Transcripts For WCAU Meet The Press 20150209

Christ. Im chuck todd. Joining me to provide insight and analysis are david brooks of the new york times. Andrea mitchell and Steven Henderson of the detroit free press. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. From nbc news in washington this is meet the press with chuck todd. Good morning. Its been a weekend of tense diplomacy. We will bring you my exclusive interview with secretary of state john kerry in a minute. The fate of Kayla Mueller remains unknown. Isis still has offered no proof and state Department Says it has been unable to verify the claims. Meanwhile, peace talks have been taking place at the Munich Security Conference in an effort to end the intensifying fighting between russia and ukraine. France and germanys leaders are warning that the conflict could develop into a total war that could spill into Eastern Europe unless a peace deal is reached. On friday president obama revealed his updated National Security strategy a document criticized by republicans for outlining too cautious of an approach. Here is susan rice outlining the new strategy. While the dangers we face may be more numerous and varied they are not of the existential nature we experienced during world war ii. We cannot be buffetted by alarmism. I started by asking whether the u. S. Is winning in our goal of diminishing and eventually destroying isis. I believe we are on the road to, i absolutely do. I think the evidence is not in my saying it but in the facts of what is happening. First of all, the coalition is strong and more committed than ever particularly in the after math of the burning of the jordanian pilot. The resounding affirmations of commitment is strong. Here is what has happened. 22 of the Populated Areas that they held had been taken back already. That is without launching what we call a major offensive. It is with the efforts of the iraqi army as it is being retrained to reclaim some territory as they begin to probe. We have taken out a significant proportion of the top leadership of isis. Their command and control facilities have been attacked interrupting command and control. They no longer can communicate the way they were. They no longer travel in convoys or where they do they are at great risk. There is a lot more to do. We have said since the beginning this is a long term operation, not a short term one. We believe everything including the governing process in iraq itself is moving in the right direction. Not everybody agrees that the u. S. Is doing enough. My colleague Richard Engel had an interview. President obama said there is a strategy in place to degrade and defeat isis. Do you believe him . He is the president of the United States. Do you believe there is a strategy in place that would do that . I hope there is but we need that strategy translated into action. So you are not seeing it . Not yet. You are not seeing the strategy . Not yet. So far we have not seen any serious action that can quickly defeat isis. Or slowly . Can it work over the long term . It can but once again we are sacrificing more lives and putting many innocent lives at risk by allowing isis to survive for a longer period. That was chancellor barzani saying they need more support, they need swifter action from the United States. What do you say in response . You heard the key word there which was not quickly, but he said over time it could work. We have said consistently that this is going to take a certain amount of time. Why . Is that because we want it to take time . No. The fact is that the iraqi army itself needs to be retrained and stood up. There has to be Ground Troops involved in order to win this victory. Its clear they are not going to be american british, french or european. They are going to be iraqi. That is the way the iraqis want it. They are not ready to move yet. It would be a great mistake strategically for them to move before they are ready. I understand his inpatience. I fully understand it. We have supplied them with enormous amount of ammunition weapons, other things and others are supplying them our allies. So i think as we have said from the beginning people need to be recognizing the importance of putting in place a strategy that can win. Now, you are pleading for patience and it was something that a former colleague of yours in the u. S. Senate Lindsey Graham was sort of mocking and had to do more with a speech that susan rice gave on friday. He tweeted this. He said i doubt isil iranian mullahs or Vladimir Putin will be the other thing is that patience waiting too long is what allowed an isis to gain a foothold that we didnt react soon enough and now we are paying the price for it. Isis gained the foothold that it gained in iraq because the army had been personalized and fundamentally become secretarykmcome sect arian entity. There are a lot of reasons for how we got to where we are today. What we need to understand is we have moved from instant one to build a coalition. Peach were astonished we were able to get five sunni nations to join us in taking on the challenge of syria. I think we have put together a strong coalition. I dont buy into that. I know that Vice President biden gave a speech essentially on ukraine saying that the United States would be there to provide assistance to ukraine. He didnt quite outline but obviously was an indictment on what russia has been doing in the weapons they have been providing. How soon will the United States be