CHUCK TODD:
This Sunday:
MARTHA ROUNTREE:
Are you ready to Meet the Press?
CHUCK TODD:
We celebrate 75 years of Meet the Press.
SEN. JOHN F. KENNEDY:
I hope no one would vote for me, either for me or because of my religion.
CHUCK TODD:
Where every occupant of the Oval Office has appeared since the Kennedy administration.
FMR. PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
The Watergate matter should have been handled properly.
CHUCK TODD:
Where former presidents and future presidents have made news.
TIM RUSSERT:
So, you want to be president?
GOV. BILL CLINTON:
I do.
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights.
DONALD TRUMP:
In four years, you’re going to be interviewing me, and you’re going to say, “What a great job you’ve done, President Trump.”
CHUCK TODD:
Where the next day’s headlines appear first.
PRES. JIMMY CARTER:
I would not support the sending of an American team to the Olympics.
CHUCK TODD:
Where leaders from around the world answer tough questions.
FIDEL CASTRO:
Democracy is my ideal.
GOLDA MEIR:
A weak Israel can be thrown into the sea.
CHUCK TODD:
Where civil rights leaders have shared their struggles.
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT:
We must move, but we must move with wisdom.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet.
REP. SHIRLEY CHISOLM:
I understand that I have broken the ice.
REP. JOHN LEWIS:
I was not bitter then. I’m not bitter now.
CHUCK TODD:
And where everyone is held accountable.
JAMES CARVILLE:
You know what I say, “I got egg on my face.”
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome to Sunday…
REV. BILLY GRAHAM:
It’s not easy to Meet the Press.
CHUCK TODD:
…and a special 75th anniversary edition of Meet the Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is a special edition of Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.
CHUCK TODD:
Good Sunday morning. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. So at 8 PM on November 6 1947, moderator Martha Rountree debuted a press conference of the air, right here on NBC. 1947 was the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the same year Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. For 75 years, through 12 moderators and more than 3500 broadcasts, the program that President John F. Kennedy once called the 51st state, has made news and held newsmakers accountable, interviewing American presidents, world leaders, political candidates, civil rights icons, scientists, sports figures, and entertainers. This morning, we’re going to look back on the 75 year history of the longest-running show on television, and we’re going to look forward as well, as our democracy is challenged, and our mission of clarity and accountability is more important than ever. Here’s Marvin Kalb.
[START TAPE]
MARVIN KALB:
Our democracy is a very precious national asset that is most healthy, most admirable when there is an open and vigorous exchange between the press on the one side, and the politician and policymaker on the other. That's what this program has been all about.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD: 13 presidents have answered questions on Meet the Press: Herbert Hoover and then every president since Kennedy. Senator John McCain was our most frequent guest with 73 appearances. Senators Bob Dole, President Joe Biden, Newt Gingrich, and Chuck Schumer round out the top five. Dr. Martin Luther King appeared here five times during the '60s, for the final time in August 1967, less than eight months before he would be assassinated.
[START TAPE]
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I refuse to give up. I refuse to despair in this moment. I refuse to allow myself to fall into the dark chambers of pessimism, because I think in any social revolution, the one thing that keeps it going is hope.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
The broadcast has covered national debates over the last seven decades, from the Cold War and the rise of communism, to fights for equality and progress, to debates on taking the country to war, be it Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Ukraine.
[START TAPE]
JOHN KERRY:
There is no reason, and no excuse, and no justification for the loss of one more American life there or for the loss of more Vietnamese. This war can be ended, and it should be ended now.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Cameras can be the best disinfectant, and the program has also never shied away from controversy, interviewing Louis Farrakhan, David Duke, Joseph McCarthy, and Fidel Castro, among others. The only way to keep a democracy thriving is to expose ourselves to the uncomfortable as well as the comfortable. "Alternative facts," a phrase coined by former president Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway in the early days of the Trump administration, became a touchpoint in an era when facts suddenly came under attack.
[START TAPE]
KELLYANNE CONWAY:
You're saying it's a falsehood, and Sean Spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts to that, but the point remains--
CHUCK TODD:
Wait a minute. Alternative facts? Alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Another president, Richard Nixon, reflected back on his mistakes in office right here in 1988, one of eight presidents who have appeared during or after their years in the Oval Office.
