they tried to discourage him from running for president, saying dad you're not as cool as you think you are. mr. president, i can relate. >> so if you don't have anything to do in the morning, tune in to "the today show," jenna is a correspondent, thereby continuing the warm relations the bush family has with the press. >> well, the last time all five of the president's club was together was a meeting in 2009. but that was before the president was sworn in. they snapped this shot of the five living presidents and their wives. bill clinton, brand-new to the scene, sent out this today. there is one of just the first ladies attending. up next, a big decision for president obama. the syrian regime uses chemical weapons. something the president said would be a game-changer.
steady, jimmy carter was clean as a whistle but didn't know a lot of stuff. then reagan comes along, says carter is a wuss, always knocking the guy in there, here they come out today, hold hands, they love each other. but each depended on their personal success, punching the other guy in his bad eye. >> that is politics. >> here is clinton and obama, paying tribute to the recent president, let's listen. >> i like president bush. and we do a lot of speeches together. and i like it when we have disagreements. he is disarmingly direct. we were having an argument over health care in one of these speeches and i went on about the german health care system. and he said i don't know a a thing about the german health care system. i think he probably won the argument. >> what president clinton is absolutely true. to know the man is to like the man because he is comfortable in
about the clip you just showed was that the defense secretary was reading from that statement. and the white house and the administration general is very cautious on this one. they want everyone to be speaking on the same line. and that line, so far, coming from the obama administration is we are still in a wait and see mode. there are varying degrees of confidence in these assessments. they are not going as strongly as -- in condemnation, or in any kind of definitive way as we have heard. >> can you didn't at the right time or now, whether they are hesitating because of the surety that they used chemical weapons, or that once they put that back out there they then have to move on the green light with some kind of action? >> i think it is a little bit of both. the president painted himself in
the goal here today was to give a big push-off to george w. bush's presidential library, the great irony, the number one decision for george bush was to take us into the iraq war, and that was, i think, the chief reason for the election of president obama. activists didn't like the iraq war and the foreign policy behind it. didn't like the way it was sold, made to happen. and that explained why the word "iraq" was never mentioned today. not once, and that said, it was civilized here today. you couldn't tell the parties apart, couldn't tell that nixon, and bush -- clinton beat bush, and that the second bush won by saying he wouldn't embarrass us the way his predecessor like bill clinton had. getting through that was a feat
something that president obama said would be a game-changer. the white house wants more time to get the facts straight before it takes action. finally, where partisanship took a back seat for pleasantries. and this is hardball, the place for politics.
his own skin. he knows who he is, doesn't put on any pretenses. >> as his victory statement, he was like, i don't know anymore than you did about these things. president obama has his shortcomings, too. do we want an intellectual president? we got one in bush, sort of -- in clinton and obama. >> yeah. >> the country, i think, look, certainly responding to bush in 2008, if there is a bush rehabilitation effort, i think president obama helped the cause. >> ei'll tell you who didn't mae the cause, barbara. it reminded me of eisenhower,
"hardball." >> welcome back to "hardball," news about syria, president obama said use of chemical weapons by those in syria would be a line crossed. the regime has used chemical weapons, secretary of defense chuck hagel who is currently traveling in the region briefed reporters on it today. >> the u.s. intelligence community assesses with some degree a varying confidence that the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria, especially the chemical agent, sarin, we cannot confirm the origin, but we do believe the use of chemical weapons in syria would very
of dzhokhar, was still going on when the court mirandized him. this is the knock on the way the case was handled by the obama administration. mike rogers. >> we can't have in a case like this, the judiciary deciding because it is on tv and it may look bad for them to allow the public safety exemption that is deemed legal by the united states supreme court that they were going to somehow intercede in this. it is confusing, horrible, god-awful policy and dangerous to the greater community. and we've got to get to the bottom of it and fix it right now. >> jim, do you agree with that? the argument by the congressman, the chairman committee, basically making the case. look, this guy is a dangerous fugitive, we picked him up. we know he is still in the process of committing crimes. we interview him, then we get around to getting him mirandized, here he said the judge showed up out of nowhere
saying give me two weeks, she said we have had enough of the bushes. >> these events are so scripted and so polite. and in the middle of all of this -- >> she is a great lady -- >> she is an unbelievable interview. but it was interesting to have president obama, the one piece of politics he decided to do was something actually in the best interest of the republican party, particularly here in texas. which is the largest republican crowd the president has ever addressed. and he used it. and almost said hey, this immigration bill it is not my legacy, it is this man's legacy. now, there is a smart way to sell it. the politics in the house, still a little complicated. anyway, back to barbara. >> they are somewhat moneyed republicans -- >> country club republicans. this is actually what the tea
about the german health care system. i think he probably won the argument. >> what president clinton said is absolutely true. to know the man is to like the man. because he's comfortable in his own skin. he knows who he is. he doesn't put on any pretenses. he takes his job seriously, but he doesn't take himself too seriously. he is a good man. >> there, again, i mean, there's george w. cracking a joke about not knowing something, as his victory statement. hey, he like me, don't know anything more than you do about these things. we elect this genius president, obama, he has his shortcomings, too. it's always back and forth. >> that's the story of the count country. >> do we want an intellectual president? do we want a guy who's intellectually pointy headed? we got one in bush sort of -- sorry, in clinton and obama. >> the country responded to bush in 2008, but look, i think if there's going to be a bush