you can see from his speech he was back to ronald reagan but for that hour he wasn't ronald reagan. >> host: the way was portrayed in the process of your broken immediate aftermath of the summit is reagan away from the deal of the century the gorbachev had effectively proposed scrapping all nuclear weapons and reagan said no. you agreed with reagan's turning to the deal down and you still agree. >> guest: i did. i didn't know how important was going to be. i thought on balance it was right that we would go back to the nuclear side and we should keep our options open but it wasn't. i thought sdi was going to be important to reinforce it and reagan didn't want anything to do with it. he wanted to protect the united states with a shield against incoming ballistic missiles. i had no idea and i say that in the book. i had no idea that this was going to start a chain reaction that was going to end the cold war. no one would imagine that because what happened was gorbachev says oh my god two things. number one sdi this guy is convinced there's no way because gorbachev strategy was i'm going

whenever he was in front of the troops he just lit up and you could see from which they are it wasn't ronald reagan. >> host: the way it was portrayed it was portrayed in detail in the book in the immediate aftermath was that reagan had walked away from the deal of the century. gorbachev had effectively proposed scrapping all nuclear weapons and reagan said no. but you agreed with reagan turning to deal down. >> guest: i did. i did not know how important. i thought it he was right that we would go back to the nuclear side keep our options and. but i thought sdi was going to be important. reagan didn't want anything to do with it. he wanted to protect the united states with a shield. i had no idea and i say that in the boat. i had no idea that this is going to start a chain reaction at the end of the cold war. no one would've imagined that because what happened was gorbachev gets back and says tuesday. sdi, this guy really is convinced there's no way. gorbachev strategy wasn't going to make reagan a deal that he can't refuse. he finds out much to his horror and misery at reykjavik there's no deal. s

that man, ronald reagan, was not the cowboy that his critics alleged. one thinks of reagan in terms of his off-the-cuff line, we begin bombing in five minutes, right? that is not capture ronald reagan. he had long dreamed of a world without nuclear weapons and he had an idea about how to do it, an idea that evolved over the course of his presidency and involved gorbachev. in march 1983, the strategic defense initiative, or star wars, gradually became an essential component for a grand vision of the world. after getting to know gorbachev and deeming him to be trustworthy, reagan envisioned as a massive insurance policy, one he would share with the kremlin to make sure both sides stuck to arms reduction agreements. it was enigmatic, nobody would have imagined that a man who called for massive nuclear buildup in 1980 would be offering to share this with the soviet counterpart, share technology to shoot down missiles. in the president's mind, however, and this comes through in the documentation available, it was not a deception and sharing was not a ploy. re

stood in front of the 3,000 troops and he lit up and you can so from the speech he was back being ronald reagan. >> host: the way it is portrayed in the aftermath was that reagan walked away from the deal of the century. gorbachev had effectively proposed scrapping all nuclear weapons and reagan said no. but you agree with him turning the deal down and still do i take it. >> guest: i did. i thought he was right we would go back to the nuclear side and keep our options open. but it wasn't -- i thought sdi was going to be important to reinforce deterants. reagan didn't want anything to do with that. he wanted to protect the united states. i had no idea and i say that in the book this is going to start a change reaction that was going to end the cold war. no one would have imagined that. gorbachev is back and he says two things: number one sdi, this guy is convinced -- gorbachev's strategy was i am going to make reagan a deal he cannot refuse. he behind out there is no deal on such that he cannot refuse. he hears reagan they there has been great progress on sdi. so he goes back and says i cannot m

not man ronald reagan was the cowboy his critics alleged. i think one thinks of reagan in terms of his off the cuff line, we begin bombing in five right? not the cowboy his critics alleged. occasions.h that does not capture ronald reagan. e had long dreamed of a world without nuclear weapons and he an idea about how to do it, an idea that evolved over the pregnancy.he 1983 the in march initiative or ions. defense star wars or sdi became an essential component for the world after getting to know him reagan sdi as a massive insurance policy and one he share with the kremlin to make sure they stuck together. obody at the start of the decade would have imagined that man who called for massive nuclear build-up would just a offering to er be initiative or his soviet star counterpart. i think this comes through very clearly in the documentation available. sdi was not a deception and was not an employ. the cold war win but i think that he established -- he set the terms debates of strategic the 1980s. option tions of zero that is to say the ultimate

campaigns in full swing this year, many republican candidates are promising to honor the legacy of ronald reagan. and governor as he did. in fact, reagan's legacy is frequently brought up as the gold standard for conservative policy. but now, one of california's top democrats is challenging the accuracy of that legacy. so we did a little digging to see if history really is being too kind to our former governor and president. he has his own super carrier in the u.s. navy fleet the uss reagan. there's an airport in the d.c. area named after him. but more could be done, well-known anti-tax republican grover norquist says every county in the u.s. should have something named after ronald reagan. california democratic chair john burton has responded telling norquist in this letter, quote, i fondly remember him signing the largest tax increase in the more than 100-year history of our state and signing the bill that liberalized abortion to therapeutic abortion acts. are these claims right? reagan wasn't really a true conservative? >> norquist and john burton are partly right but partly wrong, as well. w