[START TAPE]
TOM BROKAW: In the autumn of your years as you are reflective about your own life experiences, personal and as a politician, what criticism do you have of your own behavior or style or things that you’ve done?
PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
As president?
TOM BROKAW:
As president or as a human being.
PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
Well we don’t have much time to cover the human being. Let’s start with the president. First, naturally, the Watergate matter should have been handled properly. I should have concentrated on - apart from the fact it was wrong, it was stupid. And generally I'm called many things, but not often am I called stupid.
PRES. GERALD FORD:
The country has gone through, in the last year, year and a half, some very difficult times. We went through the problems of Watergate. We have been suffering from a very serious economic recession, although we are coming out of it very steadily. We have had a traumatic experience in Southeast Asia. All of these, and perhaps some other problems, raised some doubt in the American people as to whether their government, their form of government, was capable of meeting these kinds of challenges. This doubt, I think, has been considerably reversed, and I think that is extremely encouraging. They know that honesty and candor has been restored in government.
BILL MONROE:
Mr. President, assuming the Soviets do not pull out of Afghanistan any time soon, do you favor the U.S participating in the Moscow Olympics, and, if not, what are the alternatives?
PRES. JIMMY CARTER:
No. Neither do I nor the American people would support the sending of an American team to Moscow with Soviet invasion troops in Afghanistan. I have sent a message today to the United States Olympic Committee spelling out my own position, that unless the Soviets withdraw their troops within a month from Afghanistan that the Olympic games be moved from Moscow to an alternate site or multiple sites or postponed or canceled.
TIM RUSSERT:
Do you think we've done a good job? Have we been fair to you?
PRES. BILL CLINTON:
On balance, yes. I think--first of all, I don't think there's ever been a president of either party and any philosophy that didn't think that he should have gotten a better press. So that just goes with territory. I think there have been rather dramatic changes in press coverage over the last 20 years, particularly in the Washington press, which bears some examination and evaluation by those of you who are in the press. But I don't think that the president gets anywhere by making any comments on the press.
TIM RUSSERT:
Do you believe if you had gone to the Congress and said he should be removed because he's a threat to his people but I'm not sure he has weapons of mass destruction, Congress would authorize war?
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:
I went to Congress with the same intelligence‑‑Congress saw the same intelligence I had, and they looked at exactly what I looked at, and they made an informed judgment based upon the information that I had. The same information, by the way, that my predecessor had. And all of us, you know, made this judgment that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed.
TIM RUSSERT:
In light of not finding the weapons of mass destruction, do you believe the war in Iraq is a war of choice or a war of necessity?
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:
I think that's an interesting question. Please elaborate on that a little bit. A war of choice or a war of necessity? It's a war of necessity. We-- in my judgment, we had no choice when we look at the intelligence I looked at that says the man was a threat.
DAVID GREGORY:
President Bush, what did you learn in your government's response to the tsunami, to the disaster response to Katrina? What lessons did you learn that this administration should bear in mind?
FMR. PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:
First of all, it takes time to get the supplies in place, but that, that shouldn't deter them. In other words, there, there's an expectation amongst people that things are going to happen
quickly, and, and sometimes it's hard to make things happen quickly.
DAVID GREGORY:
Why does it take a disaster of this scale and magnitude away from the United States to create this kind of bipartisanship?
FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON:
Well, I think that when something like this happens inside the United States we act in the same way. I, I think that it reminds us of our common humanity. It reminds us of needs that go beyond fleeting disagreements. Whatever our policy disputes are don't seem to matter much when people are dying….
CHUCK TODD:
You have got to go to Syria in some form or another. You've ruled out boots on the ground. And I'm curious, have you only ruled them out simply for domestic political reasons? Or is there another reason you've ruled out American boots on the ground? Because your own-- your own guys have said, "You can't defeat ISIS with air strikes alone."
PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
They’re absolutely right about that. But you also cannot, over the long term or even the medium term, deal with this problem by having the United States serially occupy various countries all around the Middle East. We don't have the resources. It puts enormous strains on our military. And at some point, we leave. And then things blow up again. So we--
CHUCK TODD:
Like what happened in Iraq.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
--so-- so we've gotta have a more sustainable strategy, which means the boots on the ground have to be Iraqi.
