remember, george w. bush wasn't a presence, physically, at least, on the trail when mitt romney and john mccain were running. as bush 43 hopes to stump for the man he hopes will be bush 54, donald trump is lashing out yet again at the former president and his record. >> if the ex-president is campaigning for his brother, i think he's probably open to great scrutiny. maybe things that haven't been thought of in the past. the whole thing starts with the war in iraq. if the president went to the beach, we would have been better off, believe me. >> and that is just a small taste of the tough talk today. more to come later on in the show, as we preview george w. bush's big return to the campaign trail. again, less than an hour from now. but, we start tonight first with the entire political world reeling from the sudden and unexpected death of supreme court justice antonin scalia. on saturday morning, the 79-year-old conservative justice was found dead in his room at a hunting resort in remote west texas. officials

george w. bush. the former president on the campaign trail in support of younger brother jeb. dana bash has the latest. >> reporter: miguel and alison, george w. bush on the campaign trail. he drew sharp distinctions with his brother and donald trump. he never said trump's name. he never had to. he described the person and persona that we have come to see from donald trump. the kind of character that has drawn so many supporters to him, but the point that george w. bush was trying to make is america shouldn't go for somebody who preys on the fears and frustrations, but instead go for a strong and steady hand. somebody who is not necessarily the loudest person in the room. >> the presidency is the serious job that requires sound judgment and good ideas. and there's no doubt in my mind that jeb bush has the experience and the character to be a great president. >> reporter: but what was even as interesting as george w. bush's performance was his brothers. the fact that jeb bush seemed to come out of hi

people in the room were the sort of people who can't see any fault in george w. bush. t just republicans but donor, former ambassadors. people who have a lot riding on the bush administration and sort of a retelling of history. one of the questions i like to throw to republican voters on the trail is should we have gone into iraq? very infrequently can they say yes we should have. what's been happening over the last few years was an argument, well, maybe we shouldn't have but we were in a good place until barack obama came along. that's the risk of what trump is doing was stopping that rethink in its tracks. >> there's a way in which the phenomenon of trump has been tied to bush. i think there's an argument to be made. a guy who is a smart republican operative. trump emerged as the anti-bush that basically trump's rise, trump support started off as reflective, anti-jeb, anti-republican posture. as soon as they confronted with jeb, they had this freudian reaction that pushed them into the arms of trump. >> the branding of the republican party in 2009, 2010, this was no l

george w. bush campaigning publicly tonight for the first time since leaving office. the former president taking the stage in a state that helped propel him to the oval office with just five days to go before a critical primary. can he lock up south carolina for his brother, jeb? >>> isis attack inevitable. a chilling new warning from the head of the cia saying he believes that terrorists will try to strike inside the united states. officials now on heightened alert. with isis and its sympathizers now known to be communicating using encrypted messages, is a terror plot against the u.s. in the works right now. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following the breaking news. president obama moving ahead with a nomination to replace the late supreme court justice antonin scalia who died in his sleep over the weekend. we've just heard from a white house spokesman who says the president is talking with his senior team and his aides have been in touch with members of congress from

>>> former president george w. bush hours away from stepping back into the national spotlight to campaign with his brother jeb in south carolina. after donald trump's blistering attacks over the weekend on the former president in the debate and in the sunday shows how will his return really change this race? let's go to athena jones in charleston, south carolina. athena, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. the bush team is making a big play for south carolina. and so they're bringing out perhaps their biggest gun, george w. bush. it's a whole new stage in the race for jeb. >> george w. bush hitting the campaign trail tonight for the first time since leaving office. >> is he a popular republican? you bet he is. >> reporter: giving his younger brother a helping hand as the battle for south carolina heats up. >> i know jeb. >> reporter: he already lent his famous face for an ad for jeb.

