GENERAL DAN BOLGER:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nI think Jim Fallows, unfortunately, is right on target.\u00a0 And I think the reality is, the U.S. military is all about winning battles.\u00a0 But wars are an act of the entire country.\u00a0 And one of the challenges that we have, one of the reasons an accounting of these wars, as the president said, that we fought for more than 13-and-a-half years as an order, we have to determine what we’re doing wrong that’s preventing us from winning.<\/p>\n
And in a military sense, Chuck, I could tell you.\u00a0 And Sarah referenced it when she said it.\u00a0 The military can give you a quick victory over a conventional army.\u00a0 It cannot deliver a rebuilt country in the place you go.\u00a0 That takes an effort of the entire U.S. population and government.\u00a0 And moreover, it takes the commitment of the American people for the long term.\u00a0 That’s what Jim Fallows is getting at.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
You know, Sarah, what is going to be the solution next?\u00a0 What is going to manage this and then what?\u00a0 At what point do we walk away?\u00a0 Or do we now just never walk away?<\/p>\n
SARAH CHAYES:<\/p>\n
It becomes difficult to walk away because these situations are spinning quite badly out of control.\u00a0 And it’s spreading.\u00a0 There is a theme in these conflicts that also crosses a number of other really serious security situations, which is acutely bad governance, or even kleptocracy.\u00a0 You look at the Arab Spring, look at Nigeria, look at Central Asia.<\/p>\n
And these issues are not really being dealt with, they’re being sort of relegated, as we keep playing catch up with sort of stopgap military approaches.\u00a0 And so it seems to me that if there really is going to be a way to address these issues, it’s got to be the civilian components of U.S. government that really step up to the plate.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
All right, Sarah Chayes, General Bolger, thank you for a sobering look at what is the state of America at war.\u00a0 Or I guess this is what post-war America looks like in the 21st century.\u00a0 Thank you both.\u00a0 Let me get some reaction from the panel.\u00a0 Andrea Mitchell this is your beat.\u00a0 2015, the year of no more wars.\u00a0 That’s not the case.<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
It’s not the case.\u00a0 And the General and Sarah are both right I think in that we are not– we\u2019re winning battles, perhaps we’re not even sure against ISIS that we’re winning battles.\u00a0 And we’re not winning quote, “wars.”\u00a0 And I think this goes back also to the volunteer army, the lack of engagement by the country.<\/p>\n
The country ramps itself up emotionally when there is horrendous beheading.\u00a0 But then it falls back off the radar.\u00a0 We go about our lives.\u00a0 We, speaking metaphorically, and we’re not really engaged in this in a big way.\u00a0 And it’s clear, the president does not want to be.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
No.\u00a0 Look, the Jim Fallows piece in The Atlantic is a tour de force about this.\u00a0 And a sort of over-reverence for the military sometimes.\u00a0 That in a weird way, politicians, they’re so afraid to ever say a bad thing about the military, look like they’re saying a bad thing, that we don’t have this sort of, “Hey, do we need to look internally and think that we’re not equipped to fight these new wars?”<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
Well, you then end up, I mean, if you keep going down that road, you end up talking about a draft again.\u00a0 And that’s something that it seems that this would never, the United States has moved so far beyond that.\u00a0 You can’t even talk about that.\u00a0 It’s sort of so interesting.<\/p>\n
I thought the Fallows piece was really, really interesting.\u00a0 I had a few issues in it, one of them being that when we talk about there not being a connection between the United States and its military, I don’t know that I would say there’s no connection between the United States and its military.\u00a0 I think there’s definitely no connection between the elite that run the United States.<\/p>\n
I think though when you talk about the New York elites and all of that, but if you go to small-town America and if you go out, there are a lot of people who are very close to the military.\u00a0 And that I think is where you see that kind of disconnect.\u00a0 And I would like to see the conversation focus on that.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Well, that’s the real disconnect there.\u00a0 It’s small-town America, Matt Bai, who’s fighting these wars.\u00a0 It’s new immigrant populations.<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