>> guest: flew right back. >> host: and you said the hawk wanted to tell stories about ronald reagan? >> guest: that and he got a gnaw sail boat and wanted to show me. and then we greeted the press and he said after we spend time -- i told stories about reagan and he showed me his sail boat when was over a half hour, i think. pictures they had gotten for the sail boat. and then they went out and told the press that he had only budgeted on hour for the meeting but because of the importance of reykjavik we spent an hour and 40 minutes which time we spent probably ten on reykjavik and lots of other things. but it showed he was a good ally and the united states cared about him. he didn't know much about it or care about it much. but because he cooperated with the united states on the issue for the hawks that the liberal part of his party were wanting arms control. so as the director of arms control, i could satisfy that. >> host: before we bet back to reagan and gorbachev, i wanted to ask you about the character that plays throughout the book. someone you mentioned sergio. tell me about h

with i haveo begin known ronald reagan since 1966 will stop and i have worked with him almost every day well i was majority leader from 1981 until i left in 1985. i have never seen ronald reagan more energetic, more fully engaged and more in command in difficult circumstances in question then we are dealing with throughout this today. he has never been better. and i have seen him up close on many occasions and i say that first-hand observation. thingsy a number of would've dealt with today in the oval office and in meetings throughout the day and i will touch on two of those announced. first, i would like to announce on behalf of the president said on wednesday, march 4 at 9:00 p.m. eastern, the president will address the nation. foraddress is available live television and radio coverage. and i might also say that we hand out a copy of the letter to the president of the united states from a bob gates. , who is thetes deputy director of central intelligence and i will read that to you. president, it is apparent that there are strong to where the -- i believe a prolonged period of uncerta

like ronald reagan and tip o'neal saved social security. i'm a good conservative but i'm also a prbsoler. and this country needs to solve problems. >> why is it so wrong for like-minded democrats and republicans to occasionally try to find common ground on the big issues such as the federal debt, immigration, social security reform? how does anything get done in washington on these big issues if each side digs in their heels? >> certainly we need to see change. but we don't need to fundamentally traps form america. we need to transform washington d.c. i believe, as a republican, in limitting the size and scope of our government. i believe in a smaller government. i believe in less taxes. i believe in this core foundation that we all do as republicans. and senator graham has had 20 years to go up there and get the job done. it's time to allow somebody else another turn right now. after that length of time and listening to the people of south carolina, we need a principled leader. we need someone who will reach across the aisle but to negotia

what president was the most consequential in your lifetime and he didn't see john kennedy said ronald reagan you know he changed america and he really did he did it was as much of a revolution as the franklin roosevelt presidents yet and i think that's a good point because one of the one of the difficulties about having this discussion about reaganomics is only sometimes and sometimes in the left people talk about it as a failed policy as opposed to a successful policy you know people have clearly there are clear winners and losers in the reaganomics here in the united states where it's good it's working great for the top for example and i think it's designed that way it's not necessarily kill policy or arguably of regulation undersell do so i mean as far as like corporate taxes i mean we're still far above you know other countries i wouldn't say not effective. not on this guy and so it's doing it actively i mean i certainly don't argue that people's hope in the american dream has gone down i mean there's this new group called american encore that's basically showing that you know you go int

profits everything else is productivity went up wages went up until the reagan presidency until ronald reagan declared war on organized labor in one thousand nine hundred and then wages started to flatten out but productivity continued are going to break if you're in the seventy's the trend began there not before not with ronald reagan actually they are merging in seventy eight and then they're breaking apart yeah you get some but i notice our this this is one reaganomics came in to put into play and this is this seems to me like a fairly clear trend line. well if you're left wing politics happy to blame it on what i don't know i mean it's also just politics i mean when you turn for those two by their cry blame obama look it's getting worse under him you know he's a proponent of way trader ways are going off and he hasn't done anything to work to roll back to early yeah i mean i think part of the discussion about what he's raised taxes and it was discussion about living in the age of reaganomics realizing that it's not just republicans who are supporting these ideas but it dop did wholehearte