providing more Security Assistance heavy artillery to the ukraine . Im not going to go into what items are going to be provided but i have no doubt that additional assistance ofic kinill be going to ukraine. We do so understanding that there is no military solution. The solution is a political diplomatic one but president putins got to make the decision to take an off ramp. We have to make it clear to him that we are absolutely committed to the sovereignty and integrity of ukraine no matter what. Do you believe president putin is a rational actor here . You outlined the economic sanctions and drop in oil have had a huge impact. Yet it has not changed. I am not going to get into characterizations except people can draw their own conclusions. He is leaving the Global Community with no choice but to continue to either put more sanctions in place or provide additional assistance to ukraine and hopefully he will come to a point where he realizes the damage he is doing is not just to the global order and the process. But he is doing enormous damage to russia itself. I am convinced and most people are convinced that each month that goes by that will catch up to him ultimately in russia itself. The nationalistic card is playing for the moment. Ultimately people want their lives to be better. Last question. The iran nuclear talks. I know that is also front and center. You have a very busy agenda these days. Is it just a deal or no deal or is there a chance that you extend the current sort of temporary deal thats in place now . The only chance i can see of an extension at this point in time is that you have the outlines of the agreement. If we are not able to make the fundamental decisions that have to be made over the course of the next weeks literally i think it would be impossible to extend. I dont think we would want to extend at that point. Either you make the decisions to prove your program is a peaceful one or if you are unable to do that it may tell a story that none of us want to hear. Is there a scenario that you would run for president in 2016 . I have no scenario whatsoever in my mind havent thought about it. As you can tell im pretty busy. Is it a never say never . Nobody says never but im not i have no concept of it thank you, chuck. Secretary kerry, safe travels. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. This morning in what is being seen as a last ditch effort to salvage a peace deal will attend a summit on wednesday. Im joined by a former u. S. Ambassador to russia and the panelists here. David, andrea and steven. Let me start with you. We talked you heard me ask secretary kerry about is Vladimir Putin a rational actor here. How do you answer that question . Hes a rational actor who is also very emotional, like most people by the way. He is playing a long term game here with multiple objectives over a long period of time. I think the kind of fundamental tension that you see is that the west we want to solve the problem. Putin is happy not to have a peace plan to let this linger let it fester and help them achieve other goals. There was a report that there is some secret from a war College Examination that Vladimir Putin might have as asburgers syndrome. And he said to claim based solely on Movement Analysis is unlikely to stand up to valid scientific scrutiny. The Intelligence Community tries to assess leaders emotionally or psych logically. What is the psychological profile of Vladimir Putin that you have read . Let me give you my base analysis. He is a person who feels aggrieved, feels like the west helped to destroy the soviet union. He sees the world in zero sum terms and he assigns a lot of power to our covert capabilities. He is obsessed with the cia. With respect to ukraine he thinks that we led the coup in ukraine. Therefore what you see him doing today first in crimea and now with proxys in Eastern Ukraine that is him striking back against what he thinks is americanled imperialism. The second important thing, he has become much more conservative over the last several years in my view. By that i mean small c conservative. He sees the west as a liberal west. Therefore this is not just contests about interests. This is also a contest about values for him. I will bring in the panel. Andrea mitchell we are three or four days away. Angela merkel will be here in the United States. I think she is on her way now. She is the one doing everything to stop the u. S. From arming ukraine here. It really is sort of a clash here. She is trying to be the peace keeper of europe. This is not one where there is a republican and democratic divide. There is that divide somewhat. Not big. This is merkel and hollande who went on friday saw putin, came back. She gave a strong speech in munich saying do not arm. She is coming here to tell president obama that and is meeting with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee first tomorrow morning. The fact is that decision has problems. They have a lot of support in congress. The bipartisan delegation all were in favor of arming. They are talking about radar, drones. They are talking about antitank missiles. The fact on the ground is that they are going back in moscow to negotiate with putin. Putin and socalled separatists have taken 500 square miles since the cease fire was negotiated. They are taking the ground and the big definition is how much of a Demilitarized Zone will they get. This divide between the United States and europe on ukraine is i guess