Lower income.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Lower-income America that’s fighting these wars.\u00a0 Nobody is disputing though that this military isn’t well equipped.\u00a0 I think the question is this strategy of dealing with terrorism and terror groups. There maybe isn’t a military solution.<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
Well, what strategy?\u00a0 We’re 14 years into the new age of terrorism.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
There’s no discernible strategy.\u00a0 There is no public consensus.\u00a0 Look, I talked to Jim Webb, I interviewed Webb this week, he’s thinking about running for president.\u00a0 This is something he’s adamant about, wants to start a debate with Hillary Clinton, or whoever runs in the Democratic field about these endless engagements.<\/p>\n
I think it’s important, because I think this is actually where campaigns really matter.\u00a0 I think the debate in 2004 and especially in 2008 had a lot to do with, I think Democrats actually backed themselves into an Afghanistan policy because of the political reality.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
No doubt. When the president said, “One was a dumb war”–<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
It meant that Afghanistan must be–<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
You had to have a good war.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
You must have a good war or a smart war–<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
And then how do you back away from that?<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Look, John, I’m convinced that the improving economy means foreign policy could be the dominant topic of 2016.<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
Yeah, I agree.\u00a0 And I think if you look at this as Afghanistan, Iraq, now Somalia you’re starting to see areas where there are attacks on U.S.-trained troops.\u00a0 We’re trying to sort of stand up people there to fight these things.\u00a0 And that strategy, just this morning, there was a car bomb targeting folks in Somalia.\u00a0 And I think that is going to become a major problem where they can’t even point to that now.<\/p>\n
They can’t say, “Well, we’ve got troops on the ground that are not ours, but we’ve got them ready to go.”\u00a0 And that’s clearly starting to fail.\u00a0 I don’t know how you get around that if you don’t want to send more Americans in.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Right.\u00a0 And that doesn’t seem to be where anybody is at these days, except for a few in Congress.\u00a0 All right, we’ll hit the pause button here.\u00a0 In a few minutes, women in charge.\u00a0 We’re going to meet the women who run all aspects of a major American city.\u00a0 And you will know this city a lot better than you think.<\/p>\n
***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Welcome back.\u00a0 When former New York Governor Mario Cuomo passed away this week, the country lost a liberal icon.\u00a0 What Barack Obama was to progressives last decade, what Elizabeth Warren is today, that’s what Mario Cuomo was to progressives in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
After losing a nasty runoff election to Ed Koch for mayor of New York City in the ’70s, Cuomo beat Koch in 1982 for the Democratic nomination for governor.\u00a0 And of course, he won the general election.\u00a0 By 1984, with Cuomo’s keynote speech to the Democrat National Convention, Cuomo has supplanted Ted Kennedy as the leading voice of American liberalism.<\/p>\n
(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n
MARIO CUOMO:<\/p>\n
There is despair, Mr. President in the faces that you don’t see, in the places that you don’t visit in your shining city.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Cuomo was the poet laureate of American liberalism in the ’80s, where he famously once said, “Politicians campaign in poetry, but govern in prose.”\u00a0 In his three terms as governor, he balanced budgets, reduced taxes, and stood strong against the death penalty when it was not very popular to do so.\u00a0 But for some, Cuomo will likely be remembered most for what he didn’t do.\u00a0 He twice didn’t run for president, despite being at the top of many Democrats’ wish list.<\/p>\n
TOM BROKAW:<\/p>\n
And Mario Cuomo’s on-again\/off-again presidential campaign tonight is off.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 For 1992, at least.\u00a0 Mostly for sure.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
The second no-go in 1991, a down-to-the-wire drama that left two chartered planes on the tarmac in Albany that were there to rush Cuomo to Manchester, New Hampshire, in a last-minute bid to file for that state’s primary.\u00a0 He cited the New York State budget as a reason that he could not run.<\/p>\n
MARIO CUOMO:<\/p>\n
But it seems to me I cannot turn my attention to New Hampshire while this threat hangs over the head of the New Yorkers that I’ve sworn to put first.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
