Were expecting it to begin about 14 minutes from now. As craig melvin mentioned, right before the top of the hour, our thoughts and prayers and concerns today, right this minute, are with a former president and a former first lady. George h. W. Bush 41 and barbara bush are both hospitalized, both in Methodist Hospital in houston, texas. Though, the medical circumstances of the former president took a bad turn overnight and into the morning. They had to sedate the former president to clear his airway, both former president and former first lady are hospitalized for respiratory issues. White house correspondent Chris Jansing is standing by with an update on all of it. Reporter let me start with what i think well hear from the president , which is expressing his concern for former president goenchts h. W. Bush, and barbara bush. He suffers from a form of parkinsons. Hes been hospitalized before with breathing problems. Any time youre 92 years old and you have a problemlike pneumonia, it is cau concern, they did put him in the icu. And barbara bush also, as you said, hospitalized. She is suffering from fatigue. So, we will obviously keep you updated on that. Again, im sure that president obama will have remarks to make about it as well. It was president bush who decided this endofyear press conference was a good idea, a way to talk to the press, many of whom have traveled the world with him over the course of the last eight years and theres a lot of stuff in the news since the last press conference at the end of the year, around christmastime. His decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, what went into it than go a different route than his defense secretary recommended. There are the repeals recommended by the incoming president , obamacare being at the top of the list and his thoughts about that. It has been sort of the order of the day for the last 18 months or so that whatever the press conference, there are always questions about donald trump even before he was the republican nominee. And we have also a whole slew of new polls that show 77 of americans think this is a divided nation. Josh earnest, his press secretary, says he does want to talk about the press. This room itself, as you know, has become the subject of some debate. Would the press get moved out of here . Now the word is they wont. But donald trump just saying in the last 24 hours, theyre going to be begging to get out of here. This is 49 seats. There are 200 people, he said, who want to be credentialed and come to these press conferences. So, all of that against the backdrop of a very high Approval Rating for this president , brian, of about 60 . Chris yjansing in the always crowded west Wing White HouseBriefing Room. Thanks. Nicolle wallace is here with us. For purposes of talking about our former president , nicole, in addition to having been the Communications Director in the white house of george w. Bush 43, has worked with, worked around and worked for the bush family in many different capacities. Obviously, our thoughts are in houston, texas. Absolutely. And i spent the morning like a gps tracker trying to figure out where everybody was to gauge for myself and my concern, how concerned the family is. And they at the moment are not all in houston. For the moment, i have a little bit of relief in my concern for this family that i revere. Its worth noting that the letter that the office of bush 41 sent today, sending good wishes and explanation for why they wouldnt be at the inauguration, president bush 41 and mrs. Barbara bush, had all the sort of signature humanity and humor and selfdeprecating charm that makes everyone who loves them deeply on concerned on a day like today. It read like him. A guy who has put his body through a lot. 92 years old. At one time was the youngest aviator in the u. S. Navy, of course, shot down over the pacific. You know, in addition to the climbing out of perfectly good airplanes wle under way and parachuting to the earth, he is you know, he can take a challenge. In 2012 he had pneumonia and he was in the hospital. I was in dallas with mrs. Bush and people they were very concerned. He was in the hospital for a couple months with pneumonia. He has battled pneumonia. When you have this form of pa parkinsons, pneumonia is a very serious condition. Hes the scrappiest 92yearold youll ever meet but he is 92 years old. Theyre both dealing with any normal Health Challenges someone of their aij would deal with. The people around them are a just a wadded mess of concern and worry for these two people we adore. Yeah. And we will we will continue to deep an ear toward houston, texas. Our thoughts and prayers will continue with the family of the former president. Joy reid is among those with us here in our new york studios. Joy, what a time this day is. I would have said that yesterday, im sure ill say it tomorrow. Every day this week we knew it was going to be a newspacked environment. You never quite know what were discussing. We can anticipate what a lot of this News Conference will be about. Im sure its the Chelsea Manning commutation and we have no idea what hell announce today. Its interesting. Just picking up on what nicole was saying about George Herbert walker bush, indeed. You think with the time between george h. W. Bush and bill clinton and the warmth that developed between George Herbert walker bush and bill clinton, almost a father son relationship. The warmth of the handover of the bush families in general to their successors, george w. To the obamas. You get to know whatever are disagreements on policies between republicans and democrats, theres a certain grace to most of our modern president s. Theres a grace to the president ial handover. This is a jarring time because theres an incredible discontinuity between whats coming and whats gone before it. I have friends