in this particular case ronald reagan the assassination was an attempt. it didn't kill reagan. it's a bit different. >> we think the story involved with the assassination attempt was in context with our series so ronald reagan was shot and very shortly after it elected president he was at a certain age that when you get h., i got it affects you physically and mentally but certainly happened and it was almost a miracle that he pulled through so we wanted to toy story in the context of killing ronald reagan ended and the repercussions afterwards. >> fair enough. >> do you consider this attempt on the life of reagan changed the course of history? >> yes. there is no doubt that he was a different guy after he came out of the hospital. it's interesting because he was so robust and so vigorous that when he appeared with nancy reagan shortly after he was shot and people said, and i said this myself with a miraculous recovery. look at him. he's out there in his bathrobe with his wife and smiling and he's cracking jokes to the medical staff before he went into the observation. but what

why reagan? >> involved with the assassination attempt was in context with our series very shortly after he was elected president he was that a certain age with the trauma like that it affects you physically and mentally and that certainly happened. it was almost a miracle that he pulled through. >> and actually change the course of history. >> guest: no doubt he was different after he cannot of that hospital. because he was so robust and vigorous that when he appeared with nancy reagan shortly after he was shot. what a miraculous recovery out there in his bathrobe cracking jokes to the medical staff what i the he had a lot of changes that to place physically and mentally that chronicles the situation. >> host: if the dutchess a back you use a adversely or he could have done more? with the physical and the emotional and mental changes is that what you are suggesting? >> guest: everyone who worked with reagan in the white house after he recovered said he has good days and bad days. nobody said tha

over time, reagan really saw somebody that he had not expected. he believed that gorbachev is somebody that believes in god, has a wonderful family and an educated wife, not at all what reagan expected from the leader of the communist world. and he began to put back together with his confidence in the strategic defense initiative or star wars. and by the second or third encounters started to conceive of a grand vision where the united states would build sdi, it would share it with the soviet union, and that would be a sort of insurance policy towards having a blockbuster deal that would in the long-term eliminate nuclear weapons. but then the two sides would keep the defense system in case somebody like qaddafi were to get their hands on the bomb. >> with the death of a series of soviet leaders until gorbachev took over, didn't margaret thatcher famously say we can do business with this guy as opposed to brezhnev? james graham wilson: she hosts gorbachev and is tremendously impressed by him. she says he is a man that we can do business with and te

why reagan? >> we think the story evolves with the assassination attempt was it in context with this series. ronald reagan was shot very shortly after he was elected president at a certain age when you get a trauma like that it affects you physically and mentally and that certainly happened and it was the most of miracle that he pulled through so we wanted to tell the of story in the context to kill him and how that went down and the repercussions after words. >> very of. -- fair enough day you consider that attempt change the course of history? >> guest: yes. no doubt he was different after he came out of the hospital. because he was so robust and vigorous that when he appeared with nancy reagan shortly after he was shot and i said this myself what a miraculously recovery. looked at him in his bathrobe smiling with his wife and cracking jokes to the medical staff before the operation. but we didn't know that was never told that he had a lot of changes that took place in his persona physically an

and goes and tell reagan as much. another point to this story is that -- one of the things i think that was not so well known at the time was that reagan was always reaching out to soviet leaders from the first two months in office, he wrote handwritten letters saying, you know, we need to sit down and try to find a way out of the cold war. so he always had this impulse in him to reach out to a soviet leader. but obviously gorbachev was the real break through. >> what was the cold war all about? >> the cold war was about three things, i think. the division of germany and europe more broadly, nuclear weapons and a real unsettable i'd logical question at the end of world war over what was the fair and most fair and most freeway of organizing society. and i think that all three of those questions were settled to some extent in the period of 1979 to 1991. they didn't go away, but there was at least an answer to, you know, how to arrest the nuclear arms race. we knew that communism doesn't work, which is not to say that fr