His public deliberation, both in ’88 and ’92 earned him the unfortunate moniker, “Hamlet on the Hudson.”\u00a0 Also adding to it, when he seemed to openly apply for a spot on the Supreme Court in 1993, only to pull out when President Clinton was about to name him.\u00a0 That public indecision, his stance against the death penalty, as well as the Republican wave, helped contribute to his defeat in 1994.\u00a0 Cuomo remained an active figure in politics for years after leaving office.\u00a0 And his sharp sense of humor remained on full display over his 11 appearances on this program.<\/p>\n
TIM RUSSERT:<\/p>\n
You said you would do anything you can to help elect the Democratic president.<\/p>\n
MARIO CUOMO:<\/p>\n
If it’s legal and not sinful.\u00a0 Any jackass can kick down a barn. It takes a good man or woman to build one.<\/p>\n
TIM RUSSERT:<\/p>\n
Let’s talk about your nominating speech.\u00a0 Vice President Quayle last week said that it would be a lengthy speech because you’ll have to retract all the unkind attacks that you’ve made against Governor Clinton over the past year.\u00a0 How do you respond to the Vice President?<\/p>\n
MARIO CUOMO:<\/p>\n
Well, for the Vice President’s benefit, if it is a lengthy speech, I’ll make sure to use small words.<\/p>\n
(END TAPE)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Of course the great riddle of Mario Cuomo is why didn’t he run?\u00a0 Well, Ken Auletta, in his remembrance in The New Yorker may have the answer.\u00a0 Here’s what he writes, “Mario Cuomo was happy to be home.\u00a0 He hated travel.\u00a0 He boasted of wanting to sleep in his own bed, always.\u00a0 He disliked adulation, and felt it was too clingy.\u00a0 He had the temperament of a writer, not unlike Barack Obama, and he preferred observing from the outside, as if he were watching someone else’s movie.”<\/p>\n
Among Cuomo’s many accomplishments, perhaps the most important to the Meet the Press family, is when he gave a job to a young guy from Buffalo.\u00a0 We have a lot more on Mario Cuomo on our website.\u00a0 Check it out.\u00a0 Mario Cuomo was 82.<\/p>\n
***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
NerdScreen time, as we say goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015. We\u2019ve got some hopeful news about 2014 to report: Almost half of you, 47% said it was an average or an above-average year for the United States.\u00a0 Believe it or not, that’s the best number we’ve recorded in a decade.\u00a0 And compared to 2013, we’ve seen some huge jumps, 17 points overall, from 30% in 2013.<\/p>\n
And this increase in optimism is practically across the board.\u00a0 Among white Americans, 17-point jump in optimism, from 24% in 2013 to 41% saying 2014 was an average or an above-average year, or even a great year.\u00a0 African Americans saw a similar increase.\u00a0 Fifty-seven percent in 2013, to 71% saying 2014 was a pretty good year.<\/p>\n
We broke it down by geography as well.\u00a0 Our people in urban areas are more optimistic than those living in rural America.\u00a0 Both Americans in the cities and Americans in rural America felt optimistic about how 2014 went.\u00a0 In fact, Americans in the city, their optimism jumped from 36% to 53%, saying that that they felt 2014 was an average or an above-average year.<\/p>\n
The jump in rural areas was a similar 20-point bump, 20% from 2013, 41% in 2014.\u00a0 And while this rise was across the board, of course, there were a few groups that weren’t quite as optimistic as the overall poll.\u00a0 Retirees, those 65 and older, and folks with a high school diploma or less were somewhat less upbeat, maybe it’s about their own current economic status.<\/p>\n
Even so, overall, people were more optimistic about 2014 than at any time since 2004.\u00a0 And it brings us to our last interesting fact, courtesy of our friends at the American Communities Project.\u00a0 Check this out.\u00a0 Back in 2004, when a similar 47% of Americans said that the year was average, or an above-average year, it was Republicans who drove that perception, 72% back then.<\/p>\n
And it was a majority of Democrats in 2004, who called it a below-average year.\u00a0 As for 2014, the trend has completely reversed.\u00a0 It’s 70% of Democrats who said that the year was average, good, or great.\u00a0 A similar split, because Republicans said it was a below-average year.\u00a0 So what do you make of this split?\u00a0 The good-old partisan divide.\u00a0 Do you wear blue glasses or do you wear the red glasses?<\/p>\n
Guess what, in 2004 it was a Republican in the White House.\u00a0 And in 2014, it’s a Democrat in the White House.\u00a0 Shocked, shocked that people use their party labels to answer a poll question.\u00a0 All right, coming up, the women in charge.\u00a0 Meet the three women, the only three women, who in 2015 will run in major American cities.<\/p>\n
