you may remember the naacp spent $10 million in 2000 running an ad against george w. bush during the presidential campaign alleging that he had acted insufficiently harsh on some bigoted race murderers in texas. i never once saw the "new york times" utter a peep about this. >> bill: when you give money on-to-organizations on your little clap board. >> there that's a white board. that's not a clap board. clap board is what's on the side of a house in new england. this is a white board. white board, bill. >> bill: i'm sorry. that's a major point. you don't have to say the -- the organization doesn't say who gave the money did. your american crossroads group, if i give you money you are not going to tell them i gave you money, right? >> well, american crossroads is a 527, which does report its contributors on a monthly basis. it has affiliated group called crossroads g.p.s. which is a 501 c 4 and does not report -- >> bill: i got it you say that the playing field is even here

you've been there with president bush, george w. bush, is it a speech he needs to give or has he given too many? >> i recall david axel rod earlier when he as with clinton at the beginning of the senate campaign and asked, can you take a punch? that was the real question. and the president sometimes when he takes a punc when events a bad, he comes across looking pricklely and defenseless. i have a good friend who spent timeith obama anda favorably disposed to him. in private he reacts to everything boehner says and everythinghe republicans in congress say. chris: i wanted to get to that. does he react too much to the 24/7, some bloggers said something like he won't respond. is he losing his ability to make a compelling communication? >> i think all of these presidents he enormous egos. you've worked closely with them before. of course they feel challenged and want to respond to those. it'sheir presidency and their job and ty feel so passionately about the country. he may respond too often but in a 24/7 culture, i think a lot of poli

george w. bush actually gets most of the blame for the bad economy, 11% of the voters put the blame on president obama. >>> pope benedict xvi a arrived in scotland on a four-day state visit. he told reporters that the catholic church failed to act quickly enough to deal with priests who rape and molest children. he says the vatican's top priority is to help these victims feel. his first meeting was with queen elizabeth ii. >> coming up, we are back live

and with me here, former george w. bush strategist and now national journal columnist, maureen dowd. i'll start with you, because now i have this year figured out. either the voters aren't that smart because they're not paying as much attention or you democrats need to stop whining, is that the solution? >> i think the vice president was talking about a particular phenomenon on my side of the aisle which is the left. you have a number of prognosticators saying that the president hasn't been progressive enough and at a time when we have had bold, fundamental change and other issues that have been really hard in this election cycle so i think the vice president had a real message which is you know what happens when democrats don't vote, republicans win. >> it would have been good if he had said that, but he did not say that. it's not really a good idea to blame voters right before an election, because they actually might sit at home instead of going out. >> you said a lot of polling and a lot of focus groups, when you sa

w. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest healthcare questions. and the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. seaman's answers >>> they aren't always happy with me. they talk about me like a dog. >> that's how they treat him says the president. mr. obama exhausts organized labor. he fumes at republican opponents and their alleged negativism. >> yes, we can. remember that was our slogan? their slogan is, no we can't. [ laughter ] nope, no. no. >> 50 days to go in the name of the game is blame. blame the opponent. keep the focus on him. for the incumbent president, the strategy is offensive. blast the republicans. the party of no. >> when it comes to just about everything we've done to strengthen our middle class, to rebuild our economy, almost every republican in congress says no. >> as a punitive positive yes merger, embraced by the democrats, mr. obama calls for $50 billion of new spending. infrastructure on roads,

w. >> reporter: these images were captured just hours ago from inside this state of the art storm chasing truck. they spent the last ten years tracking hurricanes just like earl. driving into the eye of the storm to capture the images of fury. in 2004, there was charley -- >> we are getting pounded. oh, man, stuff's hitting the vehicle, big time. i think we're getting in the eye. it's clearing out. >> reporter: and ivan. >> the storm surge is coming in right now. it has been for most of the afternoon. it's going to be very dangerous. >> reporter: and five years ago, katrina. >> we are being blasted right now. >> bye-bye earl. >> reporter: over the last couple of days, for most people, it's been about evacuation. but for the hurricane chasers, it's about cinemaing tcinemato. >> this camera is streaming back live video and streaming that shot right there, and what it is showing is an angry ocean. >> reporter: north carolina is just the first stop on this dangerous holiday weekend express.