>> reagan's cheer comes from reagan's work. he was one of the greatest presidents that we've ever had in this country. you go back to a time of ronald reagan where this attitude was present. i don't believe you can just take the feeling of the reagan library and claim that that's the feeling that we have today. i mean, each era has a different feeling. i think at this point, a lot of people out there across this country are concerned about their futures. if you look at the polling, there's a reason why, in spite of your questions that you've asked, there's a reason why almost all of our candidates right now are beating hillary clinton head to head. it's because they don't think that this country's on the right path. certainly, i do believe that we're a blessed nation, that we're a blessed people. that we have the -- the blessing as a family to be in a wonderful place. and that we want this country not just be great, but we want it to be a place that can achieve even better things in the future. certainly, we are happy and cheer

. >> reagan raised taxes, okay? reagan actually had an amnesty program for illegal immigrants. neither of those things would allow reagan to be nominated today. >> the very liberal stephen colbert using ronald reagan to interrogate senator ted cruz. we will show you what happened. >> do you think will ferrell knows anything? i. >> i you will debate you any time you pinhead. you come on in here and in 15 minutes me and you. >> also the factor challenges will ferrell and other politically involved informers who-to-a debate. gutfeld and mcguirk have some thoughts. caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. ♪ ♪ >>> hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. is the pope a left wing guy? that is the sung of this evening's talking points memo. this afternoon, pope francis landed at andrews air force base. greeted bye bye den and the first lady. the pope is resting this morning. photograph people president obama has invited of transgender people and abortion people and other left wing folks to the reception. wisely the pope doesn't want t

bush undressed to show his reagan connection. >> reagan and bush. >> he was the great debater. >> i'm not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience. >> but he skewered his opponents with a self-deprecating quip, not an attack said his son michael. >> he believed in the 11th commandment, thou shalt not talk ill of another republican. >> and donald trump is taking reagan's slogan to make american great again. but reagan has the flip side of today's angry rhetoric. >> he said once, i hope history will say i tried to appeal to people's best instincts, not the worst fears. >> and reagan compromised on taxes and immigration. and while today they talk about building walls -- >> they're bringing crime. they're rapist. >> i led the fight in the senate to defeat amnesty where the democrats tried to pass it. >> reporter: reagan enacted immigration reform. >> you solve a problem in the ronald reagan way with a wink and a nod and you get together and get things solved. >> reagan saw america as a shining city on the hill. a country welcoming people in, not shutting

and pushback on reagan and his close aides.could you talk a little bit more about the dynamics of both sides that forced through the shift? think you. >> thanks for that question. i think the answer to that is, it lies in looking at what was happening in the political leadership before gorbachev came to power your and when you look at politics or economics or religion or ethnicity or eastern europe, they knew they couldn't afford to hold on to eastern europe, but they didn't want to let go in the early half of the 1980s. so this wasn't a contentious internal matter for the politburo. so if you're talking about the military leadership are what i think you called the hardliners, there was a pragmatic, this is a case by making. there was a pragmatic acceptance that something was basically wrong. what they hadn't got until gorbachev came to power was an idea of a realistic cure. actually i don't think, i personally don't think gorbachev to her was realistic. if you start allowing people to say what they think without being arrested

reagan.-- >> two report our reports publicly. if i represented those results, i could be help criminally liable. >> i think he said in a court case everybody does it. >> actually, everybody doesn't do it. if i would have done it, i could have gone to jail. >> let's go our political correspondent, casey hunt. all this is taking place on hallowed ground for republicans. >> reporter: indeed, thomas. good afternoon. the republicans at this point want nothing more than to be the party of ronald reagan. they have reagan dinners, they go back to his alma mater to give policy speeches. obviously they have come here to debate tonight. but it all raises a question of whether or not ronald reagan would even be able to be elected in california today. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> i was a big fan, a very big fan of ronald reagan. >> reporter: today republicans make the pilgrimage to debate at the reagan library in simi valley in the state where reagan acted -- >> starring ronald