much wider than it was before. It is wider. You have the British Foreign secretary being quoted that he opposes the idea of arming the ukrainian government. The fear in europe is that you put arms into a volatile situation ukrainians cannot win this and all you are doing is upping the stakes. You hear about making canon fire and sending on a mission with american arms which increases americas role in this. What is the end game . You are not thinking two or three steps ahead. The realization that president putin it matters much more to him to keep ukraine than it does to western ukraine. This is sort of what happened. Do you sort of appease putin . You hate to throw the a word around. Is europe appeasing putin . America is from mars and europe is from venus. Im for arming them. I think we should arm them. Putin has driven from realist versions to being strongly pushed by security apparatus. We are not going to defeat them but we can raise the cost. There is no way he will seriously which to the table. You have to raise. You have an editorial page what do you write . I think arming the ukrainians makes some sense. You dont want to do it unilaterally. You want to get the european allies. You have a problem with the europe ynan allies dont support . That is the kind of action that we have seen come back to bite us in recent years. So i will have you take the last word. Where are we headed here . Are we going to arm them in. My guess is yes. I do support that. I think ukrainians should have a vote in their security. We are going to be talking about this for months and years to come. I dont see this resolving anytime soon. I appreciate it. Well be back. We have a lot more. When we come back two likely president ial candidates question the value of vaccinating children sort of. It did spark a national debate. Its all coming up next. Meet the press is brought to you by boeing where the drive to build Something Better inspires us every day. [ male announcer ] we know theyre out there. You cant always see them. But its our job to find them. The answers. The solutions. The innovations. All waiting to help us build Something Better. Something more amazing. A safer, cleaner brighter future. At boeing, thats what building Something Better is all about. Welcome back. The british philosopher john stewart mill and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes gave the example of shouting fire in a crowded theater as a moment when personal freedom should be restricted for the greater good. And that fundamental argument about what role the government should play in our lives was resurrected this week. When two president ial candidates, rand paul and Chris Christie raised questions over the wisdom of government mandating vaccines for children. Ail this coming against the backdrop of an outbreak of measles right here in the United States. Buckle up for safety from the debate over seat belt laws. For years its been proven how safety belts save lives but nobody is listening. To the effort to ban smoking in public places. The whole thing about secondary smoke. How is that going to smokes going right up in the air. The question of how far government can limit personal freedom to protect Public Health is a familiar tugofwar. If you want to eat a lot and get fat you have a right to do it. But our job as government is to inform the public. The limits of what critics call the nanny state were tested when former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg tried and failed, to ban oversized sodas. Now with confidence in Public Institutions near historic lows the debate over the appropriate role of government has touched a Public Health issue where scientists are in near universal agreement. Vaccines. You have one of the most highly effective vaccines against any virus and you have a highly contagious disease, measles, that can have serious complications. So to me its really a slam dunk. But a small, yet significant, percentage of parents arent listening. In 17 states preschool vaccination rates are below 90 . The baseline goal set by federal health officials. Last year 644 measles cases were reported in 27 states. A 20year high. And this years off to a bad start. In some ways i think you can say that vaccines have been a victim of their own success. If you have a child today, youre not likely to have lived during a time when thousands of americans were infected every year. And hospitalized every year. The Antivaccine Movement gained steam in 1998. When a thank you discredited study linked the measles shot to autism. That medical journal later retracted it calling it utterly false. I believe many parents do not trust the cdc or the government or think that theyre putting our best intentions first. Megan is a mother of two toddlers, and an antivaccine advocate. She and her husband have chosen not to vaccinate their children even though she performs vaccinations at the clinic where he works as a family doctor. Mandating vaccinations opens up the door for them to mandate all sorts of other things. What my child eats. Where my child goes to school. How often my child sees a doctor. The vast majority of parents, republican and democrat, vaccinate their children. But the fact that the science is clear hasnt stopped politicians from pandering to this small minority. We vaccinate ours. But i also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things, as well. Ive heard of many tragic cases of walking talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines. Im not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think theyre a good thing. But i think the parent should have some input. After criticism both christie and paul jumped to clarify their comments. Paul posted this picture of himself getting a booster shot. Christies office put out a statement saying quote, there is no question kids should be vaccinated. Of course during the 07 and 08 campaign both candidates barack obama and Hillary Clinton were cautious on vaccinations. Citing the concerns of the autism link at the time. Katty, first of all, is this vaccination debate does this, is this, does this happen in europe as much as it happens here . Well it did happen in britain of course because the original study came out of britain, which is now being called the most dangerous medical hoax in the last 100 years. That that study, which has been retracted, has caused so much damage. Look the science is absolutely clear. If we want to keep the public safe, 92 of people need to be vaccinated against measles. Some people cant be. Their immune systems dont allow them to be. Those who choose not to be are putting their own children at risk and putting other children at risk, as well. Steve i imagine you wrote about this this week. Yeah, this is a pretty clear Public Health issue. It is not hey freedom issue. Think of the things that the government mandates that we do already. Lots of things. This is this is one of the wins that shouldnt be debated. And its really disappointing to see people who want to leave the country, pandered this way. I think theres a real question there about pandering versus leadership. I feel like, david, this is the perfect storm of what happens when weve combined the way social media can spread misinformation, people doing the more research they do the more you can find your biased research. To how president ial candidates pandering to vocal fringes, naturalists on the left. Weve seen what Beverly Hills like one of the more lower vaccination rates and of course the Antigovernment Movement and then the trust issue with leaders. I mean you heard that woman talk about the cdc. I cant trust what the cdc what . If you cant trust what the cdc says weve got a problem in america right . Theyre nefarious down there. I wonder if theres a vaccine for pandering. We could open up a little shop on every street corner. No, i agree. It starts with the distrust. Distrust of institutions. A lack of common sense about our common communities. Like the air we breathe. That is what we have in common. Right. The microbes and things that travel thats what we have in common. And rand paul knows the truth about this. Chris christie knows the truth. Mouthing off they know the truth about this. Theyre doing it for a media strategy for political liability and it seems to be a test of integrity in leadership is telling people the truth even if youre trying to get their votes. Let me play this glenn beck quote from earlier this week. The measles hoax . Is it possible weve been lied to about the measles, this outbreak . And that we are now being told all kinds of things for one purpose . For the herd mentality to get us all to grab our children and obey the government . You know its interesting here, andrew before i get you to react is we actually surveyed the political unit we surveyed every member of congress. Every member of congress about half of them got back to us. Not a single one not a single office, said that responded to us said that they didnt vaccinate their children. Every one of them did. So these elected leaders, do as they do, not as they say. Rand paul is a doctor. Hes a medical person. I mean he doesnt get a pass at all. Both obama and Hillary Clinton in the 08 campaign both sort of tried to hedge it on a on a and you know how that happened . Because theyre raising money out in california and we know from some of the more prominent donors were there. I am the daughter of someone who had polio back in the day. And we were vaccinated. Our, our, our parents were so intent on vaccinating us when the salk vaccine came out because we knew and we came out of the generation that knew that the horrors of these kinds of diseases. And thats the irony. That there are countries in africa where they have higher vaccination rates than here in the United States. Because when people really need it and they see the effects that measles can have on their communities, they will make sure their children are vaccinated. Michigan is one of the states that has a really low rate of vaccination. Ann arbor, where the university of michigan is located. Zbek yule elites. Has a real problem with this in its schools. This is not about unintelligent or ignorant people. Its a deeply held emotional belief. Well, it is something else. And i guess this is the issue of the larger issue of sort of personal freedom versus the public good. Which does do divide the two parties. How about i would say its a trust issue. If you ask americans do you trust government to do the right thing most of the time. Through the 20th century, 78 now its down to 23 . Can you trust most of the people around you, its plummeted. The group with the lowest level of trust. Its not old people. Its people in their 20s. Now i know, it is thats what i mean this is an important discussion not because of the issue of vaccinations. Because of this issue in collective community trust. All right. When we come back was president obama right to cite