CHUCK TODD:
What about boots--
PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
And-- and in Syria, the boots on the ground have to be Syrian.
CHUCK TODD:
You were always hard on Obama. You thought he wasn't enough of a cheerleader.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
He was not a cheerleader.
CHUCK TODD:
If you could have one do over as president, what would it be?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, it would be personnel.
CHUCK TODD:
Who is it?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
79 foreign heads of state have appeared on the broadcast, 65 while in office, from British prime minister Harold Wilson, who joined in 1965 for the first live transcontinental satellite interview to Indira Gandhi, who appeared on Meet the Press seven times before her assassination in 1984. In April 1959, Fidel Castro appeared on Meet the Press for his first visit to the United States since the Cuban Revolution, and he declared that he was not a communist.
[START TAPE]
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
I want to know where your heart lies in the struggle between communism and democracy.
FIDEL CASTRO:
Democracy is my ideal, really. But many people used to call democracy some things that are not democracy. I am not Communist. I am not agreed with communism.
INDIRA GANDHI:
I am deeply committed to democracy not merely because it is a good idea but for the country of India’s vast size and great diversity. I think democracy that is a people’s participation, is the only way to make a country.
HAROLD WILSON:
It has always been our policy that Communist China should be in the United Nations, and if the issue comes up at the United Nations, we shall support the entry of Communist China into the United Nations. I will say quite plainly why: We have never in our country and this goes for Governments of all political colors said that you only have those people in the United Nations or that you only recognize them diplomatically, if you like them. Heaven knows, I don't expect miracles if she comes into the United Nations, but you know there has been a lot of evidence through the refusal to bring China into the United Nations that it has driven China more into the arms of Russia than would have been the case.
VLADIMIR PUTIN:
I am convinced that the Communist idea is no more than a beautiful, but perhaps quite harmful fairy tale for people. It is beautiful, attractive. And if millions of people are, you know, taken in by this ideology, you certainly cannot ignore it. But for us, for the country, which for 70 years lived under the standards of this ideology, it is clear that, not ideologically but economically, we have reached an impasse, and it is clear that a state cannot exist on that basis.
CHUCK TODD:
What do you need right now to fort this strategy of essentially getting to the winter and creating a stalemate?
DENYS SHMYHAL:
I always say to win this war we need three main things: weaponry, finances and sanctions. Weaponry: let us protect ourselves and to go into [UNINTEL] to make this counteroffensive, very successful counter offensives with support of our partners. We also ask our partners to recognize Russia as a terrorist country, because all what they are doing in Ukraine, so it's just genocide. This is, like, terrorist act.
TIM RUSSERT:
Where is Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader?
HAMID KARZAI:
We don't know. He's hiding. Now, how can someone that's hiding be called a force? He is hiding. We are looking for him.
TIM RUSSERT:
Where is Osama bin Laden?
HAMID KARZAI:
He's hiding, too, and we are looking for him, too.
TIM RUSSERT:
Are they hiding in plain sight?
HAMID KARZAI:
They are hiding perhaps in the mountains. They are hiding perhaps in the border territories, between of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Maybe they are hiding somewhere else. We don't know. We are looking for them on daily basis, and no fugitive can run forever.
BILL MONROE:
Many Americans consider the PLO primarily a terrorist organization. Is that not justified at least to an extent?
YASSER ARAFAT:
George Washington had been named once upon a time by the British Empire. He is a terrorist. The Vietnamese recently, you used to call them terrorist too. The Algerians. But all the freedom fighters used to have this name before their independence.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
There is an impression in this country that peace in the Middle East is further away than it has been at almost any time in the long history of this conflict. Do you see any progress at all towards peace?
GOLDA MEIR:
That there is less hope for peace now than there ever was before, I do not agree to. Because I maintain that a strong Israel is not only the best guarantee for peace but is the best incentive for peace, because there is no sense making peace with a weak Israel. A weak Israel can be thrown into the sea.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU:
The real problem in the Middle East is not the democracy of Israel that has shown restraint and responsibility, but it's countries like Iran that pursue nuclear weapons with the explicit goal first of annihilating us, but also ultimately of conquering the Middle East and threatening you. That's why they're developing ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles that are meant for one purpose only: to carry nuclear payloads to a theater near you. They're not intended for us. They already have missiles that reach us. They're developing ICBMs to reach the United States. Don't give them these weapons.