we'll hear from george w. bush about five minutes from now. 15 minutes later, his brother jeb bush expected to take the stage as well. this is obviously been scheduled for maximum impact, coinciding with the network evening newscast at 6:30 tonight. >> peter alexander, timing it down to the minute. thank you so much. i want to bring in ann gearen, a political correspondent for the "washington post." susan page is the washington bureau chief for u.s. "today." as we're looking at this big crowd, ann, how important do you think the rally is? >> it's very important. as he said, there are 2,000 people there. there's a lot riding on it. there's a lot of spotlight. this is the first time his brother, with whom he has had a publicly conflicted relationship over his brother's legacy, will come out for him. it was sort of left that his mother very popular figure who has been popular ever since her husband, his father, was in office 20 years ago, 25 years ago, had campaigned for him in new hampshire, to have george w., whose

arms of trump. >> the branding of the republican party in 2009, 2010, this was no longer a george w. bush party. this was a tea party that reckonned with the mistakes he made. you saw people that didn't tie themselves to bush. one of my favorite pieces of journalism from last year is when questions were asked of each republican running for president in an event in south carolina and said who is the best living president. they couldn't say george w. bush. they were trying to say we miss the time before barack obama. we miss when this country used to be more successful in winning wars. they wouldn't quite come around to defend him. it reminds me where we find ways to rationalize mistakes that former presidents made. i think it was going pretty well. this argument is no longer universal because of what donald trump did. >> the ppp has a poll. post debate. trump is up five. he's got 30 plus points over rubio. if you're a republican and you thought professional political class, you thought i've got a read on where republican voters are, donald trump screams you're fired every chance you get. t

on this president's gaye, former commander in chief george w. bush is making an appearance with brother jeb, the third member of the family to run for the nation's highest office. but the bush political dynasty is not without its critics in the republican party, as donald trump made abundantly clear saturday night during a televised debate and doubling and tripling down on it today. all of this comes amid the backdrop of a hugely important primary set for saturday. >> governor bush had his 90-year-old mom out on the campaign trail last week. tonight george w. his brother the former president hits the campaign trail for the first time since he left office. this is a big part of the bush strategy and one that donald trump has been attacking ferociously for almost a year. >> the front-runner said over the weekend the former president lied about weapons of mass destruction in iraq. >> did you ever ask yourself why his brother went silent for all these years. >> trump was called out for having supported impeaching george w. bush for the iraq war. there's

trump wasn't done repeating his attacks against george w. bush on the sunday shows and, again, today in south carolina. >> the world trade center came down during the, you know, reign of george bush. it came down. i'm sorry. but we weren't safe. the world trade center came down. you obviously had the war which was a big mistake. i think few people would say the war in iraq was a positive. you had him on the aircraft carrier saying all sorts of wonderful things how the world was essentially over. guess what. not over. and you know, the war with iraq is a disaster. >> all right. those comments coming just hours before president bush hit the campaign trail on behalf of his brother, jeb, in south carolina. the former president had a few choice words about what it takes to be commander in chief. in moments former bush senior adviser karl rove is here to react. plus we'll ask two iraq war veterans, pete, and carl higby, what they think about mr. trump's comments. we begin with trace gallagher reporting first from our west coast newsroom on the former p

george w. bush is back and on president's day, too. the former president will be in charleston, south carolina tonight. his brother, jeb by his side. the ads already out. >> i know jeb . i know his good heart and his strong back bone. jeb will unite our country. he knows how to bring the world together against terror. experience and judgment count in the oval office. jeb bush is a leader who will keep our country safe. >> donald trump ripping the move this morning tweeting, quote, funny jeb didn't want help from his family in his failed campaign and didn't want to use his last name and then mommy and now brother. athena jones live in charleston following the family affair. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. after his less than impressive performances in the first two contests of the year the stakes are high for jeb bush here in south carolina. his team is making a big play for this state so they are bringing out perhaps their biggest gun, george w. bush. it is a whole new stage in the race for

george w. bush may have left office as one of the least popular presidents in history but remains one of the most popular republicans in south carolina where he campaigned with his brother today and where donald trump was the unspoken subject. we'll have more on the impact he had from gary tuchman. >> reporter: former president george w. bush with his wife laura on the 2016 campaign trail to try to make his brother jeb the next president. >> i came here for two reasons. one, because i care deeply about jeb and, two, because i care deeply about our country. >> reporter: the two sons of another former president george h.w. bush have not campaigned together until now in south carolina. >> there seems to be a lot of name calling going on. but i want to remind you what our good dad told me one time. labels are for soup cans. >> reporter: george w. bush did not mention donald trump by name, but there were clear inferences to the real estate mogul. >> i understand americans are angry and frustrated. but we