the crusades as an example of people justifying their actions in the name of christ . That debate is next. At ally bank no branches equals great rates. Its a fact. Kind of like mute buttons equal danger. That sound good . Not being on this phone call sounds good. Its not muted. Was that you jason . It was geoffrey it was jason. It couldve been brenda. Push your enterprise and you can move the world. But to get from the old way to the new youll need the right it infrastructure. From a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. Hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. And stay ready for everything that is still to come. At ally bank no branches equals great rates. Its a fact. Kind of like shopping hungry equals overshopping. Welcome back. The annual National Prayer breakfast brings together the president with faith leaders of all walks. Its not supposed to be a controversial event. But during the obama years, it has always seemed to attract a little bit of extra attention. This week, the moment that grabbed headlines was when president obama referenced the crusades in pointing out that violence in the name of religion is not unique to islam. Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the crusades and the inquisition people committed terrible things in the name of christ. In our home country, slavery, and jim crow, all too often was justified in the name of christ. That drew criticism from many republicans. Including a couple of possible candidates in 2016. Former senator Rick Santorum of pennsylvania said the remarks by the president quote were inappropriate, and his choice of venue was insulting to every person of faith at a time when christians are being crucified, beheaded, and persecuted across the middle east. Another republican, governor bobby jindal of louisiana said the medieval christian threat is under control, mr. President. Please deal with the radical islamic threat today. And former new york mayor Judy Giuliani responded this way friday, on fox news. Absolutely the wrong thing. At absolutely the wrong time. And the president as weak a historian as he is a president and as weak a theologian. Im johned by john meachum executive editor of random house and author of american gospel, god the Founding Fathers and the making of a nation. I dont know if theres any person that understands the Cross Section of religion in politics better. Pick up on rudely giulianis quote there that the president is not a good historian and theologian. Well the crusades were not good. Thats a fairly safe bet. Complicated, two centuries, 109 5 to the end of the 13th century, the pope was one of the central figures. A lot of scholarly debate about how much of it was about religion itself. How much of it was a reconquest of muslim land. How much was colonization, a search for wealth in which religion became a justifying force. Complicated debate. What is not complicated is that on the christian crusades there were many many atrocities. What i think the president failed to mention was what he did fail to mention was that the crusades were in some ways an exception to a rule. And the rule of christian history in the middle ages forward into the modern era was one of christian humanism. The crusades ended and the renaissance began. The idea of aquinas and dante was born shortly after the end of the crusades. So the idea that Christian Faith had a huge amount to contribute to the rise of what ultimately became Democratic Capitalism is inarguable. So if youre going to start this debate, its better not to do it with one or two sentences. Its interesting. So Jane Michaelson of the religious news service wrote this analysis and i want to read it to you because i wonder if the president has said it this way if there would be less debate. The other narrative is that all people, all creeds, all nations contain elements of moderation and extremism. Thankfully racist christian extremists are today a tiny minority within american christianity. But only 100 years ago they were as popular among American Christians as the Islamic State is among muslims today. Thus in the battle against islamic extremism it is extremism that is the enemy. Christians should not be insulted by the facts of history, rather all of us should be inspired by them to recognize the dangers of extremism wherever they lie. Had the president explained it that way, is there no furor . Theres probably less furor. My question is why he felt compelled to bring this up at all. I have my own theory. Hes not a big fan of the Prayer Breakfast i think and i think he almost enjoys creating yes. And so he brings up unquestionably the sins of christianity, which are many, and part of the drama of religion is trying to live up to an ideal. But knowing that on this side of paradise were always going to fall short. And so i do think that when youre talking about politics, when youre talking about civilizational shifts, which is what is going on here, the lessons out of christianity to my mind is that christianity managed to reform itself through the years. Dark chapters, but ultimately working towards light. And the hope here is that islam itself will find its own sense of reformation. And push forward. Did you find the extreme pushback of the president , because theres been some you know almost as if you know, the part of this goes to they believe the Obama Administration doesnt acknowledge the religious aspect of this. Sure. And that then they the some obama