ronald reagan had iran contra, george w.re there reasons presidents seem to stumble in the second term? >> second terms have proven to be challenging, there's no question about that. it's hard to keep it fresh and renew after winning the first term. the real key, i think, randy is, can a president come back and really finish strong, so to speak as a lame duck? president clinton did that in many ways. china's succession of wto. president reagan did that, with the strong economy as well. we've seen that. president bush did not -- was not able to do that as well, because the economy was down. although he made some crucial decisions at the end of his second term that i think proved to be correct in terms of the economy. so the key is, tough times right now for the president, approval ratings show that, can he come back after the midterms? >> the second term presidents whose domestic agenda stalled. they often turn to their foreign agenda, but in obama's case, i mean, he's having some pretty big troubles. you look at syria, libya

he is your mentor, not ronald reagan. and i find it interesting that john mccain has not even been in the state to campaign for you when you went all around the country to campaign for him in 2008. of can we question have compromise with the democrats, certainly we can have compromise within certain talkingrs, but if we're about a national deficit of $17.5 trillion, we have to have some parameters about which the compromise takes place. i would say the compromise has to take lays within the parameter that we actually have structural reforms in place where we -- before we raise the debt ceiling again. you cannot just keep raising the ceiling and raising the ceiling and not getting anything in return. >> it seems when we compromise we are always giving democrats with they want and it seems like to the graham gives in democrats and then gets to go in front of the press and congratulate himself for giving in. we have to take the fight to the democrats. this man has been trying to dismantle this republic. if we are going to sa

and tom ellis and jesse helms literally told ronald reagan and his team in 1976, by the way, reagan before he got to north carolina had lost four or five primaries. they lost the florida primary, new hampshire primary, and things were looking really, really dark. and so he wants to come to north carolina, and tom ellis and jesse helms said the coming. we don't want you here. we will handle the campaign. we'll take care of it. don't coming. however, if you insist on coming and you have to do four things. and jesse helms and tom ellis told reagan these four things. the four things work you must

ronald reagan and tip o'neill saved social security from going bankrupt. i'm a good conservative, but i'm also problem solver. this country needs to solve columns. wrong forit so like-minded democrats and republicans to occasionally try to find common ground on the big issues such as the federal debt, immigration, social security reform will stop how does anything it done on these big issues of each side just exhume their heels? >> certainly, we need to see change, but we don't need to fundamentally transform america. we need to transform washington, d.c.. in limiting the size and scope of our republican stop i believe in less taxes, i believe in the core foundation that we all do as republicans. senator graham has had 20 years to go up there and get the job done. it's time to allow somebody else another term. time, we need a principled leader. we need someone who will reach across the aisle to negotiate and bring others to our side and not just walk across the aisle to democrats and stay there. we need someone who's going to be strong. we need to stand up

late in the evening, my assistant whispered in my ear, "ronald reagan just died." and we raised a glass to the president and said to the president and talked about the evening. and andy rooney called me later and said brokaw that might have been the best dinner i've ever been to. >> thanks for inviting me. >> sorry. >> and then of course tom had to get on a plane and come back and prepare to cover the funeral. >> right. i had to go and do that. >> yeah. you and your stories, tom, they're priceless. they're great. i don't know andrea though can match you and so can mike barnicle especially if you get him going about boston but that's another story. that was a good story. >> actually alex yesterday, last evening, i went down there specifically to see rue robert murphy. it's a little side alley in the village square made famous by the paratroopers getting caught up in the spires of the church in the village square. and robert murphy was a 20-year-old pathfinder 82nd airborne jumped into didn't mean to jump there, but the wind had blown them off course in the early mor

ronald reagan during his eight years in office signed 381. during his eight years. so as all of us know, these executive orders signed by presidents, nothing new. we'll see if the lawsuit goes forward. congressman, thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks again, wolf. >> there's a tense partisan fight going on right now over the fate of thousands of immigrant children, undocumented, uncompanied here in the united states. many are being held in hot crowded detention facilities after crossing in the united states illegally. so often without any parents. the growing problem, the fiery debate over their status. that's coming up. >>> security secretary jeh johnson holding a news conference now to address what many are calling a major hugetarian crisis at the border. secretary johnson is at the border of arizona right now filled with children who crossed into the united states from mexico, most originally from central america. the issue has sparked tense political debate in washington with some republicans accusing the obama administration of simp