w. bush's administration. joining us this week is michael mundaca, assistant treasury secretary for tax policy. here to question him is kim dixon from reuters and martin vaughn from dow jones. >> michael, i want to start out by asking you about the proposals that the president put forward, the tax proposals to stimulate the economy. one of those was that he wanted to allow businesses to immediately write off 100% of their newly commit purchases in 2011, the aim being to free up cash to invest higher. what we're leading -- what we're hearing is that cash is not the problem. the issue right now is that folks are worried about the economy neck getting better, continuing continuing to stagnate or getting worse. in that light, how much good can you do by simply offering people a tax cuts if they are just worried about the economy not getting better? >> that is a good question. i think we need to put this in context. these are one not -- these are not one-of proposals. -- these are not one-off

point because both of those approaches, george w. bush and now what has been offered by president obama in my view involves tinkering with a badly flawed discredited tax system to me the much more relevant comparison. i want to walk you through the numbers and just get your reaction. are the number use have when ronald reagan got together with a big group of democrats and reformed the tax system and compared those and what we saw in our country for job growth and economic growth, payroll growth to what we saw during the years of george w. bush. the 2001 and 202008 years. we get your reaction. here's the numbers. when ronald reagan and democrats work together, 16 million new jobs were created there was a 17 point 6 percent expansion in payroll. that's when democrats and republicans worked together to create a tax system that was more progrowth and more of an engine for job creation. by comparison from 2001-202008 when there was just partisan zip in the tax area. 3,000,000 jobs were created a 2.3 percent in expansion payrolls. now you

in the case especially of george w. bush and bill clinton, two -- and you go into great detail in the book -- two very different personalities. very different perspectives in terms of governing. >> yeah, i try to in my observations about president clinton and president bush. obviously i worked with them closely. they both became close personal friends. no great insight they are completely different people. but they've still got that -- you see why they won an election and why they won two terms. and they have a -- i saw both close up. bill clinton particularly over kosovo which was a really difficult decision he had to take. and of course with president bush after september 11th. the one thing that comes out to me about american presidents, and i would say the same about president obama is that there is this sense that you have, and i know this sounds odd, you would say surely yes of course politicians should be like that. i think all of them had that any the final analysis they would put the country first. you may say,

will he throw george w. bush turnd the bus? having the right real estate agent on your side is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find the experts you need, whether you're trying to sell of hoping to buy. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down? introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. >>> just a short time ago sarah palin released a new online ad through her political action committee. it touts the tea party as the future of politics in america. >> the tea party movement is not a top-down operation. it's a ground up call to a, that is forcing both parties to change the way that they're doing business. and that's beautiful. this party that we call the tea party is the future of politics. and i am proud to get to be here today. >> but what do actual members of the tea party have to say about this and some other issue

it's also george w. bush who deserves, most advocates believe, great credit with what his administration did. >> absolutely. president obama has credited president bush with setting the foundation for his own work in this area. i think it's important to know that there is this broad-based coalition that's bipartisan. people come at this issue with a bunch of different motivations in terms of the moral faith community to national security. i think secretary gates is often called for more development assistance to the business community, and the one thing all these seg mentments coalitions in common are just results. as long as they know what we're doing is making a dimfference, and i think aids is a good example of that. >> that's how broad this coalition is. the u.n. did say that we have continuing problems in expansion of disease in central asia and eastern europe. >> i think one of the important things to know is that complicate is an important obstacle to all these things. if you look at the millenium

a federal judge appointed by president george w. bush in 2002 has issued a federal court ruling late today, essentially dismantling the don't ask, don't tell policy. this is the second very strong federal court ruling against the military's gay ban in less than a month. the plaintiff in this case has not done a national tv interview before. she'll be joining us in just a moment for an exclusive discussion along with someone whose face will be familiar to those of you following our coverage of this issue over the last seven weeks or so. excuse me, over the last year or so. the last seven weeks or so have been an unbelievably good seven weeks for gay rights in america. at least on paper. the proposition that removed existing same sex marriage rights after couples had already been married in california, the prop eight case, prop eight struck down as unconstitutional seven weeks ago. two weeks ago, don't ask, don't tell struck down in its totality as unconstitutional by a federal judge in california. two days ago, a ban on same sex coup