folks is like too many people on the right want a religious war. And thats the that plays a hand. This was a not quite seasonal yet but it was a hanging curve ball for the right unquestionably. The president brings up the sins of christianity at a moment when the, the airwaves were full of the extremism of the islamic world, and the perversions of that. The president i think to some extent missed an opportunity here. Because what you i think what you want to talk about is how does a civilization with dark impulses because all civilizations are like that. Were all fallen, were all sinful how do we overcome those . And im just not sure how many people are really on that high horse. Right. So i think its a little bit contextual, too. John meachum like i said, not many people can have this this niche discussion that you can have. Urban ii is very important. Appreciate it. Want to get the panel over here. David brooks is our political discourse, are we too immature to have this debate . I know i am. Okay. Why are you asking me . I feel like youre the guy we look to here in some ways. It does wonder can, can politicians have this debate . Well im proobama. Im totally proobama on this. It was a gospel of humility. What sorts of people need a little gospel of humility people in washington, pundits religious believers i happen to be all three of those things. And so were told to were told to walk humbly in the path of the lord, the lords ways are mysterious and so youre saying were zone to zealotry as john said were fallen. And so to underbehind that thats useful in washington today thats useful always. You dont use the word crusades number one in any context right now. It just its too fraught. And the week after a pilot is burned alive, in a video shown, you dont lean over backwards to be philosophical about the sins of the fathers. You have to deal with the issue thats in front of you or dont deal with it at all. Talk about faith. Our political culture does not allow for much nuanced debate. Unfortunately, this is as you have just shown with john meachum this is a very nuanced debate to be had and should be had. But having the context of 30 seconds added into the speech of the Prayer Breakfast where the impulse of the president s opponents is just to jump on him and criticize him for anything, whatever he said is very unfortunate but i dont think its possible. Should the president not have done it . I think it was fine to do it. I think one of the things thats bothering people here is the invocation of race, which this president doesnt do all that all that often. Talk about our racial history, and you think it was that last element that set people off . I think thats what set people off. And i also think that its important for him to be doing that. Think of all 9 context right now in which were having a moral framed discussion about our races on the big screen in movies like selma i think the president was trying to reference that at the breakfast. You do sit here and you say the president himself david, and you spent a lot of time with him, he would be he wants to have more conversations like this. But, perhaps president s cant. You cant do it until after you leave office. I mean is that, is that where were at . No i think he was right. He gave the race speech. It was a beautiful speech. Hes given a whole series of great speeches trayvon martin. This was really fine. This is exactly the moment you want to say this. Were the most moral danger to ourselves when were caught up in a righteous fervor against an evil foe which is what we have. While we exercise hard power we have to take morally hazardous action, we can get caught up in our own selfrighteousness this is exactly the moment did there are a lot of are there a lot of politicians, conservative politicians, who invoke religion when talking about fighting hes the president and you cant really go back to 1095. You think he made a mistake. I do because its so out of context, and it is so much in passing. If youre giving a major speech about theology perhaps. But this is the Prayer Breakfast. And remember, you know, the context of that. Its very limited. Just a reminder katty why europe loves to be secular. This is the biggest difference between the two you know the basic western divide and western europe is theres you guys are a bunch of secularists and we arent. I think the big divide is god guns and government. The three gs. We are much more secular. We are much more prone to liking government. And we cannot understand the gun culture in this country. Thats really what divides us. And i think its, i think youre slightly right. This discussion needs to be happened and this is the time to have it. I just think that the american political debate at the moment is so hyperconscious of elections and winning elections, and people criticizing each other that its very Difficult Conversations you know actually this issue of extremism and its going to come up again in a couple of weeks right the white house is going to have this summit and its about how to deal with islamic extremism, but the question i you know its coming, as far as some are going to be concerned steven it wont be enough focus on radical islam. Right, well and you know thats the thats the achilles heel here is that youve got his opponents wanting to make this about religion and wanting to define our enemies in religious terms. And i think hes right to resist that. I think hes right to construct this summit