who are black republicans in florida who have said many times, if, you know, George Herbert walker bush, he was a bareknuckle politician, the way he became president , but if he were still running the party there wouldnt be this tolerance for this raw, racial rancor and nastiness and this vibe of tearing the country apart and only speaking to supporters. You think of the son, george w. Bush, the circumstances in which he became president and still trying to come in with a grace, still trying to say, even if you didnt vote for me, im going to be your president. And barack obama coming in and saying to people who hated him, i want to be your president. Ive never experienced someone coming in and not saying that, and not even indicating it. It will be interesting to also see the land mines that this president is laying sort of for his successors which im not accustomed to. Whether its the deployments to parts of Eastern Europe to set donald trump up, whether its the manning commutation when sends it throws a Monkey Wrench into the whole wikileaks attempt to rebrand themselves and gain back some of their support. Its interesting. Or 20 president ial appointments in the waning hours. Andrea mitchell is standing by to talk to us. I heard david gergen speaking last night on television. He doesnt throw around a lot of hyperbo hyperbole. In discussing your work, he said he should be shocked and not surprised by donald trump. He said in his memory, no president elect has ever done this much harm to American Foreign policy in this kind of runup. David gergen, as you know better than anyone, was in a number of white houses, republican as well as mocric. That is a vw worldwide. Rtceainl with the gathering if davos at the economic forum, joe biden gave a speech today targeting Vladimir Putin, angel merkel terribly upset at the recent criticism from donald trump on twitter. I was on the hill all last week and this, i just came back from there. Talked to mark warner, the ranking democrat on senate intelligence. He announced on our program that he is going to be voting for mike pompeo. He was out at langley at the cia yesterday, listening to the workforce, trying to get beyond the john brennan versus donald trump controversy and listen to the men and women of the workforce who are deeply distressed, many of them, by the tenor of criticism of intelligence on triter, again. Mark warner saying hes going to vote for mike pompeo, the conservative republican to take over cia. Think he he has answered questions very admirably and also concerned the Workforce Needs to be reassured when the president elect becomes president that his Intelligence Community, that he is going to rely on to keep america safe, to keep the president safe, to keep the world safe, that he trusts them. That trust has been badly broken, according to a lot of interviews ive been doing. Youve got concerns in intelligence, youve got concerns in foreign relations, armed services, youve listened to john mccain, lindsey graham, marco rubio, the intense questioning of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. The fact you have the fewest number of National SecurityCouncil Staff members. Now, a lot of talk that its always been bloated in recent years, but they dont have directors, they dont have deputies. When there was a Training Exercise at the white house, i was there last week, they were just coming out from it, had you all of the cabinet and subcabinet, the entire obama Outgoing Team ready to train the incoming team and there was only a handful of people to train. Theyre not up to speed. All right. Andrea mitchell with a rather dark assessment of the time thats going to start, the clock thats going to start at 12 00 noon on friday with the new administration. Weve been watching the Briefing Room on the lefthand side of the screen. We have seen the president s water and notes, his notebook brought out to lectern. You see murderers row, the reporters, our murderer, kristen welker, standing by. This is a time of lasts. Last night i heard it said that donald trump was taking his plane back to new york for the last time as president elect. Hell switch to a much larger government aircraft shortly. This will be the last appearance, we presume, of this president in this Briefing Room. Reporter it will, indeed, brian. He wanted to hold it in the press Briefing Room to foster a more conversational give and take instead of the east room, which is typically where you would hold your final News Conference. I think topic number one is going to be his controversial decision to commute the sentence of transgender soldier Chelsea Manning, who, of course, leaked tens of thousands of documents to wikileaks. Hell also bereedn the commts by john lewisalling president elect trump illegitimate. He takes the podium at a time when his legacy is on the line. Donald trump has vowed to overturn his key policy decisions, everything from obamacare and actions on environment and immigration. He is somewhat imboldined with some of his highest Approval Ratings to date. 56 according to our latest nbc news wall street journal poll. Thats the highest since his early months in office. Hell be pressed on a whole range of topics. His foreign legacy policy, isis and United States very complicated relationship with russia. This is a day of lasts. We are anticipating hell be here momentarily to face our questions for the last time. We are approaching what they call the twominute warning in the trade, the last set of notes having been brought out. Its time for us to sneak in a comment from our friend, eugene robinson, the Pulitzer Prize winner from the Washington Post and a man whos been with us throughout this tumultuous political scene. Eugene, people should remember the mark rich pardon on bill clintons way out of office. We could still get some real headlinegrabbing