athena jones is outfront. >> reporter: george w. bush. >> experience and judgment count in the oval office. jeb bush is a leader who will keep our country safe. >> he represenspects the milita. >> reporter: and jeb bush couldn't be happier about it. >> he was the last republican that was president. he is the most popular republican alive. >> reporter: bush, whose campaign logo doesn't even include his famous last name and who began his run stressing he would, quote, be his own man, has been embracing his family more and more every day. his mother barbara bush joining him on the stump in new hampshire. the brothers will be campaigning together for the first time monday. until now w. has been helping out behind the scenes. >> this is the first time that he's really kind of stepped out in the political realm since he was president. i think there will be a lot of interest in what he has to say. >> reporter: it was once the younger bush who was thought to have a head for politics, but his older brother beat him there winning a governorship fi

>>> plus former president george w. bush joining thus brother jeb bush on the campaign trail today, only days where before donald trump made the former president's record a regard. telling how the former president plans to try and help his brother. >> my dad is the greatest man alive, in my mind. while -- while donald trump was building a reality tv show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe, and i'm proud of what he did. we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression. and everywhere i look... i'm reminded to stick to my plan. including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula that the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd... after 15 years of clinical studies. preservision areds 2. because my eyes are everything. you can see an empty podium on your screen and that is because we're finding out now that donald trump is expected to take to that podium in hanrahan south carolina fo

george w. bush hitting the trail with his brother jeb and firing back at donald trump's attacks. >> reporter: this morning senator hair reread taking aim at the republican leadership saying they will block anyone nominated by president obama replace antonin scalia. for the "washington post" op on ed, he wrote, if my republicans colleagues proceed down this path this act alone will define their time in the majority. thinking otherwise is fantasy. reid and mitch mcconnell have been trading jabs. party lines have been drawn. >> republicans are talking about the republican playbook. this is the playbook we should follow, the constitution of the united states. >> president obama has gotten two activists judges on the court. capable, intelligent justices but share deeply his philosophy. >> reid and other democrats are hoping the white house pick would be someone they would ordinarily support. to point out it is politically motivated because it is an election year. >> there's no exemptions for when a vacan

who are there to cheer for george w. bush, who have fond them reese of george w. r so, the idea of going back and saying something critical about we shouldn't have gone into iraq, iraq was a bad idea. you had rand paul out there saying, but otherwise the kinds of things donald trump was saying in that debate, those are things we are accustomed to hearing from democrats, but when you have a voice like donald trump stand up and say it, a voice who is trusted now by a big chu u. chunk of the republican electorate, they don't turn on him and say you are a trader to the cause, they may give up george w. bush when it comes to it. >> reporters were very concerned that they were being kept in the pen and not able to talk to voters. one of the reasons -- >> strange. >> -- that was the case obviously had to do with the fact they didn't want people going outside of the pen and hearing exactly what steve kornacki was reporting on, which is we're here, we respect the president but we're going to vote for donald trump. >> you've written about the impact of the iraq war on our po

the point that george w. bush was trying to make is america shouldn't go for somebody who preys on the fears and frustrations of americans. they should go for a strong and steady hand. somebody who is not necessarily the loudest person in the room. clearly describing his brother. >> the presidency is a serious job that requires sound judgment and good ideas. and there's no doubt in my mind that jeb bush has the experience and character to be a great president. >> reporter: but what was as interesting as george w. bush's performance was his brother's. the fact that jeb bush seemed to come out of his shell. he was more passionate and engaged with the audience. had more presence than he has in the eight months since he announced his candidacy. >> if you are tired of pill particulars with division and someone with a proven record and solid conservative, someone with 32 years of private sector experience, then you are looking at the nominee for the republican nomination and i can beat hillary clinton. i can promise you

george w. bush has endorsed jeb bush for president as i predicted. on monday night the former president made an unusual political appearance at a rally in north charleston, and at times he seemed to take digs at a certain gop candidate. >> jeb is a man of humble, deep and genuine faith. faith that reveals itself through good works and not loud words. real strength. strength as purpose comes from integ -- from integrity andcter. in my experience the strongest person usually isn't the loudest in the room. >> he is clearly talking about ben carson there. the timing of dubya's visit couldn't be more compelling after they trashed him at the debate. >> george bush made mistakes. we make mistakes, but that was a beauty. we destabilized the middle east. >> i think it is my turn. >> you do what you want and call it what you want. i tell you, they lied. they said there were weapons of mass destruction. there were none and they knew there were none. there were no weapons of mass destruction. >> jessica, look, trump is trashing george w. bush and that's typical