***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Welcome back.\u00a0 Women are still chronically underrepresented in U.S. politics at both a local and national level.\u00a0 The 114th Congress, which convenes this week, will contain a record number of women.\u00a0 But the numbers are still low, especially considering a majority of voters, all voters, are women.<\/p>\n
Women will make up 20 out of 100 senators and 84 out of 435 House members.\u00a0 At a local level, just 11 of the 50 biggest cities in the country have a woman mayor.\u00a0 Six have a female police chief or commissioner, and 12 have a female chancellor or school superintendent.\u00a0 But there is one city where those three top jobs will be filled by women for the next year.<\/p>\n
And that city is Washington D.C.\u00a0 I’m pleased to be joined by the three powerful women who run the nation’s capital.\u00a0 Mayor Muriel Bowser, Police Chief Cathy Lanier, and Kaya Henderson, Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools.\u00a0 And full disclosure, my wife worked as a paid advisor to Muriel Bowser’s mayoral campaign in 2014.\u00a0 Madam Mayor, congratulations.<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Thank you, Chuck.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
It was a wonderful inauguration that a lot of folks in Washington started.\u00a0 So you start off, first of all, let’s talk about this unique aspect of Washington D.C.\u00a0 What does it say?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Well, how fitting for the nation’s capital to have three women in charge, women who have gotten things done in this city for years.\u00a0 And we’re going to continue to focus on moving our city forward.\u00a0 Washington has come a long way.\u00a0 We’ve improved our schools, driven down crime.\u00a0 And we want the whole world to know that we are a city on the move.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Let’s start with the challenge you have.\u00a0 You have a unique challenge in that you’ve got to deal with Congress as part of it.\u00a0 They control some of your funds.\u00a0 You’re going to face a budget shortfall that you addressed in your inauguration speech.\u00a0 What do you need from Congress?\u00a0 Do you need more money from the federal government?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Well, we’re a city and a county and a state all at once.\u00a0 So we do have a unique relationship with the Congress.\u00a0 And we’re looking forward to working with the new Congress and are optimistic about those relationships.\u00a0 So we need the Congress to focus on the big issues of our nation, immigration reform, and working together, and getting things done at the Hill.\u00a0 We’re actually getting things done for our city just fine, governing ourselves.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I understand that, but you have the budget shortfall.\u00a0 Where does the money come from?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
We’re going to look closely at our budget and we balanced it for the last 17 years, and we’re going to balance it again.\u00a0 We’ll make those decisions, and we’ll send up the balanced budget to the Congress.\u00a0 And all they really need to do is keep it clean.\u00a0 No riders.\u00a0 Know that they–<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
And they never do that.\u00a0 They do sort of makes them, you know, limit schools or on social issues like abortion or marijuana.<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Yes, and our focus is working with our congresswoman and working with all of the members who care about the District of Columbia, is that we’re going to send them a balanced budget and ask them to respect the will of the people of the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
One more question for you before I bring in the Chancellor and the Chief, which is the marijuana initiative passed by voters in Washington D.C. Congress basically said no.\u00a0 They’re going to allow the decriminalization, but they said no to the legalization of recreational use.\u00a0 They said no federal funds, nor local fees would be used.\u00a0 Are you going to challenge Congress on that?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Well, we want to respect the will of the D.C. voters.\u00a0 Now we think Initiative 71 was self-enacting.\u00a0 Our legislators are going to send it up to the Congress in January.\u00a0 The bottom line for us is that we have to have laws that are clear and enforceable.\u00a0 And we have to have regulations in place.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Are you going to see Congress over this?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
We want to work with our Congress and we want the will of the residents of D.C. to be enforced.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Have you ruled out a lawsuit?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