pardons and commutations. This president now leads all of his peers in history in president ial commutations. A lot could happen in the remaining hours until the inauguration of the president ect. I sure could. Its almost a tradition now that on the way out, as the screen door is about to hit them in the rear, president s do commutations and pardons. And im not sure that weve seen the last of president obamas. The other thing that strikes me is, who knows how soon it will be until we hear president obama again. He will be former president obama. But you saw how george w. Bush, to cite one example, really left the public stage when he became a former president. Thats something he believes very strongly. I wonder how unengaged or disengaged president obama will be given that donald trump intends to dismantle a lot of president obamas legacy. I dont know that he will keep silent on that. So, we wont hear him again in the president ial Briefing Room, but im not altogether convinced we wont hear him again, perhaps, sooner than we think. I think hes going to probably endeavor to keep his comments to his family and maybe occasionally yell at his sand wedge in palm springs, as he hits the links and enjoys some sunshine and relaxation. But this very disciplined president may have that discipline tested depending on what is said about him and what happens in washington. Eugene, as always, thank you. Well be checking with you on the other side of the president s comments. To jon meacham we go, our friend, the historian and author and for the purposes of todays conversation, the biographer of George Herbert walker bush 41 having written one of the best works of contemporary nonfiction about this fascinating man. Jon, i know you join the rest of us in thinking about george and barbara bush. Absolutely. You know, hes 92, shes 91. Theyve been married for 72 years. I was with them last summer in a restaurant in maine. A couple came up and wanted their picture made on their 50th anniversary. Barbara said, pikers. So, you know, they had two of the they have two of the Great American lives. Theyve just served the country decade to decade. Ive called president bush 41 the last gentleman of american politics. And i think in many ways he embodies an efos that is slipping into the shadows. He had more in common somewhat as president and as a politician temp mentally and culturally really with the Founding Fathers than he did with his own generation of politicians. Absolutely. Jon meacham, thank you. Well be talking to you throughout. Chuck todd, our political director, is standing by to talk to us in washington. Chuck, whats on your radar for what were about to witness . Well, i think a few things. Number one is, look, we are getting to hear from president obama for the first time responding to john lewis. And that that is something, as if the john lewis story can extend another day, i think that what he says about those democrats that want to skip the inaugural and all that, im curious to see how he walks that line. I just got done with an interview with the Vice President elect mike pence, and i can tell you hes effusive in his praise for president obama and Vice President biden for the transition and for them personally. It was very interesting there. So, i am curious about that balancing act that president obama walks here. I hear you guys talking about his post what hes going to do postlife. Keep an eye on something. He has a fascination in our media culture. Hes obsessed with it. He loves to talk about it. He loves to criticize it a lot with friends and family. That he talks with about this. You know, i dont know what he i think today i expect him to stand up for the press briefing, stand up for some of those basic ideas that theres nothing like going to going to an authoritarian leader around the world and saying, guess what, i dont like the press but theyre in my home every dato ask me questions because thats what democracy is about. Be sure to listen for some hints where the critiques he may make about our media culture overall because i think that is a post president ial career is the wrong word interest of his. Chuck, last night i heard jon meacham talk about the president who is have mastered the various media as those forms of media have come along. Fdr took ownership of radio and really became the unseen guest in American Homes when they needed him during world war ii. Jfk intrinsically understood television. To jon meachams argument, bill clinton understood cable television, which is a different animal. Some day somebodys going to explain that to me. And then obama has truly come up with, not quite taken on the behavior of the president elect, but has truly come up with social media and has been more immersed in immediate, yeah obviously, than any president prior to him. Hes been hes the first platformneutral president , i guess, well look back and say that. Meaning particularly the folks around him convinced him of this, right, that, look, you cannot i remember i enjoyed watching the prime Time Press Conference as a kid wit carter and reagan. They felt like big events. They realize that doesnt penetrate anymore. Youve got a message and youve got to touch people, use 15 different platforms to touch people. I think they certainly believe that and they embraced it. Its interesting, as they were terrific at expanding the platforms and talking to people in expansive ways, i would say they you know, the press conference, for instance, wasnt president obamas best vehicle. You know, i would say his best vehicles are still the big speeches. Thats been best vehicle number one. And oneonone interviews. Those are gooi good od ones wit. Others are masters of press conferences. For president obama, press conferences have tripped him up more than other president s in the past. And i think its, for whate