i think george w. bush in south carolina, but it almost seems like this is almost a desperation move by the jeb bush campaign to try to move those numbers in the polls because to this point, most of the polling has been fairly consistent, i mean, the best polling result he's gotten so far is by the south carolina gop, at 13%. and you know, at that same poll, donald trump was polling almost three times as much. so i think that the bush campaign here is trying to pull out all the stops to move the numbers off of where they have been. >> they did, i think, feel like the campaign feels they got some help with the last couple debates. this debate, i don't know if part was driven by the death of antonin scalia, but the numbers were so enormous. 13.5 million viewers, and we saw this back and forth between trump and jeb bush, about weapons of mass destruction, donald trump going after george w. in a really pointed way. some people are questioning whether that's a great strategy. will that play here? could it hurt d

the former president, george w. bush makes his return to the campaign trail today in south carolina. the big event is an evening rally with his brother, jeb bush. athena jones is joining us live from north charleston in south carolina right now, athena, this is the former president's first time on the campaign trail at his brother's side, why now? >> reporter: hi wolf, that's a very good question. governor bush was asked that question on "state of the union." he said this is the right time when the interest level sl high, when people are watching. he also interestingly said we're nearing the beginning of this process. now, a lot of folks might say, look people have been interested in the gop race for the nomination for months. and they've been watching closely for months. and we are far from the beginning of this process, we're at the third contest coming up on saturday, and that's what this is all about. governor bush finished sixth in iowa, fourth in new hampshire, he really wants to have a strong showing here in south

>> republicans like george w. bush. in south carolina it's 87%. for me this is interesting to watch. i was young when ways growing up under george w. bush, had some questions about his legacy. part of the growing up process has been seeing that in play, going to kurdistan and talking to kurdish iraqis saying we are so thankful for the united states. we felt safe when george bush was president. under president obama one iraqi man said this came too late. my house has been destroyed. char already we'll take a break. george w. bush just spoke. we have a panel of experts. everybody eager to chime in. we'll be right back. rad. rad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends, three jobs... you're like nothing can replace brad. then liberty mutual calls, and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement™, we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. these lit

w. bush's brother? ecause jeb kept bringing up his mom, people were searching on google for who is jeb bush's mom. that was -- these were real searches last night -- >> that will help jeb bush. >> this is one ofclated -- offic-- one of clayton's segments. the special counsel to bill clinton is up next with more. >>> we're just getting started. a huge show, tremendous show, in fact, donald trump will join us in a minute. and ben carson, laura ingram, newt gingrich, they're all here. change your channel at your peril. it would be insane. don't do it. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that i won't stop. until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. do not use if you ar

tomorrow, former president george w. bush making the first apeernts here on the campaign trail for his brother. after last night, jeb bush joked that donald trump is no longer invited. after the debate, they didn't even shake hands. george? >> okay, mary bruce, thank you. >>> let's get to the candidates. starting with senator ted cruz. thank you for joining us this morning. let's begin with that news about justice scalia. you said that president obama should wait to name a successor. ronald reagan nominated antony kennedy with 13 months left in his term. was confirmed in february 1988. president obama has more than ten months left in his term. why isn't it his right to nominate the justice and the senate's responsibility to give that nominee an up or down vote? >> the senate hano a nominee named in a final year in an election year in 80 years. this is a lame duck president. the only reason anthony kennedy was named that late was because democrats in the senate rejected two other nominees. robert bork, and doug ginsburg. it wa

breaking this morning george w. bush morning george w. bush hitting the campaign trail in south carolina to help his brother, jeb bush, sitting down with sean hannity last night with the exclusive interview. >> i'm not an expert in a lot of things, but i'm pretty knowledgeable about what it takes to be president. and he's got what it takes. he's got character, backed own, philosophy, vision. he can deal with crises and he would make a really good president. >> the florida former governor talking about why his campaign signs only feature his first name 2016. >> job has been spoken since 1994. i threw races for governor and is part of my brain. i'm proud of george, proud of my dad, everybody loves my mom. i'm proud to be a bush. >> former president bush did not mention any candidate by name but did say the country met with humility. meanwhile, gop front runner donald trump sending republican national committee claiming an active debate audiences with donors. the action violates the loyalty pledge he signed back in september. >> the rnc bette