We’re going to explore every option to get our law enforced, so that the chief also can have, to be very clear with the officers of what’s legal in the District and what isn’t.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Chancellor Henderson, Chief Lanier, let me bring you guys in.\u00a0 Chief, let me go back to the uniqueness of the fact that three women are running these three.\u00a0 You probably have the toughest aspect of this as a woman in a leadership role, a majority of men on the force.\u00a0 Why have you succeeded in this, seven years now as chief?<\/p>\n
CHIEF CATHY LANIER:<\/p>\n
I don’t think your gender really matters in this line of work.\u00a0 Like most uniformed services, if you come to work and work hard every day, and you have a reputation to being a hard worker, cops really don’t care if you\u2019re male or female or black or white and nor does the community.\u00a0 I’ve been here 24 years.\u00a0 I love this city and I love my police department.\u00a0 So I really haven’t had any issues.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Well, all right.\u00a0 Let’s talk about the challenges of it.\u00a0 Both of you are going to face, Chancellor Henderson, school reform in D.C. has been an issue for as long as I’ve lived in the metro area 25 years now.\u00a0 Your predecessor, Michelle Rhee, was certainly somebody who got a lot of attention for some of the reforms that she did.\u00a0 This is brought up all the time, how much per pupil the district spends.\u00a0 And yet, the reforms are slow.\u00a0 What do you say to that?<\/p>\n
CHANCELLOR KAYA HENDERSON:<\/p>\n
I say I think that’s actually incorrect.\u00a0 If you ask the U.S. Secretary of Education, he’d tell you that D.C. is the fastest-improving urban school district in the country.\u00a0 Now, we’ve got a lot of work to do to kind of break down some things and to rebuild some things.\u00a0 But student satisfaction is at an all-time high, our test scores are rising more rapidly than other places.\u00a0 We have satisfied teachers, and most importantly, families are choosing DCPS after 40 years of decline.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I was just going to say, if there were more Washington D.C. residents who sent their kids to public schools rather than private schools, particularly in the wealthier areas, do you think D.C. public schools would have more attention?<\/p>\n
CHANCELLOR KAYA HENDERSON:<\/p>\n
Well, I actually think we’re getting attention because for the third year in a row now, we’ve seen radical increases in the number of kids coming.\u00a0 Families are coming back from private schools, from charter schools, to DCPS.\u00a0 People are demanding good neighborhood schools.\u00a0 And the only time that public school systems are great is when the community demands it and the government works with the community to deliver.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Chief Lanier, obviously the focus on Ferguson, the focus on what happened in Staten Island, it’s a challenge for a lot of police forces.\u00a0 You haven’t had these issues in your police force.\u00a0 Why do you think that?<\/p>\n
CHIEF CATHY LANIER:<\/p>\n
I think it’s really about building strong relationships with the community.\u00a0 You have to do it every single day.\u00a0 You can’t do it in crisis.\u00a0 You do it every day, the community trusts and supports you.\u00a0 And during these protests here, I had the good fortune of observing our community, reaching out and hugging police officers, and shaking our hand, and we’re very fortunate.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I can’t let you go, Madam Mayor, without asking about D.C. statehood.\u00a0 How much of a priority, and would you accept separate statehood, or would you accept going and being a part of Maryland?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
We are Washington D.C., Chuck.\u00a0 The residents of Washington D.C. deserve full democracy and statehood, just like every–<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
But you could get that connected to Maryland, could you not?\u00a0 Or Virginia?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
We’re Washington D.C., Chuck.\u00a0 The residents of the District of Columbia really want to forge a new path towards statehood.\u00a0 And we can start with budget autonomy, unhooking our government from the federal government.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
And we wouldn’t be talking about lawsuits about marijuana?<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
We wouldn’t be talking about lawsuits or shutting down the government when the Congress can’t figure it out.\u00a0 So we’re going to set a pragmatic way to amp up our federal presence and forge a new path.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Well, a lot of people want to know how Washington would change if women were in charge, well, it’s already happening in Washington D.C.\u00a0 Thank you all for coming on Meet the Press.<\/p>\n
