president bill clinton "outfront." let's go. >>> good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett live tonight from rwanda where i spent the day with former president bill clinton. we talked about a lot of things. he spent some time visiting some projects. some farms and some factories where he had spent a lot of time over the past few years. with the likes, in fact, of nascar famous driver jeff gordon. also i saw the president at a soy factory he's bringing in the countryside. he arrived with his daughter chelsea. shaking everybody's hand and taking pictures with everybody who asked. and he asked a lot of questions himself. >> whenever i hear somebody say oh, these small farmers, they're just inefficient, they can't generate income, i just decided to see if that was not necessarily true. and so we get 'em cheaper and better seed and fertilizer, get their crops to market so they don't lose half their income taking it to market. >> reporter: the president told me that he blew it here. nearly 1 million people died in a horrific

that's what bill clinton is the master of. even off the cuff. >> michael waldman, then when he went on to say, look, what i want is more prosperity, distributed more fairly, so we hear that from president barack obama a lot. then president bill clinton says that americans like millionaires and they like billionaires and they don't have any problem with them. they just want to be able to become them. how come we don't have that sort of rhetoric from barack obama? >> well, this is geographic proof it's not because he has speechwriters. president clinton is very distinct in being able to make arguments about policy in values terms. when he talks about economics, yes, he usings the statistics and he uses the facts, but he roots it in a kind of core sense of opportunity for all and responsibility from all. as he said when he ran for president. president obama has been brilliant as a communicator in many ways about larger american themes. about the country's history. about his own history. but has often fallen flat when he comes to

so again, there's no surprise that barack obama would reach out to bill clinton or cite bill clint clinton. what barack obama is actually doing is similar to what mitt romney is doing with bill clinton is giving kudos to people like john mccain, though. he's doing the same thing that romney is doing in the opposite way. he's saying look, i, barack obama, am a reasonable guy who has tried to reach out to republicans like john mccain. hey, i agree with john mccain, my erstwhile opponent, on a lot of things. this mitt romney guy, on the other hand, is so far to the right that he's leaving john mccain in his dust. >> you know, before we go, the speech that mitt romney had just given to the naacp, i want to get your view on this. he had outlined five points on his getting america back to work plan and this of course is a fight for the middle. one of which was taking full advantage of the united states energy resources, expanding trade, reducing government spending, just three of the five areas that he outlined. what's your thought on that? will that work to get the middle? >> he is not going to

secondly, were i barack obama, i might not bring up bill clinton and tax cuts because bill clinton is, of course, a guy that said, we need to cut corporate taxes, bill clinton's a guy that says, we don't need to raise taxes on anybody. i think he said that to harvey on cnn. that's a tougher -- it's a tougher pull for him. >> i wonder what bill clinton would think of what the president is proposing right now and perhaps it's a good idea -- >> i think he already said he's against it. >> say nice thing about bill clinton right now. talk about how much he loves bill clinton and then tell him to keep his mouth shut. michael steele. >> i think that's a fair point. i'm intrigued by the whole idea of this conversation to begin with. this invocation of bill clinton is nice, but what they fail to acknowledge is that what spurred that growth that they're talking about was not the tax rates that the top earners were paying, was the cut in capital gains that spurred those owners of industry and small businesses to go and invest in that economy that was being created and supported by welfare reform

bill clinton can reach those voters. and the second thing is that whose tax rates is barack obama trying to restore. he's trying to restore the clinton rates. who can make a better case for clinton economics than bill clinton himself? and that's the other constituency. upper middle class people who may not want to pay those clinton rates sure have some pretty fond memories of the economy in the clinton years. >> i mean, whatever you said about him, at least your pocketbook was in good shape and the bottom line was being observed. clinton as economic messenger, very effective or very, very effective? >> i think the second. i mean, bill clinton had something in common with ronald reagan. the two of them both knew how to make an argument. i think a lot of times we underestimate how important it is for a politician to make an argument to the voters and keep making it. here's why i'm doing what i'm doing. here's why it makes sense. here's why what the other guy wants to do doesn't make sense. bill clinton is onof the best peo

this was a sleepover at the white house complete with jamies i suppose that bill clinton held for the club. ford, look at him, ford, bush, carter. they all camped out there. and when they don't have sleepovers, they use this clubhouse at lafayette square as their meeting ground. this is a great scoop. we've known there have been friendships in and out of these relationship bus you've got a real club that's functioning and affects history. >> it's amazing. it starts in 1953 when herbert hoover goes up to harry truman on the di ass and said we ought to be the club. i'll be the president. you be the treasurer. truman says let's do it. 60 years later it has its own rules and rivalries. chris: why is it important to history and why did you write this amazing book of the importance of how it helps? i keep thinking it's one of those mountain climbing teams. if anybody falls they keep him from falling all the way. >> i think these men having made these decision, having emerged from the jobs each with their own scars know how hard it is to do it, know that other guys have gone through stuff th