cash. >> senator graham, you're describing yourself as a ronald reagan with republican -- ronald reagan republican, but i believe a lot of us really believe you're a john mccain republican, that you seem to be doing john mccain's bidding, that he is your mentor, not ronald reagan, and i find it interesting that john mccain has not even been in the state to campaign for you when you went all around the country to campaign for him in 2008. as to the question of can we have compromise with the democrats, certainly we can have compromise within certain parameters. but if we're talking about the national deficit of $17.5 trillion, we have to have some parameters about which the compromise takes place within. in that example i would say the compromise has to take lace within the parameter that we actually have structural reforms in place before we raise the debt ceiling again. we just can't keep raising the debt ceiling, raising the debt ceiling and not getting anything in return. >> thank you. senator? >> it seems when we compromise in this time, it seems we're always giving the democrats wh

and tom ellis and jesse helms literally told ronald reagan and his team in 1976, by the way, reagan before he got to north carolina had lost four or five primaries. they lost the florida primary, new hampshire primary, and things were looking really, really dark. and so he wants to come to north carolina, and tom ellis and jesse helms said the coming. we don't want you here. we will handle the campaign. we'll take care of it. don't coming. however, if you insist on coming and you have to do four things. and jesse helms and tom ellis told reagan these four things. the four things work you must attack forward, attack kissinger, tag to give what of the panama canal and you must attack detente. reagan said i'm okay with that. he did that and it leaves north carolina and that afternoon of the election, ma flying to wisconsin to a friend of mine on the plane who shall remain nameless, great conservative today even, said that they were riding reagan's withdrawal speech, that is going to choose to consider withdrawing when he got to wisconsin. when he got to wisconsin they learned they scored an u

and tom says ronald reagan was a man of integrity.ays the employer does not care about the common man. and why stocks here are rallying, trying to jumpstart the economy of the eurozone. the numbers that matter to you in your wallet. gerri: imagine negative interest rates. the banks charging you to hold your money. unbelievable. it just happened to be european central bank today. minus 0.1%, the idea is to force banks to lend. for more on this we have steve moore. this is almost unimaginable. it's hard for me to understand this. of course we are talking about europe and banks and not consumers. can you explat is going on here and why? >> well, you call the unimaginable. it's mathematically impossible. that is potentially what has gone on in europe. thought of what they are doing is putting these as head saying we shall lend out this money. and so you have such a problem in europe. n't nougy toey don't see opportd there's not a real demand for credit in europe. we have a problem of fiscal policy and regulatory policy and the problem is

he is today. -- since i have dealt regularly with ronald reagan, but i've never seen him better thanhe is today. >> are you concerned about the criticism? >> two parts. an obligation to come to you today and the second part is i opened the remarks i'm making these observations because they are true. , this president is fully in control of his presidency? is he fully engaged? is he in contact with the problems? experience,day's today he was superb. >> and mrs. reagan -- [indiscernible] talked to mrs. reagan today. i plan on doing that later today. [laughter] intend to do that later today. let me say i've known nancy reagan a long time and i spoke to her on friday. i expect -- [laughter] >> the draft of the speed you have seen, you have described as tremendous. what else do you think the president needs to do to sway momentum in the country? >> i will tell you very frankly i will consult with the president and advisors and i will help him if he will permit me to to advise a strategy to get a cross of the perception of ronald reagan today that i saw today. >> part of his problem is the

the other is ronald reagan. many times at night you ponder and you're reading and you wonder, what what these two great leaders' advice be for us today for america and all of us. i thought for a moment, think there's the things lincoln would tell us. the first thing lincoln would tell us is, believe in the exceptionalism of this country. and i think one of the places you can look to that is the gettysburg address. you all know the beginning. four score and seven years ago tonight. but every read the rest? our forefathers brought fortha new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. you read through and it he says, but if we fail, government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall perish from earth. we weren't the strongest nation at the time but he said we're different than others. we're conceived in liberty, and we're dedicated to the proposition that everybody is equal. but if we fail at this, england and france could not solve the problem, only u

so president ronald reagan did it, too, when he bombed libya without congressional approval in response to the libyan bombing of a nightclub that killed several american soldiers. and in the face of growing concern over america's growing pollution problems, presidentri with an executive order. the agency consolidated parts of different federal agencies dealing with different environmental issues. so that's your history lesson for the day. >>> a startling new development in the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. with australian researchers releasing now an audio recording that could -- could point the search for the missing plane in a whole new direction. trace gallagher live with all of this new information. trace, what is this new sound? >> well, on the very same morning that flight 370 likely crashed, there was an unusual sound picked up by these underwater listening devices in australia, these devices normally used to pick up things like whale sounds and potentially an underwater nuclear explosion. the sound they picked up lasted just six seconds. they have set it up now ten ti

