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it's simple. easy. awesome. click, call or visit a store today. this is "cnn tonight." breaking news about president trump's former fixer michael cohen who just pleaded guilty to lying to congress. sources tell cnn cohen was under the impression that trump would offer him a pardon if he stayed on message in support of the president when talking to federal prosecutors. it was an impression that he got after he a visit to mar lag xwoe in march of this year. weeks after that, cohen's office was raided by the fbi.

in the midst of one big development after another in the investigation, mitch mcconnell says there's no need for a bill to protect mueller. that's in spite of the president's could be stant criticism of the special counsel's investigation and previous attempts to fire mueller. also new tonight, acting attorney general matthew whitaker, another vocal critic of mueller's work will testify before the house judiciary committee sometime in january. so there's lots to discuss tonight about matt lewis, steve cortes, rick wilson the author of the book "everything trump touches dies." good to have all of you on. good evening to you. matt, i'm going to start with you. because you have a piece out empty "daily beast" that warns conservatives to be prepared for mueller to find something damning about the president and his business. here's what you write. you say, we should be ready to accept the very real possibility that serious misdemeanors were commit and lies told. frankly if it becomes clear that

the president made public policy decisions while in office based in the fantastic that he was a compromised or b seeking gain by virtue of his position, that will be a bridge too far. i want you to expand on this for me. what should republicans do if they find out that the president is col pro mized? >> a lot of your viewers are probably saying republicans sudden just now start thinking about this? he's already done so many horrible things. half the count likes donald trump or a lot of them. you know, millions of americans like donald trump. the economy is going good. republicans have 53 senators right now. so there's like two americas. but at the same time, we investigation this robert mueller investigation. i don't know if it's coming to a head or if it's just a flurry of activity but the stuff with michael cohen i think is a pril example of robert mueller kind of tightening the screws, and the potential for the very

unseam little side of trump world to be exposed. really what i'm doing is urging conservatives and republican politicians for that matter, the people still with trump to, what are you going to do if this turns intoively in on, if this turns into watergate? i'm not telling become a liberal. >> does it have to be that bad, matt? it seems to be pretty bad with just the look of impropriety, right? >> there's definitely the look of impropriety. i think very clearly close trump con if i dans we know they've committed crimes, they've done illegal things. some of them in the case of paul manafort unless he's pardoned may go to jail for the rest of his life. i still think you know, you're missing that whatever that ingredient is with donald trump. the -- i hate to say collusion because the stuff with michael cohen would be different than colluding over the election.

it would actually be somebody who has been in a sense compromised by certainly gain. but we don't know for a fact yet that donald trump himself is implicated in that. >> we don't foe nor a fact to say that any of it has been prove or not proven. we just don't know yet. the investigation should play out. steve, should conservatives be preparing for the worst? >> no, i don't think so at all. i think i have some credibility on this issue because in 2015, i was skeptical of then candidate donald trump. i was a risk perry guy. i didn't believe that donald trump was a conservative. he had not been in a lot of his public nonpolitical life before then. he certainly convinced me and a lot of conservatives that he was one of us. more importantly, he has governed as the most conservative president since ronald reagan. >> what does this have to do with russia? for time purposes.

>> conservatives are thrilled. any honest conservative, even if you can't stand trump or don't like his style or brashness, you have to be absolutely thrilled with the way he is leading and governing our economy. >> steve, with all due respect, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. >> it's exactly what we're talking about. should conservatives brace for the worst. my point is, it doesn't mean that the worst is going to happen. >> he's their patron saint. he's been a saint to conservatives. >> let me say, don, i think that's true. i think this is actually why this is a more relevant conversation. >> yes. >> to be had because if you're a conservative who is happy with the judges and the tax cuts and the very conservative things, i've been in somes pleasantly surprised by how donald trump has governed philosophically, not the moral character stuff but the judges let's say. you may be more susceptible to

going along with him and overlooking what may touch out to be some very, very damaging stuff. >> matt, you're making the point that you was trying to make more articulately than i can. that's exactly the point i'm making. what does this have to do, listen to what he's saying as we said doesn't mean any of it will be proven. it's going to be proven that he did something wrong but that's why you have insurance in your home and on your car and everything else because you are preparing for worst. it doesn't mean you don't love him and don't like the way they're performing. it means you have insurance in case something bad happens. rick, weigh in, please. >> >> so here's my point. and i heard what steve said. and i'm going to assess it this way. donald trump is an thor taian statist driven by lis ego, driven by banality. he's driven by three big things, what makes him money, what you the s him in the press and