former british prime minister tony blair, who sat down to talk about everyone from george w. bush to princess diana, with christiane amanpour of "this week." christiane, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, diane. and i spent a couple of hours with the former british prime minister, who has made at least 36 trips to the middle east in the last three years, trying to help build momentum for peace. the interview coincides with the release of his memoir, "a journey." tony blair explained that he sees the key to breaking the impasse in the middle east. you say the biggest problem with the middle east peace process is that no one has ever gripped it long enough or firmly enough. the gripping is intermittent and intermittent won't do, it doesn't work. if it was gripped, it would be solved. you also say in your book that president bush -- his heart wasn't really into it. >> well, they came to grip it but it was late on in the presidency and that's the important distinction with president obama now. i mean, i -- i think you cannot overstate the importance of president obama comin

what do you stand for and would reagan and george w. bush fit into your world now? >> you're looking at the conservative throughout the united states today is firm on lower taxes and bringing back the opening of free market enterprise. if you're lowering the taxes and give breathing room for small businesses and we have a small business ourself. we're looking at the taxes that will come down the pike. we have to protect our business the for what is coming down. we haven't even begun to pay for the legislation that has been paid for in the past year. so, there is a spending spree and nobody has been paying the bill yet. so, we want lower taxes and would like -- >> wouldn't ronald reagan and george w. bush fit into your equation of what the tea party stands for? you brought up reagan. >> yeah, reagan, honestly, depends on what aspect of his, with his, when he was in office is because there is a point when it was a highly democratic congress. when you're looking at reducing the taxes, that is the key part of it. when you reduce the taxes, that's when the economy flouri

>> i wonder if george w. bush and bill clinton aren't flip sides of the same coin. i know you were immersed in mika's liberal establishment but -- >> i was trying to think of somebody outside politics. look at newt gingrich, bill clinton and george w. bush and the kind of politics that they've created for the country. bill clinton you could make an argument -- the focus of this piece is on fiscal responsibility. his administration actually exited with surpluses as far as the eye could see. part of that was a function of the greatest generation president, george h.w. bush who looks increasingly good in the long view of history and did some very, very politically brave things including a tax hike that he paid dearly for but set the country on a path to prosperity really during the clinton years. >> we kicked baby boomers around. they deserve it. give us what is perhaps thus far the greatest accomplishment of this generation. >> there's a bunch of stuff these guys have gotten done. they didn't start the vietnam war but they got the country out of it. they made environm

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush. it's well known that he and i disagreed about the war from its outset. yet no one can doubt president bush's support for our troops or his love of country and commitment to our security. as i've said there are patriots who supported the war and patriots who opposed it. and all of us are united to the love of our men and women and our hope for the iraqi future. our country is grounded on the ability to thrive from our differences. no challenge is more essential to our security than our fight against al-qaida. americans across the political spectrum supported the use of force against those who attacked us on 911. now as we approach our tenth year of combat, there are those who are asking tough questions about our commission there but we must never lose sight of what's at stake. as we continue, al-qaida continues to plot against us. and their members continue in afghanistan and pakistan. we will dismantle al-qaida. because of our draw down in iraq we are now able to apply the resources n

impuestos sobre la renta que adopto su predecesor, george w. bush, para las familias que ganan ( o declaran ) mas de 250 mil dolares anuales. ---y en el tema de discusÓn esta noche...la economia familiar...cada dia mas afectada... quien es el responsable de esto?.... ¿el ex- presidente bush...o el actual mandatario obama?... ---mas adelante, abriremos nuestras lineas telefonicas para que pueda usted opinar ... en vivo, y sin restricciones. ---el numero gratis es el 1- 866-229-4848....o escribanos a noticiero 48- arroba- telemundo- punto- com. com. ---tal parece que la masacre de ayer ocurrida en llamará salva trucha ha sido culpable de gran parte de asesinatos a principios de este año la hondureña descubrió un plan de los zetas mexicanos otros 4 fallecieron en el hospital, un pandillas se comblo koe bloqueo redujo el tránsito entre 40-60%. si no son así los que pagarán son los familiares de ellos >periodista: las maras pro peso participantes en la matanza de 72 inmigrantes provenientes de diversas naciones latinoamericanas ...--- tras