thank you so much for helping us understand the significance of what happened here and why -- from ronald reagane tried to become a part of it and tried to expand and perhaps extend the message, the lessons. >> you know, you're absolutely right. reagan made it hard for everyone because that speech was so i am perishable it will be hard to improve on it or equal it. one thing none of the presidents said that occurred to me when i heard you and chuck todd talking with those d-day heroes, and that is this. that those heroes did so well, they were talking about on those beaches and on the day of d-day, one reason is because they grew up and functioned in a free society. even in the army and navy, they were encouraged to think for themselves and have ideas and fighting against nazi germans who had function in an awe thor tear yan society. our guys were able to do it and the other side was a lot less functional. >> that's a really interesting insight, michael, something i had never thought of before. and the man who of course or chekes straighted this and let the commanders proceed and because it was

>> that's what republicans are charging him, going back to ronald reagan.residents have negotiated with the release of prisoners if that's what they felt was necessary at the time. a big question, one of the questions i'm going to put to ambassador rice this morning, the president's national security adviser, will this put other american troops at risk? the second question is, this question of whether or not the president broke the law by failing to notify congress 30 days before the transfer of these detainees from guantanamo what the president says, the advisers say, this moved so fast, they couldn't talk to congress. they also say the president, even when he signed this law, he had the constitutional authority not to live by it. he had the constitutional authority to go around congress and do what he needed to do to get detain ees back to their home country. >> why not just approach congress? >> i think they were afraid these details would leak. this has been a five-year operation to get sergeant bergdahl home. apparently, they didn't even tell president

and maybe -- ronald reagan. >> what was said about ronald reagan? >> i don't know except that he never looked down on the congress. he never ignored the senate. he was always willing and he seemed to be anxious to hear what they have to say and it was a remarkable relationship. and the republican leadership and dole was involved in these things, ted stevens dole in one or two of the hatfields who would meet regular at the white house at the president's invitation and we would talk frankly about that and i also seem to recall that candor between the congress and the white house was a marketable. i wonder if that's still so but it certainly was celebrated and it may be that reagan's personality made that possible and practical. >> for example clearly not everyone agreed on the original tax cut budget cut package. bob dole himself thought. >> you are kindly person. the president outlined his plan, his budget and unwisely went outside and asked about it and he said to the press well we understand we are going to support it but it's really a gamble. i ca

he went on to serve as president ronald reagan's chief of staff for two years. during his first day in the house march 21987 howard baker spoke to reporters and talked about his relationship with president ronald reagan. this briefing is 15 minutes. i intend to do this often and under circumstances. what me first say it's been an exciting day for howard baker. the first job is always challenging but the first day as the chief of staff for the president of the united states is extraordinary. i thought i was busy in the senate and indeed, i was, but this is really a remarkable new experience. i've been with the president in a series of meetings beginning at 9:00 i've known ronald reagan since 1966 and worked with the most everyday from the tory leader until i left the senate in 1985 is never seen a more energetic, fully engaged and more in command for difficult circumstances and questions that we were dealing with throughout the day. he's never been better. and i've seen him up close in many occasions and i see that from first-hand observations. as i say a number

maybe it would not have worked if it wasn't for ronald reagan. >> what was it about reagan? >> i don't know. except he never look down on the congress. he never ignored the senate. he was always willing and then seemed to be anxious to see what they had to say. and it was a remarkable relationship. leadership.blican dole was chairman of the finance committee involved in these things. ted stevens, me, dole, one or two other. and we would talk frankly about the agenda and i also seem to recall that the candor between the congressional types of the white house were remarkable. i wonder if that is still so. reagan's that personality made that possible. agreed on thehey regional tax cuts, budget cuts. that was viewed by bob dole. notou are kindly person for recalling amendment to the white house the president outlined his i unwiselyudget, went outside and was asked about it and i said to the press, well, he hear it, we understand it, we will support it but it is a riverboat gamble. the truth of the matter is that it was a riverboat gamble and the truth is that it worked. it is to

so what ronald reagan did is lower the income tax rate to 28%. so you had labor and capital being priced at the same thing from the standpoint of taxes which encourages investment and labor and employment. today we have a tax structure now 40% top rate and the regulatory environment at the obama administration has created. you have an economy that greatly favors capital over labor and that's why we seem high unemployment rates persistent. >> it also sends a message that we don't value work. you are a sucker if you work. why would you work for the wage when you are paying twice the tax rate as somebody that is investing money? >> you heard this whole kind of warretimethat warren buffett isg millions with a tax and the secretary i'm sure she gets a nice salary. and so with that nice salary she's paying 40% of the top rate. it doesn't sort of make any sense. i'm someone who has been very blessed. i mean i love to work. i work hard and i have very little in the way of investment. i can't remember the last time i paid a capital gains. i have a fair am