joining me now, michael reagan, ronald reagan's son. michael, very good to see you again. >> good to see you. >> your father's legacy is being invoked by all of the republicans. i want to ask you straight out. what does donald trump have in common with ronald reagan? >> not much. i mean, the fact that they are both running and they both ran for the candidacy for the republican party, that's what they have in common. but that's really where it stops. and i think all of them make a mistake by invoking ronald reagan. ronald reagan was not invoking thomas jefferson and abraham lincoln, he was invoking what he was going to do and how he was going to, in fact, run the presidency of the united states of america. and i think everybody makes a mistake by putting ronald reagan's hat on. they need to put their own hat on to let us know who they are and go forward and win the nomination. >> we have been following your tweets, you have been very active there saying you can't be a trump republican and a reagan republican. tell me why you think there

msnbc's political correspondent reports. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> i was a big fan, a very big fan of ronald reagan. >> reporter: today, republicans make the pilgrimage to debate at the reagan library in simi valley. in the state where reagan acted -- >> bedtime for bon zoe. starring ronald reagan. >> reporter: and then governored. he's become a republican legend. here in california his once grand old party is all but extinct. no republican carried the state since reagan's re-election and the last one to win statewide was another actor turned politician. >> i'll be back. >> reporter: but the gop hasn't been back since. democrats dominate sacramento. meg whitman lost her race for governor in 2010 and 2016 presidential candidate carly fiorina lost badly in her recent bid for senate. >> that's a generational issue, honestly. people are beginning to figure out that the progressive policies that democrats in that state have pursued over decades are literally destroying people's lives. >> reporter: republicans argue that a fiscally conservative but socially mode

in the ronald reagan way with a wink and a nod and you get together and get things solved. >> reaganca as a shining sit on the hill. a country welcoming people in, not shutting them out. >> if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. >> in reagan's words, a shining city teaming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> that will do it for us on this wednesday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. >>> lights, camera, access. >> changed her looks. she admitted to things like lip filler. as a mom, was it hard for you to say -- >> and so begins our kris jenner exclusive. as kylie's career

lou: and governor jeb bush embracing reagan as well. he wore a reagan-bush campaign shirt.ou see, over the weekend, calling his tax plan reagan inspired. check. governor scott walker frequently compares himself to the gipper telling the country's greatest president was a governor from california. trump is quick to liken his own political transition to that of reagan adding that mr. reagan liked trump's attitude. even the democrats trying to evoke reagan, using his famous, it's morning in america ad to hit the republican candidates. it's no surprise the candidates are trying to ape reagan, the icon most voters viewsa the country's greatest president, and with issues like illegal immigration, aggression by russia, a stagnant economy weighing on the country, all the candidates could benefit from many of his words including these from his farewell address. >> but in my mind, it was a tall, proud city built on rocks strong than oceans, windswept, god blessed and teaming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace. a city with freeports that hung with commerce and creati

and you worked in the reagan white house, and here in the reagan library, and amazing place. >> yes,s here. >> and the specific undercard, what do they need to do if anything, and the four in the first debate, do they realistically have a chance of moving up? >> i am starting to get a little skeptical here, because the divide is so sharp between the outsider s outsiders and the insiders, be but there is almost nothing they can say about the records that is not going to further incriminate them here, and that as governor or senator here, i did this, you have 87% of the people in one poll that say they want somebody who is an outsider. so their appeals are starting to fall on the e deaf edeaf ears. >> and dan, you helped a junior senator from illinois who had not spent a lot of time in washington, and a guy named barack obama become president of the united states, and he had a strategy going against hillary clinton and what advice to do you have for these guys right now? sgl >> well, the candidates on the undercard are serious trouble, and they have to swing for the fences. in the deba

. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> one wonders how it will manifest at the reagan library.k you for spending your sunday morning with us. you can catch me here every sunday and weekdays on the lead. you can watch me moderating the debate starting at 6:00 p.m. this wednesday. tweet your questions for the candidates@cnn debate. in simi valley, gps starts right now. >> this is gps, the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. coming to you today from london. we have a very special guest from here who will help us understand the top threads to the united states and allies. is it isis, al qaeda, iran, russia, china? >> i will talk to the real life counterpart of james bond's fictional boss. >> he was the chief of britain's secret

out reagan one another.n president reagan's office, as it were many years ago, and you look out the plane window, that's our stage. >> i think it's a reminder to all of them and it's a reminder to the viewers as well when they are watching here. this is no game. >> john berman, thank you very much. do not miss all the action tomorrow night. the main event with all those 11 candidates is at 8:00 eastern here on cnn. 24 hours to go, what are the rituals, the routines, the predebate exercises? do candidates actually sleep the night before? we'll talk to two guys who just helped mitt romney and president obama through their prep. we'll ask them what's going on today. this is cnn's special live coverage, we'll be right back. o. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. ♪ look how beautiful it is... honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know - and thank you so much for that. i think we s

i served in the nixon administration three different posts, and reagan. and my favorite is reagan. was comfortable with himself come and get deep values, and his ideas had continuity. he stuck with what he thought. and when he came to washington, he was called in a new bowl boob or something like that, and he was happy with that because he if he was underrated he would just go right by them before they realize. that's what happened. so i thought reagan was fantastic in that sense. he was a senior fellow here at hoover, and he came to dinner at our house more than once and went real deep discussions with them with some powerhouses. and have interesting how he stood up and argued with those guys. what you got out of it was he had these views that he expressed in very simple terms but he understand why you that he's picky set our problem is to get the government sent out of your pocket and out -- out of your pocket and off of your back. congress would take yours to express the ins and outs of that. but he understood what he was talking about. >> what about gorbachev, what do you make

and ronald reagan epitomized all those things. >> between '76 and '80, reagan's building a coalitionists, and law and order nixonian people. >> reagan is realizing to sell conservatism you have to diet with a smile. you have got to do it in a way that makes people feel good not scold them. >> we can turn this country around. we can turn our economy around. and the time to do it is now. [ chanting ] >> there are many democrats who are worried that carter is not going to win. so ted kennedy, a senator from massachusetts decides to take him on. >> today i formally announce that i am a candidate for president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] >> many democrats believe carter moved too far to the center and he abandoned the traditional idea of the party. >> jimmy carter and kennedy became the polar opposites within the party and jimmy carter on top of that had a feeling that the kennedys felt that they were above we southerners. >> it is a nasty contest. when someone asks jimmy carter in passing what you think of being challenged by ted kennedy. jimmy carter says "i'll whip hi

all of this talk about party unity is great but george bush attacked ronald reagan and ronald reagan attacked george bush. very, very tough competitor. host: let us get to our phone calls. gary from new york outside of buffalo, good morning. caller: good morning. mr. stone, i am a democrat that happens to support donald trump. here is the way i see mr. trump's problem. his most difficult achievement will be to get the gop nomination. hehe a, which is that -- if accomplishes that, i see a tremendous amount of support for trump on a national ticket with democrats like me. what is your assessment? host: before we get roger stone's response, can i ask you questions? did you support barack obama in 2008 and 2012? caller: yes i did. host: what changed your thinking about the democratic party and moved into donald trump's camp. caller: one of the most important was the fact that like a lot of people, we are waking up to the fact that candidates are bought and sold through this campaign finance system. donald trump is a billionaire. he is financing his own campaign . as far as i know, nobody

, are they reagan-esque? no. he was likeable and relatable. if you're not likeable and relatable, you're not going to get the vote of the american public. i would imagine one of my good friends who just suspended his campaign in the last 24 hours was probably the most like ronald reagan because he was a cowboy. rick perry, good friend of mine, wears the same boot size as my father, hat size as my father. great guy, couldn't get off the ground in texas. >> i'm setting you up now, who's the least reagan-esque on that stage wednesday night? >> donald trump? >> why? i figured you were going to say that. i sense where you're coming from, but what makes him the least reagan-esque? >> ronald reagan didn't attack the people around him. he didn't demean the people around him. you know, he brought everybody together at the end. if republicans don't bring everybody together at the end of the day. we do not win elections, we are the smallest bus in the building. we don't have the ability to throw people off the bus and d