bill clinton can reach those voters. the second thing is, whose tax rates are -- is barack obama trying to restore? he's trying to restore the clinton rates. who can make a better case for clinton economics than bill clinton himself? and that's the other constituency. upper middle class people who may not want to pay the clinton rates sure have fond memories of the economy in the clinton years. >> whatever you said about him, at least your pocketbook was in good shape and the bottom line was being observed. clinton, as economic messengers, is that very effective, or very, very effective? >> i think the second. bill clinton had something in common with ronald reagan. the two of them both knew how to make an argument. i think a lot of times we underestimate how important it is for a politician to make an argument to the voters and keep making it. here's why i'm doing what i'm doing. here's why it makes sense. here's why what the other guy wants to do doesn't make sense. bill clinton is one of the best people we have in pol

>> i think they can't get enough of bill clinton. the question here is, though, we saw him in the midterm elections as well. and democrats still did poorly. i think there's a limit to what he can do here. but sure, he will be out there. and ohio could be the most important place. if you plant him in ohio and the president at least holds his own where he was four years ago among these white working class voters, he'll probably win re-election. >> dan, you're as good as this guy. you may be the best guy in this business in terms of understanding politics in this country. can clinton find the message that works with one of the guys in the taverns on friday nights talking about the campaign. trying to figure out where they stand. can he get to them in a way that the labor guys can't? get to them and say you've got to vote democrat this time. >> i think that's a good question, chris. i think he can do it better in that part of the electorate. but i think that portion of the electorate is in many ways lost to president obama. i think bill

why bill clinton? why bill clinton now? they are miles apart. >>guest: it shows that obama thinks he has a problem with swing voters and independents and moderates. why become friends with someone who is in the your ally? and invite them to speak. if you look, bill clinton is actually more popular than obama. he, 66 percent of americans view him favorably and he has wide support among independents and moderates. obama is trying to tap into that and he swallowed his pride. >>eric: i am in the sure it is accurate, what i read, but they will show football rather than the speeches; that right? >>guest: i am actually not sure. i have not heard about that. >>eric: if that were the case, if i were president clinton i would say, wait, you wanted me to speak to you but the football game will be on, is that right? dallas and giants will be airing instead of the speech to i am in the mistaken. >>guest: i don't know. i don't watch football. i am all politics of the why like sports. >>eric: the white house calling tax cuts for the rich a $1 trillion give awa

a bill clinton democrat. >> bill clinton called himself a new democrat. he put that behind him. he believed in smaller government, reformed welfare as we knew it, and tried to get the economy going with trade and other provisions, lowered taxes. look, new democrats have done some good things. >> and with that statement, mitt romney has left us with a choice. he is either a liar or what george will would call a bloviating ignoramus. he actually said that bill clinton lowered taxes. that's it. that's his statement about bill clinton and taxes. bill clinton not only raised taxes, he signed the biggest tax increase in history. he didn't just raise taxes on the rich, he signed the biggest tax increase -- he raised gasoline taxes, he raised taxes on social security benefits. it's not what clinton wanted to do, raising taxes. in fact, he had campaigned for president on a middle class tax cut, a proposal he abandoned when he was faced with the awesome responsibility of governing. bill clinton did the right thing. he abandoned his campaign pandering on tax cuts, reversed his position, an

to raise some money and one of the guys says who is bill clinton? at this meeting. governor of arkansas. he's -- may run for president. he said i'm a republican. he's a democrat? and then somebody says, this is like five or six weeks -- somebody says i'm listening to this, somebody says what, this is crazy he says. nobody ever heard of this guy. i mean, how are we going to raise money for this guy. this is nuts. only because the goldman partner asked him to come. some governor from arkansas. and i get agitated at this point. i say, this is what you're going to tell people. this is how you're going to raise money for the governor of arkansas. go out and tell people when they see him, and when they meet him and when they hear him speak and when they see the quality of his mind, charisma n tell against, his good looks even, you are going to tell people this guy is going to be president of the united states. they are contributing early to somebody as president of the united states. all they have to do is see it and come into contact and he's going to wi

bill clinton can reach those voters. and the second thing is that whose tax rates is barack obama trying to restore. he's trying to restore the clinton rates. who can make a better case for clinton economics than bill clinton himself? and that's the other constituency. upper middle class people who may not want to pay those clinton rates sure have some pretty fond memories of the economy in the clinton years. >> i mean, whatever you said about him, at least your pocketbook was in good shape and the bottom line was being observed. clinton as economic messenger, very effective or very, very effective? >> i think the second. i mean, bill clinton had something in common with ronald reagan. the two of them both knew how to make an argument. i think a lot of times we underestimate how important it is for a politician to make an argument to the voters and keep making it. here's why i'm doing what i'm doing. here's why it makes sense. here's why what the other guy wants to do doesn't make sense. bill clinton is one of the best p