it is the story of the relationship of tip o'neill am president ronald reagan.t is the story of the time that now seems long long ago.uqzz unfortunately when democrats could make a difference in the country and everyone who works here should take it too hard to because of the relationship. there were. a wonderful book on the history of the adoption of the civil rights act for 1964 of peripheral but if you look at how this happens , is also -- but again in those days but as a stumbling into roldan or one it was an accident. this process they were plotting and planning and there were many wars and conflicts that preceded 1914 and abrogate preludin to more. a and the powers that lined up against each other were in fact, but it was malice aforethought not that they wanted that cataclysmic war but the idea there be conflicts and in the expected thing. it is quite well done and history on the importance of the of of of events the for those time periods. the final book is but the bully pulpit is the use to ship between taft and roosevelt. how to do for a man with diffe

he was 98 years old. >>> ronald reagan has been in the news, not all of it for good.press office left off an a not once, but twice on president obama's official daily schedule. and a columnist suggests changing the name of the washington redskins to the washington reagans. it would be the ultimate tribute to the former president. >>> the local television stations here in new york aired surveillance video from the nypd yesterday of a 68-year-old woman accused of casually swiping purses off the back of chairs while calmly walking through restaurants in new york. well, the public helped, she was arrested last night and charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. >>> matt lauer threw us a curve ball this morning on "today." where it was a morning like any other, except matt was missing. we assumed he was taking time off on a beautiful, summer-like wednesday. but he popped up on the screen sitting across from pippa middleton. the first television interview of any kind ever for pippa middleton. it will air on "today" monday and tuesday next week. >>> speak

. >> after his speech, he said ronald reagan would have supported his efforts against obamacare. haley barbour discussed the 40th president, but with a somewhat different perspective. >> i've learned a lot from ronald reagan. and i admire what i've learned. but the one thing that he never deviated from was, we are here to improve the lot and life of our country and our people, and sometimes that takes compromise. every day of the reagan presidency, he compromised on everything. he passed reagan economic plan in 1981. do you think he got everything he wanted? no. social security reform, immigration reform, the reagan tax reform bill. he had to compromise on all those things. >> turn now to two big republican primaries one day away. iowa, joni ernst has a commanding lead. she is leading the closest challenger by 20 points. it's a different story in mississippi, which has been call would the nastiest race in the country. the real clear politics average of recent polling shows a dead heat between that'd cochran and tea party challenger chris mcdaniel. he received a boost over the wee

>> i was at the gerald ford library doing research on ronald reagan in 2002 and i found a note that barry goldwater had handwritten to gerald ford in the fall of 1975 and it was very short and it said "i worry about some of the people backing reagan. some of them are absolutely nuts , and i know that because they were backing me in 1964." [laughter] so, he at least could take a of who his supporters had been. [laughter] if you do read his comments on the john birch society from the 1960's, he was reluctant from jet -- to just throw them aside. one of his closest friends was an active member of the john burke society. will back that he away from the mass of the presidential campaign. it seemed as if the john burke society was in one direction and barry goldwater was in another. it might have been that he needed them in the caucuses that helped to get his nomination, but they also discover -- discarded him for other heroes after 1964. george wallace would loom big in 1968 and beyond. i think that was the parting of the ways, along with the fact that you mentioned the civil rights bill that

. >> i, ronald reagan, do solemnly swear. >> reporter: ronald reagan took his star power to the oval many wondering if the hollywood heartthrob is ready to trade the big screen for the political stage. mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. >> certainly worked out for ronald reagan, right? >> sure did. >> george clooney is a handsome guy. hard not to like him. >> he's got it all. one of our colleagues suggested he could be hillary clinton's running mate. can you imagine? >> how funny. you were saying something before. you read an article and he mentioned the skeletons. he has in his closet. >> i have a "newsweek" article here from 2012. he was asked would you run? he said i didn't live my life in the right way for politics. something about too many women, and then he says i did too many drugs and he said if he was going to give advice to a campaigner, he would say start from the beginning saying i did it all, i drank the bong water and let's talk about the issues. >> get it out of the way. drank the bong water. >> he said i did it all. >> i drank the bong water. >> what else could yo