we thought we saw nancy reagan here in the hall. we are now told that was not nancy reagan. we're going to find out what exactly happened, but that's an apology from all of us here. meanwhile, it's an especially big night for carly fiorina about to go face-to-face with donald trump for the first time since his controversial remarks about her. so what's her strategy for taking on the gop front runner? we're going to talk about that when we come back. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. (ee-e-e-oh-mum-oh-weh) (hush my darling...) (don't fear my darling...) (the lion sleeps tonight.) (hush my darling...) man snoring (don't fear my darling...) (the lion sleeps tonight.) woman snoring take the roar out of snore. yet another innovation only at a sleep n

>> i'm a reagan conservative. >> ronald reagan said trust but verify. >> the day ronald reagan was sworn into office. >> reagan expanded medicaid three to four times. >> ronald reagan evolved on many issues. >> but do any of them have the same strange outcome to make reagan an icon three years ago. do they know what he stood for? i have the perfect guest here, michael reagan, the late president's oldest son, a political consultant, author, nationally syndicated columnist joining me from los angeles. michael, are any of them truly reagan-esque? >> they may have traits of ronald reagan in them because they are republicans and somewhat conservative, but are they reagan-esque? no, ronald reagan was likable and relatable. if you are not likable and relatable, you won't get the vote of the american public. i would imagine one of my good friends who just suspended his campaign in the last 24 hours was probably the most like ronald reagan because he was a cowboy. rick perry, great friend of mine, wears the same boot size as my father and the same hat size as my father when he went out to the ran

ronald reagan was here when we received the piece. >> inside the museum an exact replica of reagan'somplete with a jar of jelly beans or jelly bellies he always kept on hand. it was a way -- >> he gave up smoking. >> gave up smoking. so whenever he had a fix -- >> he had jelly bellies everywhere. >> the plane, the oval, trappings of the very office. the candidates will be battling to reach wednesday night. i'm jake tapper for cnn in simi valley, california. >> and reminder the republican presidential debate is wednesday night. coverage starts at 6:00 p.m. eastern. the winner gets all the jelly beans. jake tapper will be moderating. that is all for "the lead" today. i turn you over to brianna keilar in for wolf blitzer in "the situation room." >>> happening now, thumping trump is the republican presidential candidates head into a make or break debate on cnn. new polls show donald trump soaring over all of his rivals. we're getting details about who is planning these strategies to take him down. and will it be enough? or is trump about to send more of his rivals to the sidelines? fast

ronald reagan rebuilt the military. in turn, helps to stand up for our allies, stand up against our enemies, and without apology for strong american values . sometimes we forget about that but you want about one of the most peaceful times in modern american history. ronald reagan believed in peace through strength. i hope to follow his lead. probably most importantly. ronald reagan was not just a conservative or a republican. he was an eternal optimist and the american people. that optimism. because you see today, more than ever, we need a leader in this country that cares more about the next generation than just the next election. we need somebody who is willing to go "because you see it is not enough to -- to go victim go bold because as you see -- big bold because as you see it is not enough to elect a conservative, you need to elect a reformer. we celebrated our wedding anniversary on the hundred anniversary of ronald reagan's birth. i remember exactly where i was at. this inngerous to say illinois but i was at the

not reagan. all right?e i have a lot of personal letters in my collection written by reagan. he stayed true. he stayed true. and that comes through in the book. so, overall, if you are looking at reagan as a human being, you will love the book. if you are looking at reagan as some kind of deitiy, mythological figure then you might have some problems with it. >> all right. how many killing books have you done so far. >> this is number five. >> i asked you before you wouldn't tell me hot sixth one is. there will be a sixth one coming. >> we have three more to deliver. the reason we can't say when we announce then other people then write the book. there was actually a book killing jesus that was put out a few weeks before the real book killing jesus. we luke to keep it secret and a surprise. we have three more and they are all the same way. we put you right there in the oval office. right there on the operating room, right there at the ranch, i write what i call investigative history. and there has not got to