gives him an erection. this is the president. he's not a conservative. he's driven our deficit and debt up to sky high levels. he has effective engaged in a style of governance that is an authoritarian at best that despises the constitution. >> you're a -- your level of disrespect for the president is maddening. >> he's earned every iota of my disrespect, steve, because he does not govern as a conservative. he governs as main who leads a personality cult. he governs like somebody from north korea. >> cutting taxes, regulatory relief and constitutionalist judges. >> steve, you can make your point after he makes his. you can make your point after rick makes it. you spoke for a long time. rick hasn't had the opportunity. you can rebut what he says after he finishes. go on, rick. >> the regulatory relief that everyone thinks is so wonderful is two things.

one, it's transitory. it's not permanent or real. it's not passed in legislation because he can't do it. the vast majority of the regulatory relief is specific crony capitalism done by for people like the coal industry who are giving trump donations and getting regular latory relief in exchange. i don't view that as a conservative move. when obama was doing regular latarily fiat we complained about it correctly. if you're going to be a conservative, you don't govern biffi at. the second thing is and i'm going to go back to this again, his personal style, his personal affect do matter. leadership and character do matter. the way you babe as president is a highly relevant thing. i don't think he babes as a conservative. he is transgressive in a lot of ways that some people like because he oebs the lives. what a lot of people find difficult about that,ize setting a series of press denies for

someone who is not going to follow the constitution or the rule of law. that's incredibly dangerous for any president to do. we will regret that when boot is on the other foot. >> the crux of our conversation is matt's piece in the "daily beast" that wars and conservative they need to be prepared for the possible worst. what mueller might find. let's not get too far afield of that. steve, go ahead and respond. >> listen, but that's like saying i need to be prepared that there could be a tornado that hits my house. sure, that's a possibility but it's totally unlikely. what we've seen so far from the mueller probe is rather than uncovering crimes that are relevant to his mandate about supposedly investigating russian collusion we're seeing his investigation is inciting process crimes and look, i'm not excusing those crimes. no one should lie to hill or the fbi or to congress but has totally failed at his actual mandate thus far. we don't know exactly what we'll

see from here. there is zero evidence that he donald trump colluded with russia or in any way compromised. >> his mandate says that except for all of the people hole have been indicted and who have pleaded guilty, but his mandate is people don't want to talk about this part, they ignore this part. anything that arises, that's a very important line in his scope. anything that arises from the investigation. anything that arises from the investigation. >> things like paul manafort acting really improperly and really illegally, long before donald trump entered politics, long before he had any professional association with donald trump. so here's the problem, that premise. >> why did he hire all the best people snell. >> was poison from the start is that when you have an investigation in certainly i've crime, you will find crime. there's no doubt about it. that's an you be just

totalitarian approach to jurisprudence. it's not the american approach. >> steve, i've got to get to a break. steve, okay. let's just consider the whole week, right you? just what happened this week with michael cohen and with the whole thing about trump tower and him actually admitting that he was in the process of trying to get a building there and offering a penthouse. if that had been barack obama or hilary clinton, what would you be doing right now? >> look, first of all, we don't know that he michael cohen admitted anything about offering a condominium. that's reported by sources. >> you're not answering the question. the president admitted he said if he did it -- the president admitted. he said i can do business. even if i did do it, it was okay. it was good. >> very cool. >> it was very cool. >> so. >> there's a difference between looking at an opportunity and offering a free apartment to the leader. >> that's not what i asked you.

if the exact same scenario was playing out and it was barack obama or hillary clinton, what would you be saying right now? >> what i would be saying is heavily cite sizing the clintons as i did when they accepted hundreds of millions of dollars. >> if the exact process was happening right now with the russia investigation if it was hillary clinton, if it was hillary clinton or barack obama right now, with the russia investigation, what would you be saying? >> the clintons, i would be saying the clintons were not hypothetically, they were incredibly wrong to do business with russia. >> you're not answering the question. >> using the foundations as seeksly a slush fund. >> you're not answering my question. no, you're not. >> donald trump. >> okay, fine. so you want to criticize. hold on, steve. you want to criticize the clones for what you say their wrongdoings with russia but you're not criticizing trump for what others are saying are his