del presidente bush con nuestro paÍs y nuestras tropas. >> estuvo de acuerdo con el presidente george w. bush que nada es mÁs importante que el honor del paÍs. >> ahora van a enfocarse a la guerra de afganistÁn. dijo que no sirven al interÉs de nadie las guerras sin fecha lÍmite. >> gates llegÓ a irak para reunirse con las tropas en irak en el cese de los combates en ese paÍs. pocas horas despuÉs de que el presidente barak obama dijera a los estadounidenses y al mundo que era el momento de pasar la pÁgina en irak. >> en otras informaciones edgar valdÉz villarreal, alias la barbie dijo a la policÍa federal mexicana, confesÓ que manejaba la ruta panamÁ- mÉxico y que el dinero en efectivo le llegaba desde los estados unidos. y dijo que mandÓ a hacer una pelÍcula con parte de su historia. >> investigan un atentado con bombas molotov en un bar de cancÚn. hay 6 muertos por asfixia. propietario del bar se habrÍa negado a pagar seguridad. >> en mÉxico 6 indocumentados permanecieron secuestrados alrededor de un mes en cancÚn despuÉs de que fueron rescatados por la policÍa

in 2008, then president george w. bush disapproval rating in europe was 75%. in those countries. if you are wondering why the economic recovery is lagging, we may have another answer for you. the national institute of health put stimulus to work in africa. they spent recovery funds on a study to teach african men how to watch themselves after sex. but they're not sure if the washing regimen works in preventing men from contracting hiv. they hope to do another study about that later on. no word if they'll use more stimulus money for that. finally, anyone who wants to smoke in new york city may just have to stay home. city officials with support from mayor michael bloomberg announced new legislation to ban smoking in public places such as park, beaches, marina, boardwalk and pedestrian plazas. that means no lighting up on a stroll through central park where while taking in the sites in times square. if the ban is passed, violators could be slapped with a $50 ticket. >> chris: top story at the bottom of the hour, tea party backed candidate christine o'donnell is getting national att

george w. bush. >> reporter: that is correct. that's so easy? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: what was the first word spoken from the moon on july 20th, 1969? the first words dropped when the astronauts went to the moon were? >> houston. >> reporter: houston is correct. you are on fire! okay. last one. the word texas is an indian word originally that means sack the quarterback, the cattle are dying, marshmallows or friend. which word does texas mean? >> that's a hard one, man. never heard that. >> reporter: think about it. >> well, texas always say what, friend? >> reporter: that's correct. you were perfect. normally it's 5-5. you went 6- 6. >> i keep telling you i'm a texan. >> reporter: are houstonians smart? >> we all are. we don't walk around with cowboy hats on. you know what i mean? >> reporter: you were perfect. nice job. thank pho yore playing know your opponent. i noticed you were trying to play along. did you go 6-6? >> st. louis not. >> did you know the first word -- absolutely not. >> did you know the first words were houston? >> sure, i di

. >> reporter: getting most of the attention is the section on george w bush and the iraq war. george had huge simplicity in how he saw the world, right or wrong. in 2003 in spite of the protest, blair decided to black the invasion of iraq. a decision he is now having to defend constantly on his book tour whether on late night tv or in top political interviews. >> how you can not feel sorry about people who have died. you wouldn't have been human but when i'm asked if i regret the decision, you don't -- i take responsibility for it but i can't regret it. >> reporter: mindful this book is his legacy in more ways than one blair will give all the proceeds including his 7 million-dollar advance to a charity that helps wounded british soldiers. elizabeth palmer. >> are you able to avoid the controversy this weekend with your weather forecast sniffle lot of pressure. folks want to see sun. we fog ruined the bay area today. you know, we are still seeing a couple patches tonight. most of the inside of the bay looking good. there is still patchy fog out toward the coastline. latest sate

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush. it is well known that they agreed for the war and that known can doubt president bush's support for troops or his love of country and our security. with that said will take the support of the war and all of us are united with appreciation for our service men and women. our hopes for a rocky future. the greatness of our democracy is grounded in the abilities to move beyond our differences. we need to learn her mark experiences and confront the many challenges ahead. the no challenge is worth our security then the fight against all kinds. americans supported the use of force against those who attacked some and 11. now, as we approach our 10th year of combat in afghanistan and for those that are having a tough time understanding us. as we speak all kind of continuous to mess with us. their leadership is anchored in pakistan. we will not disrupt, dismantle and dc oxide. because of our drawdown in iraq will go on offense. in fact in the last 19 months a dozen all kind of leaders and their

