bad it was? that's the fair answer? >>. no and they took steps. the steps were really important so the economy didn't fall off of a cliff. >> okay. the second one is the iraq war. you know i'm a supporter or i was a supporter. >> i actually didn't know that. >> it's true. i'm on the record of supporting the enhanced interrogations. the patriot act, guantanamo bay, i mean, it was consistently across the line. but, there is a historical record. and the historical record is that americans were not aware of the big threat that al qaeda was posing. >> the threat was on al qaeda that before 9/11 we treated it like a e problem. >> bill: yes. and clinton did and bush did. >> that's the key difference that the president and the vice president, bush and cheney understood after 9/11 this is war. and we're at war and we have got to do whatever it takes to keep the nation safe. >> bill: all right. three days before the iraq war was launched here is what vice president cheney said on meet the press. >> i think things are gotten so bad inside iraq from the standpoint of the iraqi people