wrong doings with russia. do you see the hypocrisy there? >> trump looked and investigated a business opportunity as a private citizen. hillary and bill clinton as ex-secretary of state and president accepted $500,000 for one speech. >> speech money? >> and $1800 million speaker fees and $100 million in uranium one related donations to the clinton foundation. that is actual fact. that is money pouring into clinton cough firs versus donald trump looking at a business opportunity these are apples and oranges. >> and actually. >> certain fruits are fruit. >> i would encourage everyone and you to just go on google and do a fact checking about this wholure rabiam one thing and all of this. >> i agree. >> and you. >> read clinton. >> and you. clinton cash is not a book of fact. just do a fact check on everything steve just said. steve, you never answered my

question. you never answered my question. >> i would criticize them because. >> but you criticize them but you're not criticizing the president for the same type of behavior that you're accusing the clintons of. that's what you call -- that is the definition of hypocrisy. tonight if someone looks up hypocrisy in the dictionary, your picture would be next to it. >> it won't be there. no, it won't. here's why. donald trump looked. >> i got to get to the break. i'll let you finish on the other side. don't go anywhere. we'll be right back.

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new revealed doults show acting attorney general matthew whitaker copied to sit on the advisory board of a patent company even after he received complaints from customers say they were being defrauded. the company closed after a federal court ordered pay a settlement more than $25 million. the ftc called the company an

invention promotion scam that has bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars. they said that in court filings. back with me, matt lewis, steve cortes and rick wilson. see if we can stay ob track with this one. rick, what's your reaction to whitaker's role in this company. he continues to sit on the advisory board. >> the guy sat on the board of an invention promotion company that involved time travel, and big foot. so i think that really says a lot where we are with matthew whitaker. is he spectacularly unqualified to be as even acting attorney general. he's unqualified to be as the manager of a waffle house, unqualified to be a slip and fall lawyer in a strip mall. he's an embarrassment. he's only there because he went on cable television, yelled as loud as he could how wonderful donald trump is and managed to the convince the president of the united states that he would

be the one guy lold be there as an effective loyal political lieutenant and put the rule of law second and let the justice department be sub orrined in order to prevent trump from being investigated any further by robert mueller. that's why he's there in this position. he is a guy with his background alone is disqualifying. his statements about the mueller investigation before this are disqualifying. he's there illegally. he is not in the chain of command. rob rosenstein is in the chain of command to be the guy who should in that position as acting. this is purely a political move on the president's part and an embarrassment to the country and the justice department. >> matt whitaker is in the top law enforcement job in the country. he oversees is more than 100,000 people at the doj. how is he qualified for that position? >> look is, i don't think he's qualified but i think that the real problem is that you know, that he's just there. i think illegitimately. if you want to nominate him,

nominate him. let the senate vote and confirm him if they want to or nominate somebody else. i think that's the obvious and fundamental problem. and really nobody's talking that much about it. baby it's because there's so much to talk about, but even republicans who kind of like donald trump i would think if you're in congress abif you care about things like the rule of law, like institutions this might be something to look into. >> is this what happens, steve, when there is no vetting for people in such critical jobs? >> you know, don, i don't know about the vetting about this private company. i will say this. i actually agree with my colleagues on the panel. i think a permanent attorney general should be nominated as soon as possible. i'm a bit frustrated that hasn't already happened and i hope it happens asap. i think it's important. >> i mean vetting from the administration for people hole are in top jobs, not from a

private company. is this what happens when there is no vetting for people to get those jobs. >> he was a u.s. tosh. he was the chief of staff to the previous attorney general. he has his confidence. this guy didn't come out of nowhere. he we've on late night infomercials selling legal advice. he has a serious background. is he going to be the permanent attorney general? it doesn't seem like it to me. whoever is going to be should be nominated as quickly as possible. >> given what the consumer protection agency said what's alleged in that lawsuit and found to be true, do you think they knew about that and still put him in that position? >> i can't engage in hypotheticals. i have no idea if any of that is ru. >> that's what vetting is called, steve. okay. >> i'm telling you in terms of vetting, all i can say, i was not apprised we were going to be talking about this. he was the chief of staff to the attorney general of the united states. he was certainly vetted by the previous attorney general and he

was a u.s. tosh. it's not as though he has no qualifications. i'm not saying he's going to be the permanent attorney general. it doesn't seem that way to me. and but to rick's point, he says this is political, of course it's political. we elected the president to lead the justice department. the justice department is not independent of the executive branch. it is part of the executive branch. it is his prerogative to appoint people to the justice department. >> we elected the president to lead the justice department? >> not yet. the tradition of the justice department's independence has been something that has been a bipartisan tradition for a very long time and the justice department although it is part of the. >> it sure wasn't withholder and obama. >> typically held to put the rule of law which i was critical of eric holder when he engaged in political behavior, but the justice department should put the rule of law before any other political consideration. and matt whitaker is not there to do the rule of law.