george w. bush actually gets most of the blame for the bad economy, 11% of the voters put the blame on president obama. >>> pope benedict xvi a arrived in scotland on a four-day state visit. he told reporters that the catholic church failed to act quickly enough to deal with priests who rape and molest children. he says the vatican's top priority is to help these victims feel. his first meeting was with queen elizabeth ii. >> coming up, we are back live with the breaking news in baltimore, a doctor is shot inside a hospital. >> i melted to the guard to say run. he said yes. >> a chilling experience describes minute by minute the discovery hostages speaking out to oprah. we have a closer look plus the trouble in the gulf. another hurricane with heavy rains are pending mexico's beaches. doug hill is tracking all that and what is at our weather for the rest of the week, next. >> ...berber carpet. it was a whole bowl of stew. nooo. why? i could have saved this one. i could have saved this one. ♪

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush and it's well known that he and i disagreed on the war. but no one can doubt president bush's support for our troops or his love to our country and our commitment to security. as i said, patriots that supported this war and patriots who opposed it. and all of us are united in appreciation for our service men and women and our hopes for iraq's future. the greatness of our democracy is grounded in our ability to move beyond our differences and to learn from our experience as we confront the many challenges ahead. and no challenge is more essential to our security than our fight against al qaeda. americans across the political spectrum supported the use of form against those who attacked us on 9/11. now, as we approach our tenth year of combat in afghanistan, there are those who are understandably asking tough questions about our mission. but we must never lose sight of what's at stake. as we speak, al qaeda continues to plot against us and its leadership remaining anchored in the b

. >> you say george w. bush was very smart. he had an immense simplicity in how he saw the world. right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership. >> yes, it did. and i -- and i think, you know -- it's easy to mock that simplicity. it's easy to ignore the strength that sometimes comes with it and a decision like the surge in iraq. i can't think of many people that would have had the courage to take that decision in the way that he did. >> let's move on to bill clinton. you describe him as your political soulmate. why is that? >> i think he was one of the first people really to understand, to articulate, how progressive politics couldn't be a rainbow coalition. that you 45d to stand up and be connected with people, not activists, simply. >> you say he was one of the smartest political minds. you have come across. >> he was phenomenally smart. i would say the smartest politician i ever came across. yes, i would say bill clinton. yeah. >> you had dealings with him in the height of the troubles, the monica lewinsky scandal. the impeachment. how did you see him get through his political

continue the stimulus that george w. bush started. they are doing the things that they said they would do. >> i wanted health care changed but i had the same plan that didn't cost much money. maybe you miss. that i don't think americans oppose the change. they oppose the bankruptcy that we're headed for. >> we know according to the cbo the costs are less than they would have within without the change. >> bill: oh, please. >> he identified a couple of specific things. he said look, millions of more college students will be able to go to college. we under the age that kids can be covered by their parents' health insurance to 26. >> bill: all of that costs an enormous amount of money. >> that is the point. that's why americans are so infuriated. this is costing american people so much money that we don't have. >> bill: wouldn't be so infuriated if the economy were better and they felt more secure. >> correct. and if the policies worked. it's the tandem of the fact these are anti-free market approaches that are not working. >> they are wo

in 2006 when the democrats went after them nationally with george w. bush they changed the subject. they tried to change the subject to local. >> isn't the other way to run against that, all right, you want to talk national, let's compare what barack obama's offering to what you're offering, joe miller in alaska. if republicans are trying to set the script, shouldn't democrats recognize that they shouldn't accept that framing and do what the republicans don't want them to do? >> when we recall that this only matters in the swing districts, most of these are settled. the outcome is settled. it's been settled for a year. there's no contest. in the swing districts the democratic accomplishments are not popular. the obama democrat health care bill has never had had the majority of support in the swing districts. so the democrat doesn't want to talk about the health care bill or wants to say, hey, i voted against it and the republicans love talking about the health care bill and so that's -- >> the democrats end up running by not running. maybe i'll get some votes by accident. >> where t