i don't think george w. bush lied. i think george w. bush acted based on the information provided to him, which, by the way, was also shown to congressional leaders like nancy pelosi. it turned out not to be accurate information. that's unfortunate. that being the case, he didn't lie. a lie is when you know what's true and you say something different. >> i know you hope to defeat donald trump. my question is, will you support him if he's the nominee? >> i'm going to support the republican nominee. i know the republican nominee is going to be someone who holds views like mine. i don't share all the views that i think ultimately, he won't be the nominee. but i'll support the republican nominee, because no matter who it is on the stage, will still be a better choice than bernie sanders or hillary clinton. >> senator marco rubio, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks, george. >>> governor john kasich joins us now. thank you for joining us. quite a night last night. it doesn't sound like from the sound of the debate that anybody wi

the fact that george w. bush took so many not so veiled swipes at donald trump and doing it the way jeb bush has been doing it much more overtly that you don't want somebody who is blustered or inflaming the frustrations of americans, on and on and on, is a reminder in both words and just in symbolism that we know how to do this guys, republican voters. we're bushes. we get it. i know this other guy sounds really enticing and interesting and he's different, but this is who we are. come back home basically is what he was saying. >> he also reminded people of who he's been. this is the side of george w. bush america hasn't seen in a very long time and a side that the american people find very endearing. >> we're spending a lot of time on a ranch where we're learning to become tree farmers. it gives me time to practice my stump speech. i've written two books, which has surprised people in the northeast who didn't think i could read, much less write. i've been underestimated most of my life. it's a real shock to peop

] off." [ laughter ] so it's a jeb-trump fight in the spotlight and the stage was set for george w. bushlf to enter the fray. bush joined his brother jeb in south carolina monday, his first campaign appearance in years, and he took a shot at trump, george w. style. >> there seems to be a lot of name-calling going on, but i want to remind you what our good dad told me one time. labels are for soup cans. [ laughter ] >> seth: what? what was happening when your dad said "labels are for soup cans?" [ laughter ] were you tormenting jeb with a labelmaker? [ laughter ] that wasn't the only blast from the past yesterday because there was another member of the bush administration who crawled out of the woodwork to slam trump, and if you suddenly feel a cold wind blowing through you, you didn't leave the window open. dick cheney is back. >> donald trump accused president bush and his team of purposely lying the country into war in iraq, saying, "i will tell you they lied. they said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. they knew there were none." your response? >> um -- he sound

but george w. bushmeanwhile, joy, i know you covered jeb bush as florida's governor. shouldn't he be vetted for his own record. why is he heldachiable for his brother's record? >> yes and no. he has benefitted from the contrast with his brother. he was seen as the competent brother when it came to his handling of hurricanes, for instance, in florida, versus george w. bush's handling of hurricane katrina in new orleans, and seen as the more serious brother. he was a neocon when george w. bush was trying to be baseball commissioner. but their political skills have presented a negative contrast with george w. bush. they both ran for governor in 1994. jeb bush made huge mistakes on the trail, including telling black voters he would probably do nothing for them, narrowly losing the race. he's never been close to the politician george w. bush is. having george w. bush on the trail, it shows some of the things that are hurting jeb the most, pemeaning the surname bus and the drag that still has on a lot of vote

george w. bush set to take stage.finished third in new hampshire, surprise strong finish for him there, thank you and trying to pick up on the momentum. he beat out ted cruz, i should say. we see all the boxes and the state blanketed with candidates, democrats and republicans, as you know. what's the headline? >> reporter: that it's ted cruz and donald trump in south carolina. whoever ends up wins probably has the leg up in the race. marco rubio has the debate on saturday in the republican field and his last debate performance last week was one of the most destabilizing events in the 2012 republican race to date. can he get back on track tomorrow night's debate? that's what i'll be watching. >> sunday morning programs. that's what people prepare for. john kasich was the surprising second place finisher in new hampshire. does he have a path to go in the other states front and center in the next few weeks? >> mark, thank you so much for joining us. we see you again on the live event. governor kasich at the chamber of co