reagan wasn't reagan when took office or was elected to the presidency.et toa large extent until you watch that person in office, do you? >> i don't think anybody can emerge to be reagan until they have gone through this process, become the of the united states if one of them can do that. you grow into it. i don't think a lot of people in '76 and aye 80 weren't sure reagan was reagan until they saw him in the campaign and saw him grow and his charm and the way he could communicate and his optimism. i would agree with ed. rubio kind of embodies the reagan optimism and love for the country. i think, you saw that last night. and kasich was very poignant in the way he, he kept coming back to real moments where he was in that plane or he worked on the budget. but i didn't see -- you're not going to get reagan until somebody becomes president and then they're either, first of all, one only like him comes around a few times in a century. he just, i mean, i wasn't for him but i believe he did a great job as president. i think a lot of americans feel that way. >>

i will remain a reagan constitutional conservative. >> i often joke that i -- i know ronald reagan's birthday because it's my wedding anniversary. but truth be told, i know our wedding anniversary, because it's ronald reagan's birth date. >> ron, do you know what a hermit crab is? that's a being that doesn't have an identity, so it hides in a shell and pretends it's something. these guys are all pretending they are your dad. >> and they've been doing that -- you've been having this conversation with me since i think at least the year 2000 election cycle. >> and i'll keep it up. >> every time these guys want to be my father. i don't remember my father ever trying to be somebody else, first of all. and besides that, it's kind of ridiculous. he left office over a quarter of a century ago. we don't even know what ronald reagan would really be now as a politician, 25 years later. so i don't know what these people are claiming to be in the first place. >> well, i will say this about your dad, and of course, i disagree with a lot of what he said, you did too. he brought peace between east a

guest: reagan. caller: yes. they admire reagan very much. and i know there was a time reagan said he hoped he lived long enough to know there were no nuclear weapons anywhere in the world. so why can't they get forward with the same thing? the same idea. that nuclear weapons are not good for any country to have, really. because of any that he ever drops one of them anywhere in the world, it would do complete damage throughout the world. it is not going to stay contained just in that country. it will go throughout the country and over time, they will be affected negatively by a drop of a nuclear weapon. i wish they would go back and think about what reagan said and maybe one day, we would have a world where there is no nuclear weapons in any country. that should be our goal. host: marie brings up the p5+1. can you run through the countries in the p5+1, and are any of the legislative bodies in those countries as opposed to this deal as we have seen the opposition on capitol hill this week? guest: the p5+1, the permanent security council countr

reagan raised taxes, okay. reagan actually had a amnesty programming for illegal immigrants.er of those things would allow reagan to be nominated today. (cheers and applause) so to what level can you when you say you emulate wrong ald reagan, that was a period of time when he was willing to work with tip o'neill to get things done. isn't that what people want more than anything else, is not just principleses back? >> well, i tell you, number one as i travel the country, i haven't seen anyone saying the thing we want of republicans is to give in more to barack obama and the direction we're going. i don't hear that across the country. >> stephen: but are those aspects of reagan something you could agree with? >> raising taxes and amnesty for illegal immigrants. could you agree with reagan on those two things? >> no, of course not. >> stephen: all right. >> but ronald reagan also signed the largest tax cut in history. he reduced government regulations from washington. >> stephen: he did. >> and economic growth exploded. you know, when reagan came in, from 1978 to 1982 economic g

>> here's the hard part with reagan. we wouldn't use any anonymous sources and we had to double source everything. which means when you read books about famous people, a lot of times you'll have so-and-so says to name a person. i won't put that in. then whatever anybody says has to be confirmed by somebody else and their name has to be on it. i left out a lot of stuff that just one person said or a person would tell me and they go, don't use my name. i said, i can't use it. so it wasn't -- when we had the people who knew reagan and nancy, knew carter, knew mondale, all these people, they went on the record, we got really good stuff from it. my boss roger ails coached ronald reagan in a debate. i got unbelievable stuff from him, i threatened to quit if he wouldn't tell me. >> jimmy: did you need two sources? but we knew that we could get people to talk about reagan in a way that had never been done before, and i think we did it. >> jimmy: the craziest thing is that reagan almost joined the communist party. >> that's right

ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> president reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan believes in america. neil: i thought we edited that. that was actually a nonstop ride from these candidates. obviously everyone would dream to be like this generation's reagan. deputy secretary mark weinberg said at least these guys from what you've seen -- >> i'm impressed by their credentials, but not by their behavior. it is mean-spirited. it is personal. it is angry and it's ugly. neil: ronald reagan was facing 15 or 16 challenges. >> i don't think there would be 15 or 16 people who would've challenged ronald reagan. what he would do is what he always did be himself, tell me what he believes, why he believed it and look forward and optimistically towards the future and you wouldn't lay my downgrade other people. neil: things got nasty and 76 and who is challenging gerald ford, turner pulled it off. did he let his surrogates do the nasty stuff? i just never -- notice he never got his own. >> first of all in 1976, if you notice most of the attacks

vp cheney and liz, welcome to the reagan library. [applause]. here is another more modern definition, one that that his family and millions of people in this country would easily embrace. hero, a man of courage or ability admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. i like that one. in all honesty, it does not do the man justice. how do you define someone who has quite literally dedicated his entire life to his country? someone who has faithfully served five presidents and in the process has selflessly come to the aid of our country in times of great crisis. if any of you are counting, that's for presidents i've listed, not five as a previously noted. the fifth that vice president cheney served with great honor, perhaps not director directly but with great honor, without hesitation, was ronald ragan. first as a foot soldier during his time in congress and then as a member of intelligent committee and deputy of the house. he was a critical and respected player on capitol hill who helped make president reagan's legislation program a reality. o

what makes him the least reagan esque? >> reagan didn't attack the people around him.'t demean the people around him. he brought everybody together. at the end, if republicans don't bring everybody together at the end of the day, we do not win elections. >> what he's saying is president reagan was positive. he made us feel good about our country, not like it was falling apart from the inside and, like, we're on the road to ruin. >> that's exactly right. the shining city on the hill. he also had the ronald reagan 11th commandment, not to speak ill of fellow candidates. trump talks down to jeb bush, speaking little of carly fiorina. we need a leader to say, here's how i would move the country forward, not tear people down. i think mr. trump, unfortunately, is making the republican party look bad. >> michael reagan said the person who most reminded him of president reagan was rick perry, who has since dropped out of the race. >> it's ironic, isn't it? rick perry came into this race, beefing up on national security policy, and all sorts of things. tried to make a serious r

these candidates, all of them praising ronald reagan. every time they get a chance, they seem to want to be the next reagan, right? even down to jeb bush. take a look at that. who has tried to down play his family connections at times revealing that old reagan bush t-shirt from 1984. but is donald trump the candidate making the most obvious effort to align himself with reagan jumping from hollywood really if you will and to politics trying to reach the highest office in the land when critics, even carly fiorina calling him an entertainer. is that a fair comparison? >> i think it's a somewhat flawed comparison. reagan was a stalwart of the conservative movement really going back to 1964 when he burst onto the scene. >> right. >> he was someone who was very aligned i'd logically for a long time. yes, he was an entertainer. but he had decades of being in republican politics. what makes trump so unusual, he has no history really with the conservative movement. >> used to be -- >> used to be a democrat. up until very recently he had a lot of

flanked by mountains here at the reagan library.n's air force one, the plane and the stage. transforming a presidential library to a debate hall is no easy way and it is still underway as i speak to you. it takes many hours of preparation, planning, construction and our debate moderator himself jake tapper takes us behind the scenes of this huge setup. >> reporter: the debate may be days away but it is all systems go here at the reagan library. this is the stage where the magic is going to happen on wednesday night. you can see and hear workers getting the stage ready. normally this floor doesn't exist here. we're all getting prepared for what could be a momentous evening in presidential politics. the republican candidates will have this as their backdrop, air force one. >> this is the plane that flew president reagan for all years of his administration. >> reporter: one of many impresses pieces of memorabilia on display at the reagan library. air force one was always fully stocked. >> was there anything on there that was particular