sixteen behind my desk and the other is ronald reagan. there is many times you ponder and wonder what would these great leaders advise for me today for america and all of us? i thought for a moment and there were three things lincoln would tell us. the first thing is believed in exceptionalism of the country. and i think one of the places you can look to the gettysburg address you all know the gettysburg address fourscore seven years ago today. they brought forth a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. you read through and he says that if we fail, the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall perish from earth. we were not the strongest nation at the time but he said we are different than others. we are dedication to be dedicated and everyonthesededicl but if we fail at this they cannot solve the problem. only us. you are on the greatest country on the face of the earth. think how powerful this statement is from someone that isn't an american and as the preside

join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >>> if ronald reagan were alive today, he'd be 103 yearser in his political party. sure, reagan was the guy who launched his presidential campaign in mississippi near the notorious site of the abduction and murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and did so proo claiming states' rights, who struck the earliest hammer blow against the labor movement by breaking the air traffic controller's patco union who fought the idea of divestment from south africa's apartheid movement. reagan remained silent as a national health crisis call aides tore through america's gay communities. 241 were killed in a terrorist attack in 1983. then the administration decided on a novel strategy to free seven american hostages held by iranian terrorists in lebanon. >> officials were determined to get this man back from lebanese kidnappers. william buckley, the station chief in beirut taken hostage in 1984. his freedom was something the officials at the highest levels were trying to buy. the president and other administration officials have said, that the rele

. >>> personal items signed by ronald reagan going up for sale including a heart felt letter he wroteittle girl. details next. ♪ bill: present obama commemorating the 25th anniversary of the poll of independence for the soviet union. their membership will connect them and reject annexation of crimea. president obama on his way to brussels now your leaders will decide what they can do to end support for separatists fighting forces in eastern ukraine. in another call for democracy, the white house urging chinese authorities to account for those killed, detained or went missing the government crackdown on yemen square protesters 25 years ago today. martha: some rare personal mementos of ronald reagan are going up for sale. 11-year-old girl named lisa wrote the commander-in-chief as if he would sponsor her in a charity event. thanking her for her good work and those items are now being offered for sale for $20,000. that is what you get as a president, his personal account. bill: i guess everybody knows address already. we will see you back here in one hour. martha: "outnumbered" starts ri

served as chief of staff to president ronald reagan. he was a private practicing attorney as well at the firm of baker-donaldson, which was a firm his grandfather started and practiced law at one time with his father who served as a united states representative from tennessee. howard baker's been recognized since his retirent from the senate many occasions and received the presidential medal of freedom and has received other awards. his was a life well lived and a life to be demonstrated to others as a role for legislators to work with both sides of the aisle and work for america fir mr. mcconnell: madamnd work for president, it is with great sadness that i announce the passing of one of the senate's most towering figures, senator howard baker. the senate sends its sincere condolences to the family of senator baker. in particular, we want to pass a along our deep sympathies to his wife, nancy landon kassebaum baker. many of us served along nancy here in the senate. we know this must be a difficult moment for her. senator baker was a tru

what ronald reagan said? we win, they lose. he believed it. they believed it. america believed it, and we won. those four little pieces of advice would go a long way today. i want to leave you with this. i know we're frustrated. i hear the message. and i want to pledge this one item to you, the same thing i pledged in the conference. we'll unite, we'll have the courage to lead, and the wisdom to listen, and we will turn this country back around. thank you very much and god bless. [applause] >> good morning. how are you doing? we had some people who rode some buss in this morning, right? well, don't fall asleep yet. i hope you slept on the bus. but i want to welcome all of you to road to majority. yesterday we had ted cruz, we had marco rubio, we had allen west, we had ambassador john bolton, we had senate minority leaders soon to be senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. we had senator john cornyn, and that was just the first day. and we are going to have an incredible lineup over the next two days. we're going to equip you. we're going to empower you. we're g

and ronald reagan, he certainly made compromises as he compromised with tip o'neill when he had to.d of ronald reagan's eight years, the country had moved significantly in the conservative direction. you're never going to get 100%. you have to be realistic and honest with the american people. what the american people are really frustrated with is false promises, and nobody makes more false promises than ted cruz. >> all right. before we go, everyone is saying part of the reason eric cantor lost is because he was willing to compromise on immigration reform, specifically, an issue that makes a lot of people's eyes glaze over, but there may be no more important one for this country and for economic recovery. does the loss of eric cantor based on immigration reform mean that that is completely dead? >> i think it certainly right now is on the back burner in the short-term. but also look at lindsey graham's race in south carolina. he was much more aggressive on immigration reform than eric was, and lindsey won very big. i think it could have been unique circumstances in eric's district.