he is there to do the bidding of donald trump and to protect donald trump from the mueller investigation. >> but that's your suspicion. >> i've got to go. matt, thank you for coming on to talk about your piece. i'm glad we got to discuss it so much. >> that was sarcasm. we're supposed to be talking about it and it just, you know, steve you do it every time. thank you, guys. have a great weekend. new audio tonight of congressman steve king call cath cook greggsal black caucus a "grievance committee" while appearing on a podcast frequented bid white nationalists. i'll ask the newly elected chair of the cbc about that. that's next. got directions to the nightclub here.

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control of the house after a historic blue wave in the midterms. along with their majority comes new committee leadership. the congressional black caucus adds nine mu nebraska bringing their total to an all-time high of 55. joining me now california congresswoman karen bass, the incoming chair of the cbc. that can you so much for joining us. are you doing okay. >> absolutely. thanks for having me on. >> congratulations on your new position. democrats take over the house come january. what do you think the priors should be for democrats and for the cbc? >> number one on our agenda is a piece of legislation that encompasses the voting rights act, that also looks at corruption and really looks at money in politics. somes we found over this campaign were very important to voters and constituents. and then also we have to deal with the price of prescription

drugs and income inequality. we have a big agenda. republicans have been in power pore eight years and we have an awful lot of repair we need to do to this nation. >> sounds like you have a lot to do. cook xwres woman, cnn unearthed audio of republican congressman steve king appearing on a right wing podcast whose host has argued some races are less intelligent than others. in the interview, congressman king said this about the congressional black caucus. listen to this. >> the self-segregating congressional black cuss. it hijacked his movement and turned it flow the grievance committee. now they're pressing all of us for special benefits based upon race. >> how do you respond to that? >> there isn't anything steve king could say that would surprise me. recently he was talking about a

political party in austria, and he said, and it's actually a ney nazi party. he said that if you took their plat for and brought it the united states, they would be republicans. you know, he has been an open white supremacist. he has even embarrassed his own party. in this last election, the head of the republican campaign committee beak disassociated themselves from him. >> and he still won. >> still won. >> let me ask you, you've been in congress, both you and king have been in congress for a number of years. have you ever had any interactions with him. >> yes, i have. i serve on the judiciary committee with him. i've had to sit in the same room with him as he made very racist comments been immigrants. >> he said we were asking for special benefits all of which is a complete lie. he knows absolutely nothing about the congressional black caucus. i bet he wasn't even aware that a colleague in his caucus a

republican woman, is a member of the congressional black caucus. so nothing that he says about people of color surprises me. you remember what he said about immigrants. they had calves the size of cantaloupes because they carry drugs. he said people of color have contributed nothing. it's only been western civilization that has contributed anything to the world. so the thing that is very sad about him is that he is profoundly ig nosht. i would think that the state of iowa would be embarrassed by him. i do have to say he had a tough election this time. maybe the voters of iowa are getting tired of him. 2020 can't come fast enough. they'll have another shot at it and hopefully able to retire him in the next election. >> i want to ask you about there because we've been doing these special reports called the state of hate. the fbi released a report showing there was a double digit uptick in hate crimes nationally. what do you think is behind

that? >> unfortunately when you have someone in the white house who is also openly racist, i think he has given a license to be white supreme justs where they felt maybe they needed to be a little you know, in the closet behind the scenes. now they have an open license. just think about it. we had four acs of domestic terrorism right before election. president wouldn't even refer to it as domestic terrorism. each act of terrorism was done by a white supremacist organization. at the same time, the fbi wants to investigate young african-americans who protest police violence. and so instead of talking about black identity extremists we need to talk about white identity extremists. we need to call it for what it is. it is a terrorist organization. we need to address it appropriately. >> that is something that the country grapples with and people who share sentiments like you share often get a lot of criticism about that and a whole lot of pushback.

i want to talk to you about the acing attorney general because you're also on the house judiciary committee which just announces that matt whitaker, he has a commitment to appear sometime in january. what do you want to ask him about? >> i think there's many things we want to ask him about. you know in, particular, he was chief of staff to jeff sessions, and so how much dialogue was there in terms of the mueller investigation. we know that the president would like to shut that investigation down. we know that there's conflicts of trel with him. so what has happened over the last two years since trump has been in office, the republicans essentially have provided absolutely no oversight, no investigation and so when the democrats take over in january and were able to do oversight and investigation, there unfortunately is so much work for us to do because nothing has been done over the last two years. they're still chasing hillary clinton's e-mails. >> yeah.