latinos love bill clinton. african-americans love bill clinton. young people love bill clinton. he'll help with independence and working class voters. also on policy. bill clinton was basically the architect of the biggest economic expansion in a generation, and one of the reasons he did that was by implementing the same policies that president obama wants to do. >> here is a statement that the romney campaign put out. i'll read it to you this is from the romney campaign. after four years of trillion dollar deficits and anemic economic growth, it's clear president obama would love to run on president clinton's record in office, but no amount of showmanship can paper over the differences between these two presidents. america deserves a president willing to run on his own record, not the record he wishes he had. the question to you is what do you think about all of this? what do you think about bill clinton coming to the convention and really going to try to energize the democratic base to get president obama reelected? >> first of all, bill clinton is a very popular president. he

bill clinton can reach those voter. the second thing is, whose tax rates are -- is barack obama trying to restore? he's trying to restore the clinton rates. who can make a better case for clinton economics than bill clinton himself? and that's the other constituency. upper middle class people who may not want to pay the clinton rates sure have fond memories of the economy in the clinton years. >> whatever you said about him, at least your pocketbook was in good shape and the bottom line was being observed. >> clinton measures, is that effective or very, very effective? >> i think the second. bill clinton had something in common with ronald reagan. the two of them both knew how to make an argument. i think a the lo of times we underestimate how important it is for a politician to make an argument to the voters and keep making it. here's why i'm doing what i'm doing. here's why it makes sense. here's why what the other guy wants to do doesn't make sense. bill clinton is one of the best people we have in politics and even

i knew bill clinton. i voted for bill clinton. bill clinton is an economic friend of mine. mr. president, you are no bill clinton. here is art to say why. art? >>guest: yes. >>neil: what do you make of this? >>guest: you know, bill clinton cut government spending as a share of g.d.p. by more than the next four best presidents combined. obama increased it enormously. bill clinton reappointed reagan's fed chairman twice. you have bernanke in there doing crazy stuff. and bill clinton got rid of the retirement test on social security and he passed nafta through congress. and it was the biggest capital gains cut in our history. just amazing. president obama is the antibill clinton, to be honest. he is doing everything else wrong but trying to raise tax rates which i believe bill clinton should not is done. >>neil: you said that, but you voted for him, believing that bulk of what he did, because he cut a lot of investment-related taxes and he cut spending, and he did do that, and i remember clearly at the time the markets were looking forward to because there was a great deal of susp

i love he has to go back and tap in to bill clinton. there is no comparison between bill clinton, this guy, and the one we have in office that tanked the numbers. as a matter of fact, what were we thinking? can we have a do-over, mulligan and put hillary in instead? please! >> eric: really? >> kimberly: yes! >> greg: you are so bigoted! >> bob: the most important comparison is between bill clinton and mitt romney. talk about someone that shines and somebody who is dull. there you go. you said comparison, that's the comparison -- >> kimberly: the democratic convention. hello. >> bob: at a democratic convention you put your best foot forward. he is their best foot. >> greg: the best foot with mirrors on the top. >> bob: that is not fair. >> eric: it took me a while but i got it. senator clinton said of barack obama mccain would be a better choice for president than obama. >> bob: your point they have been feuding. the feud has gone down and down and down. >> eric: robert! are you going to tell me they're not feuding now? >> bob: i don't t

bill clinton didn't run a $5 trillion deficit in 3 1/2 years. they are trying to parse the words he said here. he said, we tried our plan and it worked. let me play it for you. >> just like we have tried their plan. we have tried our plan and it worked. that's the difference. [cheers and applause] >> that's the choice in this election. that's why i am running for a second term. >> sean: if he's referring to clinon -- excuse me -- he's no bill clinton. and two, we tried his plan for 3 1/2 years and he said it would be a one-term proposition if it didn't work. and it hasn't. >> you know, sean, there has been nothing more extreme than this president's agenda for the economy. as we have seen, the red ink is fledded here in washington. this place is awash in red ink. and awash in regulations. i mean, this week, and the house of representatives, we focus on the fact we have to cut the red tape. it is too hard to be in business right now. if the number-1 issue is to grow the economy, if the number-1 issue is to engender confidence on the part of the me

. >> president obama and bill clinton. one campaign decision could have everyone fold. [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream solutionism. the new optimism.™ how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. >>eric: former president clinton will give the key note speech at the democratic national convention. the topic by president obama d