CATHY LANIER:<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Thank you, Chuck.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
And we’ll be watching.<\/p>\n
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER:<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I want to make another note about a passing over the weekend.\u00a0 Former Senator Edward Brooke passed away yesterday.\u00a0 The Massachusetts Republican was the first African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate since reconstruction, when he got elected in 1966.\u00a0 Brooke developed a reputation for rectitude, though he ultimately was defeated for a third term after making some false statements in a divorce deposition.\u00a0 With his brahmin bearing and impeccable manner, he was representative of a more moderate GOP of the ’70s.\u00a0 Here on Meet the Press in 1973, Brooke fielded this interesting question from the late, great Jack Germond<\/p>\n
(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n
JACK GERMOND:<\/p>\n
In view of the way people vote these days, do you think the Republican Party is ready for a black presidential nominee?<\/p>\n
EDWARD BROOKE:<\/p>\n
I think the country is, and I think the party is not behind the country.\u00a0 I think that the party will vote for a man that they believe can do the job.<\/p>\n
(END TAPE)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Edward Brooke was 95.\u00a0 We’ll be right back.<\/p>\n
***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Welcome back.\u00a0 Stephen Colbert said to me he didn’t think I would ever get through an episode of Meet the Press between now and 2016, without mentioning 2016.\u00a0 Guess what?\u00a0 It isn’t going to happen on this show.\u00a0 Plus there were three events over the holiday break, in fact, this was worth noting that I want to bring up to you guys.\u00a0 Jeb Bush continued his resignation frenzy.<\/p>\n
He stepped down from more corporate boards, every one of them now, including his education foundation that he, of course, put together.\u00a0 You have Chris Christie and Rick Perry said that they’re both going to attend Rick Scott’s inauguration. That\u2019s Governor Rick Scott of Florida and its 29 electoral votes and its prominence in the primary calendar.\u00a0 And then there was this, last night.\u00a0 Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said this on his FOX News Show.<\/p>\n
(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n
MIKE HUCKABEE:<\/p>\n
God hasn’t put me on earth just to have a good time or to make a good living.\u00a0 But rather, God’s put me on earth to try to make a good life.\u00a0 There’s been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run for president.\u00a0 And if I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show.\u00a0 But I can’t make such a declaration.\u00a0 I say goodbye.\u00a0 But as we say in television, stay tuned.<\/p>\n
(END TAPE)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Matt Bai, my suspicion is Jeb Bush has totally scrambled the time table with some of these guys.\u00a0 I think if Jeb Bush doesn’t throw his hat in the ring as quickly as he did late last year, Mike Huckabee wouldn’t be quitting his show.\u00a0 What do you think?<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
I wish God put me on Earth to have a good time, make a good living, and I’d be set here.\u00a0 I think you’re right.\u00a0 I think it changes the timetable on these guys.\u00a0 But look, we just got finished talking about Mario Cuomo and his stories.\u00a0 To invert, Yogi Berra a little bit.\u00a0 It ain\u2019t beginning until it’s beginning.\u00a0 It’s not beginning yet.<\/p>\n
And a lot of people can take steps.\u00a0 And I think they’re all mulling the decision.\u00a0 But I don’t get all ramped up about covering any of these candidates until they’re actually candidates.\u00a0 Because I think this is the logical thing to do if you want to keep the door open.\u00a0 But it’s a big decision they have not made.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
It is.\u00a0 And I think we all had this hope.\u00a0 And I think a lot of the campaign strategists thought this race, Andrea, was not going to start until at least Memorial Day.\u00a0 Then it would be a later start than ’08 and ’12.\u00a0 I think Jeb Bush ruined everybody’s plans.<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
On the Republican side of it.\u00a0 I don’t think that this is advancing Hillary Clinton’s time table<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Not changing her time table.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