the house judiciary committee also has jurisdiction over voting rights proposals. >> right. >> what would you like to see done on that front before the next election cycle? >> first of all, this last election there was egregious examples across the country of voter suppression. i mean, what happened in the state of georgia, you know, sounded like another country. you have the secretary of state, the person who is in charge of elections actually running for office made no sense at all. and so i think one of the first things we need to do is document the problems that happeneded in this would elections to establish the record so that we can make the adjustments that the supreme court called for in the voting rights act. >> congress woman bass, thank you. i appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me. >> happy holidays to you. >> same to you. >> serious allegations of voter fraud, delaying certification of a race for a north carolina houset. were voters tricked in an attempt to secure the election for the republican candidate? xfinity mobile is a new wireless network

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and the best 4g lte everywhere else. saving you hundreds of dollars a year. and ask how you get xfinity mobile included with your internet. plus, get $200 back when you when you buy a new smartphone. xfinity mobile. it's simple. easy. awesome. click, call or visit a store today. so before the midterm elections president trump warned of voter fraud even though it's extremely rare. he said law enforcement officials would be watching closely. well, it looks like officials might have missed something. i want you to imagine this. someone comes to your door, okay? during the days before an election and asks to turn in your absentee ballot for you. imagine that. come to your door and they ask you take your ballot. they're going to turn it in for you or even fill it out for you. all to secretly help the

republican candidate win. illegal tactics like that just might have been used in north carolina. today a bipartisan elections board has voed to delay certification of a race in north carolina's 9th congressional district that a republican won by 905 votes. the race in that district was weave republican mark harris and democrat dan mccready. mccready eve conceded the day after the election had his own party says not so fast. the state democratic party submitted several affidavits to the election board saying there were potential illegal activities in the race, specifically issues which are absentee ballots in the district. one alleges that workers went to voters' doors to collect absentee ballots, ballots that are meant to be sent in the mail by the voter. what happened to those ballots after they were collected by these workers, no one really knows. one election's expert told our team that they could he have

been stolen or even thrown in the trash. either way though, it is illegal. according to "the new york times," this is what one voter said about her interaction with a woman who came to her door saying she was there to collect ballots. she says, "i gave her the ballot and she said she would finish it herself. i signed the ballot and she left. it was not sealed up at the time." that is also illegal. allegations an center around a single republican operative, mccree dallas. dallas has a history of being accused of improper voter activity. and those sworn affidavits submitted to the elections board paint a troubling picture of what's been going on in the kentucky where county where he worked. allegations say dallas claimed he would receive a $40,000 bonus from the republican campaign if the republican won.

dallas also claimed to have had 80 people working for him on two races. what he exactly those 80 people were doing, the elected board need to figure that out. were they the same people collecting mail-in absentee ballots? it is unclear how many absentee bales are missing or if there are muff to change the outcome confident race. but jerry cohen, an election law expert who knows the district well told us that this was an effort to elect mark harris, the republican in the race. if the election board finds truth in any of the allegations of voter fraud, there could be a new election and maybe a new winner. and we have news tonight on the kansas city chiefs cutting a star player after a video surfaces of him brutally shoving a woman and kicking a woman. we're going to have the whole story for you. there's the video right there. we're going to have it for you next. , more jobs began to appear.

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breaking news tonight of a scandal in the nfl. kansas city chiefs firing their star running back kareem hunt after the release of a video today that appears to show him kicking and pushing a woman at a cleveland hotel back in february. paul law sandoval has the latest. >> reporter: the latest nfl controversy centering on what happened when kareem hunt in just his second year with the league allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old woman at a hotel in cleveland into i was assaulted. and i need help. i think his first name is kareem. >> reporter: first obtained by tmz it, video shows what looks like a short conversation in the hotel hallway abquickly

escalates into a shoving match between hunt apartment women. several people including men and women attempt to break up them up. but the woman is seen falling to the grounds more than once. >> they have bruises hunt also seen on this cleveland body cam footage now without a shirt on being questioned by police. nee charges were filed following the incident according nfl.com. during the off-season hunt was asked about what lessons he learned from that february night. >> i learned from it and i'll focus on football. >> reporter: when pressed he wouldn't elaborate except to say what his coach told him. on the same day the kansas city chief's ceo clark hunt, when had previously said he'd wanted a roster full of guys with quote, full character, was asked about