. >> and bill clinton hopes to sell bill clinton to a not so approving public but one aid said but -- bubba will be pulling the lever for the campaign. >> and one said he will give the kids a salary but only if he shows up for class. i'm doing it for the money, hone. fox and friends starts right now! [rooster crow] >> i sense we are going to disagree on a certain talking point today. >> really? >> i bonder if it has to do with the aa ching that brian just alluded to? >> well, it hasn't worked in that town before so let's see if it works this time. >> i will get it down further, should you pay your kids to do chores around the house? >> yep. >> you do? >> yeah. it's all part of the reward system. maybe two bucks. you didn't do the same thing as a parent? >> we didn't pay an allowance. >> you didn't pay en allowance ever? >> we never did but they got money. >> pay by the chore or give an overall salary for the month. we will examine those things. >> and presidential candidate mitt romney is getting ready to wrap up his overseas tour. he spent his last day in poland where he got a warm w

he got very nostalgic about the policies of president bill clinton. >> bill clinton called himself a new democrat. he put that behind him. he believed in smaller government, reformed welfare as we knew it and try today get the economy going with trade and other provisions, lowered taxes. new democrats have done some good things. a lot of republicans have done some good things, but this old style liberalism of bigger and bigger government and bigger and bigger taxes has gault to end and we will end it in november. >> that's right. you just heard the republican nominee for president talking about the glory days of president bill clinton. funny thing, though, romney got his facts wrong. taxes were higher under president clinton compared to president obama. not lower. that's why president obama always makes this point. >> anybody making over $250,000 a year, including me, we go back to the tax rates that we were paying under bill clinton. which, by the way, was a time when our economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history, and created plenty of million

we will give you the poll results. >> and bill clinton hopes to sell bill clinton to a not so approving public but one aid said but -- bubba will be pulling the lever for the campaign. >> and one said he will give the kids a salary but only if he shows up for class. i'm doing it for the money, hone. fox and friends starts right now! [rooster crow] >> i sense we are going to disagree on a certain talking point today. >> really? >> i bonder if it has to do with the aa ching that brian just alluded to? >> well, it hasn't worked in that town before so let's see if it works this time. >> i will get it down further, should you pay your kids to do chores around the house? >> yep. >> you do? >> yeah. it's all part of the reward system. maybe two bucks. you didn't do the same thing as a parent? >> we didn't pay an allowance. >> you didn't pay en allowance ever? >> we never did but they got money. >> pay by the chore or give an overall salary for the month. we will examine those things. >> and presidential candidate mitt romney is getting ready to wrap up his overseas tour. he spent his last day

elizabeth warren will be leading in to bill clinton. bill clinton will be in the big star. they say elizabeth warren is the future star, which is a little bit controversy to me because she's having a hard time in inn a liberal state in massachusetts despite all her money. she had the controversy with her cherokee background. and she also says that she's the godmother of the occupy operation, which has been a joke. >> steve: plus, the stuff that got the president of the united states in trouble in roanoke was that you didn't build that comment, which sounded a lot like what elizabeth warren said out on the stump. here is a replay. listen. >> there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. nobody. you built a factory out there, good for you. but i want to be clear, you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. you didn't have to worry that bands would come and seize everything at your factory and

. >> bill: bill clinton announced today going to have a major role at the democratic convention in north carolina. going to get a prime time address. obama people quite wisely are trying to associate themselves with the successful economically anyway economic administration. bush the younger is not even going to show up to tampa for the republicans. how do you press pro-says all of that. >> what i would say if you describe the bill clinton in three letters so.s. >> he chose exactly the opposite course when he his party lost control of the house of representatives back in 1994 after an unpopular healthcare bill in his case it failed. very unpopular. after that failed, he tacked to the center. barack obama has not done that and his relationship with bill clinton has been tenuous and distant for some time and clinton has proved to be a remarkably unreliable surrogate doing such things in the middle of the anti-bain attacks as saying that romney had a sterling business record. also suggesting that texas shouldn't be raised on anybody. >> why is. >> barack obama is very very serious re-electi

i knew bill clinton. i voted for bill clinton. bill clinton is an economic friend of mine. mr. president, you are no bill clinton. here is art to say why. art? >>guest: yes. >>neil: what do you make of this? >>guest: you know, bill clinton cut government spending as a share of g.d.p. by more than the next four best presidents combined. obama increased it enormously. bill clinton reappointed reagan's fed chairman twice. you have bernanke in there doing crazy stuff. and bill clinton got rid of the retirement test on social security and he passed nafta through congress. and it was the biggest capital gains cut in our history. just amazing. president obama is the antibill clinton, to be honest. he is doing everything else wrong but trying to raise tax rates which i believe bill clinton should not is done. >>neil: you said that, but you voted for him, believing that bulk of what he did, because he cut a lot of investment-related taxes and he cut spending, and he did do that, and i remember clearly at the time the markets were looking forward to because there was a great deal of

i am more worried about trying to reelect president obama right now. >> bill clinton. and that is all for this week. from all of us, goodbye. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc newsnight" was presented by kcet los angeles.