest honor in print journalism, the pulitzer prize. not