in a way that resists that and pushes back against it. And to stand firm on that. Its one of those classic cable catnip stories. You can just like he almost, you almost wonder did he intentionally say watch this you know and all that. Anyway. Thank you much. Weve got a lot more to come including a fascinating screen about president ial age requirements. Well be right back. Ive been called a control freak. I like to think of myself as more of a control. Enthusiast. Mmm, a perfect 177degrees. And thats why this road warrior rents from national. I can bypass the counter and go straight to my car. And i dont have to talk to any humans, unless i want to. And i dont. And national lets me choose any car in the aisle. Control. Its so, whats the word . Sexy. Go national. Go like a pro. Daughter do you and mom still have money with that broker . Dad yeah, 20 something years now. Thinking about what you want to do with your money . Daughter looking at options. What do you guys pay in fees . Dad i dont know exactly. Daughter if youre not happy do they have to pay you back . Dad it doesnt really work that way. Daughter you sure . Vo are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed . Wealth management at charles schwab. A personal note. There are few things that are more uncomfortable for those of us who report than news than to become the news. And as most of you, nbc news has been the news this week. Well last night, nbc news released this statement from my colleague, brian williams. In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that i am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions. As managing editor of nbc nightly news, i have decided to take myself off my daily broadcast for the next several days, and lester holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue. 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In fact every successor since wilson has been younger than the man he replaced with the exception of just two people. George w. Bush and the president he succeeded bill clinton were the same age. Both born in 1946. And of course ronald reagan, the oldest president to assume office, completely broke the mold. He was 13 years older than the man he defeated jimmy carter. But bush and reagan are the outlyers. So what were the biggest jumps from older to younger . Well barack obama was 15 years younger than george w. Bush when bush left office in 2009. President clinton was 22 years younger than the man he defeated for reelection, president george h. W. Bush. President clinton was 46 when he took office. H. W. Bush was 68 the day he left. But the biggest gap in the past century between president s was dwight d. Eisenhower and john f. Kennedy. Kennedy was 27 years younger than eisenhower. Kennedy, of course, 43 at the time when he took office. Kennedy was the youngest candidate ever elected president , by the way. So what about 2016 . Looking at the current wide field of president ial contenders, theres a real mix. Some are younger than president obama, including governor Chris Christie. Senators paul, rubio and cruz, Governor Scott walker and even former Maryland Governor martin omalley, again, all younger than president obama. Here are the list of candidates that are older than him. Including businesswoman and former Senate Candidate carly fiorina. Former governor mike huckabee. Governor john kasich and on the democratic side Vice President joe biden, senator Elizabeth Warren and former senator jim webb all older. But the two people considered by many to be the frontrunners, both are older than president obama. Take a look at this. Jeb bush would turn 64 just after taking office. Hes eight years older than the president right now. And Hillary Clinton, she would be 69 on the day she would take the oath of office. 13 years older than president obama, and technically a bigger threat by a couple of months, than carter and reagan. Whats more she would become the second oldest person ever elected to the presidency for a first term after reagan. So why does this matter . Well, generations matter. We have two baby boomer president s in a row in clinton and george w. Bush. Barack obama was sort of the first postboomer president. Do we really go backwards and elect another baby boomer president , bush and Hillary Clinton both would be that . Or do we go fullfledged genx like a scott walker or somebody else . Generational stuff. It matters more than you think when you Start Talking about future versus push your enterprise and you can move the world. But to get from the old way to the new youll need the right it infrastructure. From a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. Hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. And stay ready for everything that is still to come. Some cool things to pass onto your kids your super heroes. Your fashion sense. Your love of reading. Your uncanny ability to find parking spots. Your fear of people who are different . Not so much, the more you know. I will dispoint some of you out there if i dont do 16 for a couple of minutes. I feel like each week we will be able to show you stories that actually matter. Three of them this week we think actually mattered and tell us about the race going forward. The two likely republican candidates two prove to be thin skinned. Chris christie had a train wreck of a week in london and rand paul got hit from all sides about his comments about vaccines. And Hillary Clinton has hired another obama official