No.\u00a0 But the fact that Jeb Bush has resigned from all those additional, disentangled from all that corporate stuff, and the foundation, I think that Huckabee actually helps Jeb Bush.\u00a0 Because Huckabee in Iowa and the diversity of Republican conservatives in Iowa, you could have Jeb Bush actually doing well in Iowa, but with 20-some percent of the votes.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Well, obviously that’s the Jeb Bush strategy.\u00a0 Hope that the Right is divided.\u00a0 And it certainly worked for Mitt Romney, it certainly worked for John McCain and all of those things.\u00a0 But we still haven’t seen Jeb Bush the candidate.\u00a0 And he hasn\u2019t campaigned for political office since 2002.<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
No–<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Let’s not forget.<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
He was smart though at the beginning getting out there early, and then do all the stuff and sort of keep himself in the background now.\u00a0 And I think particularly with Mike Huckabee, I’ll believe it when I see it.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I was the same way.\u00a0 Look–<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
–make sure.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I was the same way.\u00a0 But quitting that show was not insignificant.<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
No, but there are plenty of other reasons why he may have done it.\u00a0 And he’s sort of done this before where he\u2019s like, “Oh, I’m going to run.”\u00a0 And then it turns out–<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
–in Iowa next winter, right before the primary, then I’ll believe it.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Helene, look, the primary, it’s moved up earlier, it’s moved up earlier, it’s moved up earlier.\u00a0 Huckabee, he was sort of the populist before it was cool to be a populist on the right.\u00a0 Now Rand Paul wants to be that populist.\u00a0 Now Rick Santorum sort of took the role of this.\u00a0 Is he yesterday’s news?\u00a0 Or can he re-establish himself as sort of the evangelical populist guy of Iowa?<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
I don’t think he’s yesterday’s news at all.\u00a0 I think he has a certain appeal to a lot of people that would be surprising.\u00a0 I just can’t believe we’re talking about this already.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
I know.\u00a0 And yet, listen, look, I’m going to blame us in the media.<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
But Obama announced in February of ’07.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
In January, right, that was the official announcement.<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
Yeah, that’s true, that’s true.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
A month earlier, in January of ’07, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, basically dictating the schedule to each other.\u00a0 That’s why it feels like Jeb Bush is now dictating the schedule.<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
No, I think he is.\u00a0 I think I have to accept the fact that we’re–<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
You have to accept it.<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
–now we’re, okay, fine.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
You know, after what stage of grief is this?\u00a0 You have accepted it, you have been in denial.\u00a0 You’ve moved, on this show, from denial to acceptance.<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
I have moved to acceptance.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
What about anger?<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
You know what?\u00a0 I accept it.\u00a0 I’m not going to do anger.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
All right, well–<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
HELENE COOPER:<\/p>\n
–presidential campaign.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Speaking of anger, there may be some anger out there.\u00a0 It’s the new year, and that means there’s some new laws.\u00a0 There’s two times a year that you get new laws:\u00a0 January 1 and July 1.\u00a0 Well, here’s some new laws that are out there.\u00a0 We picked three that are, some of the more unusual pieces of legislation, which have made it onto the books.<\/p>\n
First some good news for you wine lovers out there.\u00a0 Former Patriots quarterback and Washington State vineyard owner Drew Bledsoe, he can now legally ship wine from his vineyard to the state of Massachusetts.\u00a0 It’s being known as the Drew Bledsoe Law a little bit.\u00a0 Of course, he\u2019s the former Patriots quarterback that got replaced by Tom Brady, the Wally Pipp of quarterbacks,\u00a0 he wants to sell his wine, he can now do that.<\/p>\n