from nutjobs on the right and the left. 9/11 was caused by the terrorists, and after 9/11, george w. bush did everything he could to keep us safe. everybody believed the intel regarding iraq that they had weapons of mass destruction. bush d bush is not a liar. he's a good man and we need to get back to the attitude of keeping the war over there so it doesn't come here. so what mr. trump did is exposed how unprepared he is to be a republican. what low-life kind of fellow he is and jeb bush now is going to be very endeared to the people of south carolina, because we stand up for our families and we like george w. bush. >> following iowa, some critics have written off governor bush's campaign. he seemed reinvigorated by marco rubio's poor debate performance in new hampshire and has governor bush has -- we expected a bit of a fight tonight between marco rubio and governor bush and it never materialized. why is that? >> marco rubio is a wonderful man who i don't think is ready to be president as much as jeb bush. when you look at marco's experience and that of jeb's, it's not close. 40 admiral

george w. bush stumped for his brother jeb. it's the first entry into politics since 2009. >> i think that the name bush would have been better than an exclamation point. it didn't work, so now he's using bush. i think he should have used his name. i said why don't you use the name bush? you're bush. >> well, trump was squarely in former president bush's line of fire in south carolina. gary tuckman was there. >> reporter: for the first time in this election season, jeb bushformer president of the united states, his brother. george bush and his wife laura to try to make his brother jeb the next president. >> i cake here for two reasons. one, because i care deeply about jeb, and two, because i care deeply about our country. >> reporter: the two have not campaigned together until now. >> there seems to be a lot of name-calling going on, but i want to remind you what our good dad told me one time. labels are for soup cans. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: george w. bush did not mention donald trump by name, but there were clear in

he was explaining why he was going after george w. bush. jeb bush brought up this claim that his brother kept the country safe during his time in office for eight years, and donald trump felt like he was compelled to say, no, that's just not true. the september 11th attacks happened on george w. bush's watch, and it was interesting to hear donald trump sort of methodically explain at the beginning of that press conference, when i asked him, well is there bad blood between you and the bush family, no, there's no bad blood. but you know, the way donald trump pivoted away from the bush family for just a few moments to go after ted cruz, and even marco rubio last night, during an event in greenville, donald trump went after marco rubio and said he was sweating so much during that gop debate on saturday, it looks like marco rubio had stepped out of a swimming pool. and then earlier this morning on "good morning america," donald trump was saying about ted cruz calling him a liar and over and over again and saying that he was essentially on the ver

i bet you he going to come out swinging against george w. bush and -- >> i want to ask you about that because we're wait to see donald trump. we know he double, triple-downed on the sunday shows and these attacks on the bush family. what are you expecting to see in a matter of minutes? >> well, there's something to be said about bracketing, right? in politics, bracketing is trying to get out in front of the message. clearly trump is trying to get out, to try to throw as many punches as he can at the bush family, specifically jeb bush. it almost feels personal. i don't know about you, but watching it, right, it just seems like it's not so much about this is a gentleman who i'm competing with for the nomination. >> it's deeper than that. >> it's amazing. i really wonder why it has gone so deep. there's got to be something more there. what you're seeing from trump is bracketing on the front end. he is going to try to continue to tear down the bush legacy in south carolina. certainly as we're heading into this primary on saturday. >> mark preston, we

w. bush's presidency- it could do the opposite of jeb on saturday. jeb bush has thrown millions of dollars into south carolina. if he doesn't finish in the top three it's going to be hard for him." bush, as well as his florida counterpart, marco rubio, have busted out big endorsements on the palmetto state campaign trail in hopes of attracting voters- governor nikki haley and senator tim scott for rubio, president george w. bush for jeb. the question now is what will it take for victory- one answer from any pundits is high voter turnout- which

george w. bush motivates the base. therefore, a lot of people who might have been thinking about sitting out and watching what happened will come out and one more time will fall the old man whenever he wants to go. but what is really interesting is the supreme court battle energized the republicans. and i talked to tray gowdy, a rubio endorser. he expects record break out. huge turn out on saturday. i've been saying this gavel nices republicans more than democrats. am i wrong? >> you're right. on the one hand you have hillary clinton willy sutton running for the opportunity to appoint the next justice of the supreme court. a person who wants standard of law apply talked to her. getting to nominate the decisive vote on the supreme court. that will motivate republicans. in fact, you saw mitch mcdonnell take the lead saying there won't be any hearings. there's not going to be a vote. and rob portman, kelly ayotte, ron johnson, pat toomey confirmed they will not confirm the nominee. he could nominate my