. >> when republicans had the white house and congress, george w. bush wasanded a budget surplus. do you find fault with both parties? >> is fair to say the country as a whole has been spending -- deficit spending has been accumulating for a long time. congress has to take responsibility. it is also fair to say that obama and this congress, this democrat-controlled congress, have made it exponentially worse. and president bush left office, the deficit in hi last year in office was less than half a trillion dollars. the next year, president obama essentially triple the deficit in one year. he has put the pedal to the metal and mated exponentially worse. >> some say you can cut long- term spending but you cannot cut the debt without increasing taxes. >> if you look at the structural obligations of the country long term, a lot of it is in the form of entlement programs. that includes medicaid, medicare, and social security. are reforming them and making them more efficient, you can affect the spending picture in the medium and long term for the country. i don't believe the u.s. can o

george w. bush who decided they should expire at the end of this year. all of them should expire at the end of this year. so, that's why we are in this fix. this isn't something of barack obama's doing or the congress's doing. george w. bush says let's give some tax cuts and have them expire at the end of 2010 with. >> senator byron dorgan, great tough with us tonight. thank you. >> good to be with you. >>> up next, chivalry must be dead. of all people, the drugster is sticking up for his conservative women. america's top conservative ladies' man bounce his way into the zone next. stay with us w [ female announcer ] doing a little painting with food? you forgot...her glasses. [ female announcer ] bring it. trust new bounty. in this lab test new bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. super soft. super clean. new bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. [ male announcer ] an everyday moment can turn romantic anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can

and also, new apology mahan courage jeb bush to run. this week george w. bush actually beat barack obama in a theoretical poll. then the water may be safe for jeb. on the christian conservative bracket side, mike huckabee is running but sarah palin polls best among republican voters. in a new "vanity fair" article, in july, the quarterly filing by palin's p.a.c. revealed a foormedable war chest and hefty investments in this fundraising and direct mail. the hottest part, the glenn beck part of the party. you have huckabee out there. pagen boub the star, right? >> she is the star already. i was down at the southern republican leadership conference meeting in new orleans, which is the base of the modern christian evangel cal republican party. haley barbour, who's from next door, was a blip on the radar screen. it was all about sarah palin and everything she did there, including handing out souvenir moose meat beach jerky for everyone showed me she's runnorg f president. it looks like she's running. >> that's a sign you're running for president, if you hand ou

president george w. bush toured the country pushing his plan to privatize social security. he had accumulated political capital and now he wanted to spend it. >> it is my style, that's what happened arch the 2000 election, i earned some capital. i earned capital in this election, and i'm going to spend it for what i told the people i'm going to spend it on. you've heard the agenda, social security. >> the president did do a national road show about privatizing social security in 2005. he told the people how excited he was for the elderly to divert their social security checks to wall street. and while president bush was manifestly excited about that idea, the american people were not. the road show was a failure. the accumulated political capital dispersed, the american people did not move. and boy did that turn out to be handy. this is the s&p 500 index over the last five years. from about the time president bush was proposing we put people's social security checks in the stock market. if you retired under a privatized system like the one george w. bush was pushing in 2005

george w. bush his ideas for his post presidency, gave the north koreans nuclear weapons, i mean, there are a lot of positive spins, a lot of mitigating factors here to offset the arrogance. i can't keep it straight through the whole thing. >> that was good. >> as usual, that's an excellent point, joe. >> he did get a nobel prize. >> that he deserved. >> nuclear weapons need to be in north korea. >> theologian act. >> natural list. >> killer rabbit. >> is it possible that because when history is recorded, as it is being recorded, let's start with michael, historian, we have john here a mini historian. >> mini historian, he's won the pulitzer prize, for god's sake. >> i know, but he has so many side jobs. is it possible, michael, when history is recorded 40, 50 years from now, this 50 year chunk of american history from 1960 to 2010, that the carter presidency will be virtually unnoticed by history? >> very possibly, especially because the guy didn't get re-elected. as you know well, mike, we ta

this afternoon i spoke to former president george w. bush. it's well known that he and i disagreed about the war from its outset. yet no one can doubt president bush's support for our troops or his love of country and commitment to our security. as i've said, there are patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. >> the president talked at length about afghanistan, and made clear the commitment by the u.s. there, although the president has sent more troops, is not open ended. >> next august we will begin a transition to afghan responsible beability. the pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground. and our support for afghanistan will endure. but make no mistake, this transition will begin because open ended war serves neither our interests nor the afghan people's. >> this was largely a speech about foreign policy. the president did talk about the economy, saying it was this country peace most urgent national priority. brian? >> savannah guthrie from the white house. thanks. >>> in the seven plu