thank you for spend presidente hear from ronald reagan on the 40th anniversary of d-day in june of 1984. years, much ofg europe had been under a terrible shadow. millions cried out for liberation. europe was enslaved. the world prayed for its rescue. in normandy, the rescue began. the allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history. we stand on a lonely windswept point on the northern shore of france. the air is soft. but 40 years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men. the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and therefore of canada and -- of cannon. rangers jumped off the british landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion, to climb these desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. >> the rangers saw the enemies shooting down with them -- at them. the american rangers began to climb. they shot rope ladders over the edge of the cliffs and began to pull themselves up. when one fell, another would take his place. when one rope

[laughter] what would ronald reagan's advice be? when ronald reagan ran, think about the time in which he ran. it was the last time in american u.s. ambassador was killed, jimmy carter. the current president is making jimmy carter look good, right? he is just not coming back. ronald reagan's running, americans are held hostage, the soviet union had entered afghanistan. our president's response was not to go to the olympics. they said gray, we will win more gold medals. he said we will defeat the soviet union. there were two germanys at that time. the press comes to him and says you have got to have a plan. how can you defeat the soviet union? do you know what ronald reagan win, they lose." we won. that advice would go a long way today. i want to lead you with this stop i know we are frustrated. i hear the message and i want to pledge this one item to you, the same thing i pledged at my conference. we will unite, we will have the kurds to lead and the wisdom to listen and we will turn this country back around. thank you very much and

stop sandy hook if you talk about the people or say we need to go back to the legislation that ronald reagan supported the prevented the large clips and the assault weapons then you're wrong because if we went with ronald reagan sandy hook wouldn't happen to scott we have ten seconds it's yours well i think the main problem is that people are always going to try there's a lot of disturbed individuals out there who are always going to try to do so we got in line for a want to and there's even a problem in china where they've been there it's very hard to get firearms there and they have a huge phenomenon of mass stabbings and that people just like in america go in elementary school i was one of those and you did everybody things like oh nobody died ending up in school greer chris allman thanks for joining me tonight thank you coming up a small community in colorado is fighting back against the giant oil and gas industry in the dangerous practice of fracking could lafayette colorado be a model for. the communities across america trying to just say no to big oil. or you like me you want your com

evangelicals got mad at them in four years later he lost with ronald reagan caring 64% of the evangelical vote. my point is social conservatives have to be kept within the big tent structure or we will lose, unless we completely reformulate, i don't know how that's going to happen. but i agree with you and i can't speak for senator paul. i know the man, but he is a social surrender to the best of my knowledge. but that's not an issue you just tries to ram to people's throat i think that's that you're getting at. i agree with you that's important. >> my name is ken hagerty. they can't set that i did tear in your presentation, which i think might be useful is to ask about the concept of american exceptionalism. how do you relate the concept in all of the ideas in the freight of the term american exceptionalism to the outline you are presenting here quite >> interestingly enough we have 17 contributors in the book in one of those is newt gingrich. he talks about that in the book. he basically says we're losing that because of the way we are stifling our market. our government is involved in

serve as ambassador to the united nations, director of the cia, vice president, of course, to ronald reagan and finally, served as the nation's 41st president, leaving office in 1993. for the first time the george bush presidential library and museum is chronicling the personal life of the former president through 41 different voices. world leaders, politicians, friends and family tell their stories of the former president and his life away from the cameras and away from the spotlight. they paint a picture of a man who is often funny, loving and devoted to public service, even in the most difficult times of his presidency. they also describe a man who more than anything else, put his family first. their stories are sometimes surprising. in the words of george w. bush, his father is a man who takes himself lightly but his responsibilities seriously. >> george's mother was a gentle, wonderful soul and both his mother and father taught him by example. she gave george this bible and i think that poem does reflect george bush's life. i would be true for there are those who trust me. i would be t

i would make the argue; ronald reagan made the argue; that really isn't fair. we shouldn't be rewarding this one over the other. and part of what i -- at least approach in the book -- i don't get into it in detail with a comprehensive tax policy. what i approach in the book is lowering marginal rates as very important aspect of increasing the demand for labor, and so big part of what i've suggested its making tax code simpler and lowering the marginal rates is important. >> you're famous as a social conservative, often describe that way and yet this book does not really tackle abortion or gay marriage, for example. why is that? >> well, i'm not a social conservative. i'm one of few conservatives to actually be willing to talk about these issues. most conservatives when the issues come up they dive under the table, and so it sort of funny you're sort of nope as a social conservative because you're one of the few folks that actually answers questions on the subject and is willing to articulate a vision. in this book we do talk about the culture, and i do, as i me