CHUCK TODD: This deal did not demand any other behavior changes in Iran outside of their nuclear weapons program. Why not include all that?
DAVID CAMERON:
Well, this deal was about the nuclear issue. And I think the right way to conclude the deal was to make it about the nuclear issue. But, you know, we shouldn't be naïve or starry eyed in any way about the regime that we're dealing with. And I'm certainly not. I spoke to President Rouhani yesterday and said that we want to see a change in the approach that Iran takes to issues like Syria and Yemen, and to terrorism in the region. And we want the change in behavior that should follow from that change. So, we're not starry eyed at all. And I'd reassure our Gulf allies about that. But actually taking the nuclear weapon issue off the table, that is a success for America and Britain and our allies. And we should be clear about that.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK: Why do you think the British monarchy is so strong, despite the fact that so many monarchies in Europe have died?
PRINCE PHILIP:
I think the British are more liberal in their outlook. Most of the monarchies in Europe were really destroyed by their greatest and most ardent supporters. It was the most reactionary people who somehow or other tried to hold onto something without letting it develop into change.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Have you ever thought to yourself: maybe it might be nice to be king? Or have you thought: I am glad I am not king.
PRINCE PHILIP:
Oh, yes; I am glad I am not.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, a look at why announcing a run for higher office has played such an important role on this broadcast.
[START TAPE]
TIM RUSSERT:
So, you will not run for President or Vice President in 2008?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA:
I will not.
TIM RUSSERT:
It's fair to say you're thinking about running for president in 2008?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA:
It's fair, yes.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Hundreds of hopefuls for higher office have appeared on the program over the years to dodge, and duck, and sometimes eventually answer the question, "Will you or won't you run for president of the United States?" The Meet the Press candidate interview has been a staple from Adlai Stevenson, who said, "I do not seek, I will not seek the Democratic nomination for the presidency," and was the Democratic nominee two months later, after saying that, to Shirley Chisholm, who spoke about her groundbreaking 1972 bid right on this program, to the more than three dozen active presidential candidates that I've interviewed as moderator of this broadcast. And it has launched candidacies. Long before he ran for office, Ralph Nader's appearance in 1966 generated so much mail for this broadcast that the post office finally called Meet the Press and offered to deliver Nader's mail directly to him. In 1960, just a month after his speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, our first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, appeared here to answer questions about whether, in the United States, there should be a religious test for office.
[START TAPE]
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY:
I hope no one would vote for me, either for me, or because of my religion. I have said that consistently and I mean it because it is an important election. There are very serious issues, which divide us, and I don’t think this is one of them, my religion or Mr. Nixon’s religion. After all, I thought that matter was all settled in the Constitution when it said provided for separation of church and state, and it provided that there should be no religious test for office. So I would hope we could move on.
VERMONT ROYSTER:
There will be a large and vocal minority who will be very critical of you, who are very critical of you now. How would you go about reconciling these if you are President of the United States?
FMR. VICE PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
The problem will not be easy because we are confronted with the generation gap; we are confronted also with a racial gap. I believe I am a pretty good listener.
SEN. EUGENE McCARTHY: My objective is to bring about a change of national policy, both with reference to the war and also with reference to national priorities.
SEN. ROBERT F. KENNEDY:
By talking as I will about what I think can be done positively as far as the future is concerned, what can be done in the 1970's, what this country needs to stand for and the idealism and the feeling of unselfishness, which I think exists in our country, it seems to me that I can make a contribution, and that is what I intend to do.
SEN. GEORGE McGOVERN:
At the age of 49, feeling as I do about this war, I could not conscientiously support it. I am not recommending that course for anyone else, but I regard this war as the most barbaric and inhumane act that our country has ever committed.
REP. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM:
First of all, gentlemen, you have to really recognize I am doing something in this country that has never really been done before. It is a question of inculcation, reorientation and education. Never before in this country, ever since the inception of the republic, have you had a woman seriously running for the presidency.
GOV. RONALD REAGAN:
I suppose every man has many moments in which he says, “If I had the position and the authority to do certain things, this is what I would do.”
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Does that mean that you would like to be President?
GOV. RONALD REAGAN:
That means that you are asking me about a decision that, if you have me on this show say, about a year from now, maybe we will be closer to getting an answer.