it. >> kareem i'm sure he won't be in those kind of situations in the future. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. we apologize for the interruption, but we need to bring you inbreaking news. the 41st president of the united states, george h.w. bush has died. i want to bring in now cnn's jamie gangal. has kept in touch with both former pre-s and their family. what can you tell us? >> it's very sad. we've just received a statement from his son, former president george w. bush, announcing the death of his father, president george h.w. bush, who we called bush 41. and i will read the statement. it tez jeb, neil, gorman and i

are sad pd to announce after 94 remarkable years our dear dad has died. george h.w. bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. the entire bush family is deeply grateful for his life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for dad and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens. and, you know, i just -- as i read it to you just now, it was actually the first time i've read this because we just have to say thanks. and what i have to say that is striking is it is obviously one president talking about another president, but it's a very

personal -- it's clearly a son talking ability his father, don. >> if you're just joining us, sad news just into cnn that the 41st president of the united states, george h.w. bush, has passed away. our special correspondent jamie gangel is joining us, just reading a statement that was delivered to her from the son and former president as well, george w. bush. listen, over the years i mean he has -- we have watched him as an older statesman, we have watched him jump out of airplanes. we have watched him go through illnesses. we watched him when his wife died. this is figure in american history that will be a huge loss especially in diplomacy and statesmanship in this country. >> absolutely. first of all, he was 94 years old. he was our oldest living president.

i have to say that his passing does not come as a complete surprise as i think most people know. he has suffered from parkinson's for the last couple of years. he was confined to a wheelchair, and we've reported over the years a number of times that he's been in and out of the hospital. but i think in the last couple of years one of the most remarkable things about him was even though he was in a wheelchair and even though he has all of these health challenges, as you point out, he was still jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. he never wanted to miss a moment. and i think that that sentiment says as much about him on a personal level as anything else.

he really would -- when he was younger he liked to get up at 5:00 in the morning and write thank you notes. he would do six different sports if he had a day off before noon, he was very, very active. but the other thing i was thinking about today is not too long ago in 2011 president obama gave former president bush the medal of honor. and when he gave it to him he -- it's the presidential medal of freedom, he said that he recognized all of his career, service over 70 years from a navy pilot to president of the united states, but he ended by saying that it was his humility and his decency that reflected

the very -- of the american spirit. he said those of you who know him, this is gentleman. and i think that's something to think about especially in this political climate. >> and they developed a close friendship over the years. not only that, but speaking of the obama but also with president clinton as well. let's talk about his life here because again and i want to read the statement, jamie, please stay with us here. again if you're just joining us the 41st president of the united states george herbert walker bush has just died at the age of 94. this is the honorable george h.w. bush. george hub rt walker bush, world

war ii navy aviator, texas pioneer, and 41st president of the america died on november 30th where, 2018. he was 94 and is survived by their children and their spouses. 17 grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and two children. funeral arrangements will be announced as soon as is practical. so let's talk about this. a world war ii naval aviator, a hero. >> absolutely. i mean, we will go back in the next couple of days and show some of these pictures. but let's remember he was -- when he signed up for the navy,

he actually went against his parents' wishes. they wanted him to go to college. but after pearl harbor he decided he had to go fight in world war ii. he was the youngest navy pilot when he got his wings. he was shot down in japan and almost died, and it was a very important moment in his life because he lost two of his crewmen, and that always stayed with him. and then afterwards he went onto really have one of the most extraordinary political résumes from u.s. ambassador to the united nations, cia director, u.s. envoy to china, ronald reagan's vice president, and then of course president of the

united states. i think one of the things that you really have to note, though, were personal relationships. people who know george h.w. bush will tell you, oh, he's a very good friend of mine. don, thousands of people will tell you that. and the remarkable thing is they really all were his very good friends. he was amazing at reaching out to people. we saw that both in politics, and we saw that in the first desert storm where he put together this extraordinary coalition of countries. he was the ultimate diplomat as well. >> if you look at the pictures now, he was really the patriarch of a political dynasty and did

very well in politics. he reached the highest peak. he was the president of the united states. but we must remember as has been pointed out in this statement that was released he was a texing otexas oil pioneer. he was a very successful businessman. he really gave that up to serve his country in another way outside of the military. >> absolutely. there is an expression, you see this at his presidential library, i mean his office, his personal motto, he has two of them. one was faith, family and friends. and the second was to your point, any definition of a successful life must include service to others. so while a lot of people think of him as being raised in