And for any Walter Whites out there that are living in Oregon, home sellers in that state will now have to disclose if their house was used as a meth lab.\u00a0 So it used to be lead paint, and now you have to sign– But finally, it’s bad news for you, John Stanton.\u00a0 No more selfies.\u00a0 Starting soon, it will be illegal to take selfies with tigers, lions, and other big cats in New York.<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
That is amazing.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
–about whiskey, so as long as it’s selfies, I think I’m good.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
JOHN STANTON:<\/p>\n
I’ve got to be a little more concerned.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
You know, the selfie thing, and Andrea, I know you have your fair share of selfies, but usually you don’t like the big cats.\u00a0 You’re more of a bear–<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
I don’t even like the little cats.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Yeah, you’re more of a bear person.\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
I\u2019m allergic to the cats.\u00a0 Bears, moose.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
Moose a little bit?<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
This selfie thing.\u00a0 And Matt, I read that there’s now an antenna that you can make your selfies even look better.<\/p>\n
MATT BAI:<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n
ANDREA MITCHELL:<\/p>\n
But that’s totally–<\/p>\n
CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n
The selfie stick.\u00a0 We don’t need it.\u00a0 Alright, that was fun.\u00a0 That’s all for today.\u00a0 We’re going to be back next week, because if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.<\/p>\n
* * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMEET THE PRESS\u201d 1\/4\/15\u2014 SEN. BARRASSO: SCALISE MADE A \u2018GRAVE MISTAKE;\u2019 MAYOR BOWSER: DC RESIDENTS “DESERVE FULL DEMOCRACY AND STATEHOOD\u201d Sen. Barrasso on the first bill from the new Republican Congress: \u201cThe president’s going to see the Keystone XL pipeline on his desk, and it is going to be a bellwether decision by the president…\u201d […]<\/p>\n
Read More… from “Meet The Press” 1\/4\/15 — Highlights & Transcript<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[4,110],"class_list":["post-637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meet-the-press","tag-feature","tag-meet-the-press"],"yoast_head":"\n"Meet The Press" 1\/4\/15 - Highlights & Transcript - NBC News Press Releases<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2015\/01\/04\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Meet The Press" 1\/4\/15 - Highlights & Transcript - NBC News Press Releases\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMEET THE PRESS\u201d 1\/4\/15\u2014 SEN. 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Barrasso on the first bill from the new Republican Congress: \u201cThe president’s going to see the Keystone XL pipeline on his desk, and it is going to be a bellwether decision by the president…\u201d [...]Read More... from “Meet The Press” 1\/4\/15 — Highlights & Transcript\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2015\/01\/04\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NBC News Press Releases\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-04T17:09:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/10\/MTP_Logo_Horizontal_Color.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Coffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NBCNewsPR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NBCNewsPR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Coffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"55 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/04\\\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/04\\\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah Coffey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba615b709c853838a8f6739d02071335\"},\"headline\":\"“Meet The Press” 1\\\/4\\\/15 — Highlights & Transcript\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-04T17:09:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/04\\\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":11415,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/04\\\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/MTP_Logo_Horizontal_Color.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"feature\",\"Meet the Press\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Meet the Press\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/04\\\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\\\/nbcnews\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/04\\\/meet-the-press-1415-sen-barrasso-scalise-made-a-grave-mistake-mayor-bowser-dc-residents-deserve-full-democracy-and-statehood\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Meet The Press\\\" 1\\\/4\\\/15 - 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