what prompted the idea that called former president george w. bush? >> i think the president thought it was an important thing to do on this day. they disagreed on the wars the president mentioned. i think this is a day which whether you agreed or disagreed, it was a day to pay tribute to the troops, to reflect on what they've done, and he felt to touch base with the former president let him know exactly how we were proceeding was the right thing to do. >> larry: was it a long conversation? >> i don't think they spoke particularly long, larry, and i'm not going to get into the details of the discussion other than to say it was a cordial discussion. again, i think the presidents, whether they agreed or disagreed, it's a lonely fraterni fraternity. no one understands it but the guys who have sat in that chair. i think on this day the president thought calling the former president was the right thing to do. >> larry: and one other thing, david, with the pullout from iraq, is there some fear that this now strengthens iran's hand in that region? >> no, i d

they also remember that the george w. bush expansion of 2001, 2007 was a sort of a phantom recovery, that was built on debt and median wages dropped those years. bill clinton represents really prosperity and i think that a lot of democrats want to be associated with that. >> do you think his ability to position himself as a third way, as a centrist democrat was important. i'm looking at our independent. you have probably seen it, in our nbc news/"washington post" poll. out yesterday, he is leading 4-1, approval over disapproval. only one in six independent voters have a problem with bill clinton at this point. >> bill clinton, remember, he famously triangulated in 2006. dick morris said it wasn't better before, you haven't seen anything yet. the economy is humming well. dick morris said don't talk about specific issue, don't mandate anything specific in the second term, just tell everybody things are getting better and bill clinton did that. he kept some distance from the democrats and obviously some distance from republi

. >> because i'm recalling all the time you made that an issue when george w. bush was in power. i don't remember it coming up, john. >> every other weekend, didn't i? >> 0 to 10, meaning no likelihood whatsoever. 10 meaning physical certitude. what is the likelihood that the democrats will win back the majority of independents? favoring republicans by election day. >> minus 473 degrees, which is absolute zero. they aren't going to get back the independents. it's ridiculous. >> i don't think we'll get back the majority. we live in a political climate. i'm going to give them a 3. >> zero. it's not happening. at least not by november. >> really? >> zero. >> certainly not happening by november. if anything, it's going to get worse between now and the election. will say one. ruel of a figure. issue three, pentagon featherbedding. >> we spend too much on national defense. nearly $700 billion. that's what secretary of defense, robert gates believes and says. he wants to slash $100 billion from the defense budget over five years. the current defense budget is almost 1/5 of the total u.s

president obama is using furniture that was once used by president george w. bush. the cost was not discussed. when president obama's time is over his turn were will most likely go into a presidential library which is also a white house tradition. >>> trying to cool off the yankees. next. how would the giants respond to how would the giants respond to last night's deva but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now. with my citi thankyou points when it happened... [ glass breaks ] ...again. ♪ [ child ] run! [ man ] first it was the mailbox. then my squirrel. and now, this. so i used my points to make a donation to get the park down the street built. when it finally opened, i also used my points for... ca

w. another man police want to find, the son of this man, 35-year-old frederick salas is the man missing. you're looking at a picture of 73-year-old rick salas. his body was found saturday at a home in hercules that valdamro also frequented and lived at from time totime. the son is still missing. >> they're continuing to follow leads as they develop speing with family membs and friends to possiy find out where he may be. but ther is continued growing concern that his life may be in danger. >> as for a motive, police think they may have one. valdamro's love affair with 46-year-old cindy tran might be the root of it all. he thought she was having an fair with one of the salas family members. that would explain his activities there. and a high-speed chase ended tuesday night, officers shooting him and killing him with the strangled body of cindy tran. she wanted to reunite with the father of her three children. valdamro did not let tat happen. the focus now turns to the sole surviving suspe

president george w. bush dumped donald rumedz felled from the pentagon after the 2006 elections. all presidents have crisis point. president obama is in one leading up to the november elections so the new team he builds will say a lot about the direction he wants to go next year. jeff. >> glor: bill plante at the white house. bill, thank you. in the race for the california state house, the latest poll shows former ebay chief met whitman in a 41-41 tie with state attorney jerry brown. not so close is the campaign spending race between the two. ben tracy tonight has the facts and figures. >> reporter: nobody can accuse met whitman of being cheap. she's flooding the airwaves, attempting to become the next republican governor of california. >> failure has followed him everywhere. >> reporter: the billionaire businesswoman has now spent $119 million of her own money on ads in her campaign operation. >> politics is a tough business. and you have got to tell people why to vote for you. >> hello, how are you? >> >> reporter: her opponent, former california governor jerry brown, has raise