five gop candidates mentioned ronald reagan last month and with debate tonight at the ronald reagan library the contenders will no doubt honor him a lot. reagan continues to get better with age and time and remains most revered former president to many. it's interesting to note that many were not even born when reagan was in office. do those people have the same opinions of reagan in thands mind as folks over 50? maybe. a lot could depend on how our schools have depicted him. in hi mind he was the president who had the guts to stand up to the cold war. could be risky to try to equate yourself to such a powerful political force tonight. best advice for each candidate maybe to just be themselves as we just heard. you can always get my take on my facebook page and fox news.com. >>> now we have another officer down in arizona. we'll have the latest on the man hunt after this shooting. take a look at the recent string of violence. what's happening in our country towards police? >>> the second republican debate with more potential for make it or break it moment. here is your question of the day.

reagan. jamie. threat assessment notified? yes, sir. parameters? because the killer claims he has, quote, "friends that could help," the thought is that maybe it might be gang or drug cartel related. the officer's status? he declined a restricted duty assignment. any precautions or modifications? there's an effort to get him to give taru access to fortify his apartment, but... then that's that. sir, aren't you gonna call jamie in, try to convince him yourself? would you be advising me to if the officer's name were tom, dick or harry? no, sir, but... one of my men made a decision based on his understanding of facts on the ground. it is my job to back him, not dissuade him. but that officer is also your son. you're listening to me, sergeant, but you're not hearing me. fix that. garrett, what did i do wrong? nothing. five years in, i'm still trying to crack the code regarding the offspring. should i start packing again? no. i guess in about half an hour, he's gonna give jamie a call with a littl

we are live here at the ronald reagan presidential library in simi county, california.brooke baldwin, thrilled to be here, hours away from the main event where history will be made this evening. ten men and one woman will take one another on in the cnn republican presidential debate. and some of them right now are arriving on the scene. they're walking around our staging area, seeing how close these podiums are to one another, seeing how incredibly intimate this sven eye is. you are just about ten feet away from those candidates in the front row. george pataki is touring the stage. they're getting their turns. he just talked to my colleague asena jones. here's what the governor just said. >> what id you do to prepare

>> think reagan said during the cold car. >> i'm on the reagan side of this.ght in some protein to help rearrange the fridge and get us energized! i'm new ensure active high protein. i help you recharge with nutritious energy and strength to keep you active. come on pear, it's only a half gallon. i'll take that. yeeeeeah! new ensure active high protein. 16 grams of protein and 23 vitamins and minerals. all in 160 calories. ensure. take life in. thankshow may i help you?s list. i heard i could call angie's list if i needed work done around my house at a fair price. you heard right, just tell us what you need done and we'll find a top rated provider to take care of it. so i could get a faulty light switch fixed? yup! or have a guy refinish my floors? absolutely! or send someone out to groom my pookie? pookie's what you call your? my dog. yes, we can do that. real help from real people. come see what the new angie's list can do for you. can a a subconscious. mind? a knack for predicting the future. reflexes faster than the speed of thought. can a business have a

the reagan libra took a different path. most presidential libraries met controversies with explanations. arguably the biggest scandal, here ignored it. that was their way of dealing with it. so people who who did not history would say it's great. the other problem is these records are not available. if a president writes a history, and that historians, documentarians, can look at those records then we can have a public debate. but we can't have that because the records are not available and because the presidents write their own history. the nixon library began in controversy. it continued in controversy. it was the only presidential library to be operated privately for 17 years. the process is the president creates a private foundation, raises the the money, it builds the library according to standards and then hands it over to the government. donates it to government and the government operates it on behalf of of the american people. we spend $1 billion per decade operating presidential library's. it requires archivist to