he jumped in to defend george w. bush on donald trump's criticisms of bush on national security in a state that has 21% veterans that voted in 2012. i thought that was a good night. i thought his closing statement was good and he didn't have any of those moments. for anyone who thought marco rubio is incapable of answering questions extemporaneously that was blown away tonight. and i thought the other side of that, donald trump had a terrible night. he was at his most unhinged and at some point screaming and yelling. i thought ted cruz had a good night tonight. >> the crowd clearly was anti- trump. i don't know what they were, pro bush or pro-rubiosomething. >> and in the last debate he claims it is because they are all donors. i agree, rubio had a strong night and -- >> are you in the tank for rubio? >> i'm not in the tank for rubio. >> he clearly had a good night. and jeb had a strong night as well. but if you look at when trump was going after george w. bush which it will be interesting to see how it plays out. in a pr

george w. bush. it's a whole new stage in the race for jeb. >> george w. bush hitting the campaign trail tonight for the first time since leaving office. >> is he a popular republican? you bet he is. >> reporter: giving his younger brother a helping hand as the battle for south carolina heats up. >> i know jeb. >> reporter: he already lent his famous face for an ad for jeb. his guest-starring role on stage tonight is part of the bush camp's effort to pull out all the stops. after a dismal sixth place finish in iowa where his brother won. >> and you think that, iowa. >> reporter: and a better than expected fourth place in new hampshire where his father won. >> i want to thank the wonderful people of new hampshire. >> reporter: jeb is hoping for a strong showing in south carolina which handed primaries to both presidents bush. >> this is the right time. right when the interest -- when it's important and when people are watching. >> reporter: bush, whose campaign logo, doesn't even include his famous l

george w. bush. what about on the democratic side. >> in 2000, mccain won new hampshire and came into south carolina with a lot of momentum and george w. bush won the nomination. the republicans now go to south carolina. the democrats go next to nevada and they wait for south carolina. in this state, hillary clinton wants to do what she did in 2008. number one, continue to dominate the white vote against then senator obama, clinton dominated a majority of the white vote. these are liberals going to caucus. bernie sanders has a chance. don't think just because hillary clinton has been here before bernie sanders doesn't have a chance. the question is can bernie sanders start to make inroads with traditional african-american traditional democratic constituents. 15% of the vote or more will be african-american. senator obama carried it eight years ago. 15% or more will be latino. secretary clinton, then senator clinton carried it by a big margin. this is bernie sanders first big test. can he make inroad

and george w. bushrolina monday, it is going to be huge, and you is to know that he has disappeared from the political ar rena sinc he left office and not like on the democratic side where bill clinton has cam pand for every person and dog catcher possible, and when it was announced that he would give this rally, he said i will say what he has to say until he comes out on the stage, and i think that he tried to bait him a little bit by making the argument of wmd, and saying, welcome to the arena, mr. president, and let's see how you do. >> and if he was the primary target, and everybody was hitting at him tonight, and he gave as good as he got, and you have to admit, and let's listen to the exchange between him and a fiesty jeb bush. >> george bush made a mistake. we can make mistakes, but that is a beauty. we never should have opinion in iraq, and we have destabilize the middle east. >> and is so you still think that he should be impeached. >> you do whatever you want, and call it whatever you want, an

then the george w. bush campaign came to town in south carolina and they activated dad's old networks in the state and decided that year they were going to take a whole different approach to winning over south carolina republican voters. part of what the george w. bush campaign did that year was some stuff that actually was pretty controversial even at the time. >> evan jillist bob jones founded the school. he runs it with only one policy change. other races are now welcomed at its campus but no interracial dating or marriage is permitted and no homosexuals. in what many see as religious i tolerance the school leaders have described catholics a a member of a cult. it was here that george w. bush came in search of votes. >> i'd have gone to bob jones university but i said you better get into modern times and do away with this disgraceful policy of yours banning interracial dating and your attacks on the pope and the catholics. it's disgraceful what i would said at bob jones university. >> george w. bush went