for her campaign, one more sign she is not running away from the president. And last was that scott walker continued to become the first it candidate of the race. If we are going to label people front runners, if people want to label jeb bush front runner fine but you better call him cofront runner. He may be the money guy but scott walker is the poll guy. Spring training you look at the pitcher. Chris christie has wild stuff. The guys showing stuff are scott walker and marco rubio who has come out with good ideas. They look the best right now. I cannot figure out how rubio gets out of jeb s shadow and yet he is blowing people away on the right on his policy speeches. And mitt romney is not so quietly getting behind him because he keeps talking about the next generation. Antijeb bush. His view is that i believe you cannot have they cant both be it. It has to be jeb or marco rubio when it comes to the finish line. If you pump up marco rubio. Are you guys hosting a caucus . Scott walker is headed there, too. It is treacherous territory. Mitt romney was there just before the olympics and made the comment about how the olympics were not going to be safe. He had a disastrous week in london. One thing we have learned from Chris Christie and rand paul is dont shoosh refemale reporters. Thats what rand paul did. Going to the Hillary Clinton hire. The Communications Director for the white house is about to do the same job over there. Is that the strength of the Obama Administration . I think one of the reasons what is interesting in her hiring in particular is that he has good relations with the press. Hillary clinton historically has not. That has to be something you are thinking about as you are gearing up for this campaign how to make her more amenable to press coverage and dealing with those of us who what were your interactions . Did you feel like they werent that good eight years ago . I shouldnt have said that as harshly as i did. I think this is a white house that has had a hard time communicating and certainly has not had great relations with the press, we all know about their sort of harsh look add what we do the use of the espionage act against members of the press. I think they have had a hard time communicating. That has not been something i hold up as a star for them. I think the Clinton Campaign feels they need to warm it up and reach out. They have had a lot of defenses. They need to take a different posture. Clinton, it does seem as if they are not going to there has been speculation she tries to split from obama. That is probably why create a problem for yourself on the left when you are not really going to have a challenge. I think she has to move left. Obama is moving left for her. That state of the Union Address was moving in the direction she wants to go. I still think if she doesnt significantly move left to where the party is and what used to be the right or middle of the party and they have all moved left. He is moving left. Larry summers is suddenly if she doesnt politics have a vacuum. Jeb bush was in your town. How did he do . I thought the written speech was interesting to me. I thought the oratorical skills are rough. You have seen the republican candidates pick up the mantra of picking up the lower end of the economic ladder and expanding opportunity. One thing that was notable to us was that he gave the speech at the same time wayne was meeting with people who were behind on property taxes talking about taking their houses. You had hundreds and hundreds of contracts. In that hall at the same time that jeb bush is talking about doing things differently. The question is what policies are you going to implement . We talk about Chris Christie and rand paul not handling questions from the press very well. Jeb bush was stronger in the q a. Give them a much better speech. Before we go box. Com hosted an article by an anonymous member of congress entitled confessions of a congressman listed nine secrets from capitol hill. These stood out to me. Congress best to money. Think about that you are paying us to do a job and we are asking rich people and corporations for money. This one, you have no secret ballots anymore. How easily we find out what primaries you vote in. He admits that congressional committees are a waste of time. Congress is simply a stepping stone to getting a lobbying job and the best people dont run for congress. We have been screaming about this for a decade. Thank you anonymous member for telling us. He also said we have a parliamentary system not a congressional one. Meeting with israeli political leaders talking about they cant govern domestically because of how crazy i think the lobbying issue is one of the big factors there. They want to get on committees to raise money. The only reason to get on a good committee. It was a great piece. Dont be anonymous. Thats all for today. Well be back next week because if its sunday its meet the press. A local College Freshman found dead in her dorm room. This morning the man fapsingcing charges and what may have happened on her last night. And reaching out for help. The declining crime rate is a story youll only see on nbc 10. And some of you are seeing light rain and theres a chance it could lead to icy roads for the morning commute. Good morning, this is nbc 10 news today on this monday. Im chris cato. Nbc 10 issued a first alert to get you ready for wintry weather that could create dangerous driving conditions throughout the day today. Well