GOV. JIMMY CARTER:
I will be there when the last vote is counted, and I expect to win.
ELEANOR CLIFT:
Considering the size of the deficits, it seems to me you were right in 1980 in calling candidate Reagan's policies "voodoo economics." How do you feel about using that phrase?
VICE PRES. GEORGE H.W. BUSH:
I hoped you wouldn't mention that.
MR. RUSSERT:
You'll be 73 when you become president.
SEN. BOB DOLE:
Right.
TIM RUSSERT:
77 after your first term.
SEN. BOB DOLE:
Right.
TIM RUSSERT:
Would you consider making a pledge to the American people you'll serve just one term?
SEN. BOB DOLE:
No.
CHRIS WALLACE:
If you look at your voting record, your opponents say, you look more like Ted Kennedy than Sam Nunn. Aren't you a liberal?
SEN. AL GORE:
No, I'm not. And those labels don't mean what they once did.
TIM RUSSERT:
So you want to be president?
GOV. BILL CLINTON:
I do.
REV. JESSE JACKSON:
I have not made the final decision. I'm giving it serious consideration. I'm not determined to enter the race but I have determined to set the pace, to set the priorities, and I can say to you because of our numbers, our loyalty and our public policy issues, there should be a black on that ticket.
GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH:
One of the things about a President Bush is I'll be surrounded by good, strong, capable, smart people who understand the mission of the United States is to lead the world to peace.
FMR. GOV. HOWARD DEAN: We ran the best grassroots campaign that I’ve seen in my lifetime. They ran a better one. Why? Because we sent 14,000 people into Ohio from elsewhere. They had 14,000 from Ohio talking to their neighbors and that’s how you win in rural states and rural America.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE:
Tim, I don't want to run for president of the United States.
TIM RUSSERT:
I will not run?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE:
I do not intend to run for – no, I will not run for president of the United States. How's that?
TIM RUSSERT:
Period?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE:
I don't know how many different ways to say no in this town.
TIM RUSSERT:
It's fair to say you're thinking about running for president in 2008?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA:
It's fair, yes.
RALPH NADER:
Dissent is the mother of ascent. And in that context, I have decided to run for president.
SEN JOHN McCAIN:
Do Sarah Palin and I disagree on a specific issue? Yes, because we're both mavericks. But we share the same goal of cleaning up Washington.
DAVID GREGORY:
The question is whether – are you the – the moderate from Massachusetts who championed Universal Health Care, who at one time was for abortion rights or are you the – the candidate who said he was a severe conservative? What will you be as a president?
FMR. GOV. MITT ROMNEY:
I’m as conservative as the constitution.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to read something that was paraphrased to you, it says, “‘It is essential,’ Sanders said, ‘to have someone in the 2016 presidential campaign who is willing to take on Wall Street, address the collapse of the middle class, tackle the spread of poverty, and fiercely oppose cuts to social security and Medicare.’” Is it safe to say if you thought Hillary Clinton were doing that, you wouldn’t be considering this?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, A: I don’t know that Hillary Clinton is running. B: I don’t know what she’s running on.
CHUCK TODD:
Can you imagine running in the same Republican primary as Jeb Bush?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO:
If I make that decision that that's the right place for me to serve at this moment in my life, I'll run for president. And that's what my decision will be built on. But, you know, I have tremendous respect for Jeb Bush.
CHUCK TODD:
I sort of was amused about, this is a little excerpt from your Playboy interview in 1990. The questioner asks, ‘What is all of this’ – meaning talking about your yacht, the bronze tower, the casino, what does it mean to you – and you replied, ‘props for the show.’ And then he said, ‘what show is that?’ And you replied, “The show is Trump and it has sold out performances everywhere.”
DONALD TRUMP:
And it has been for a long time.
CHUCK TODD:
Are we all a part of a show? I mean –
DONALD TRUMP:
No –
CHUCK TODD:
– there is, you know that some of the criticism that we feel like we’re all part of a reality show?
DONALD TRUMP:
No this is not a reality show. This is the real deal.
CHUCK TODD:
One of the phrases you used, "I alone can fix it." And to some people, that sounded almost too strong-mannish for them. Do you understand that criticism and what do you make of it?
DONALD TRUMP:
I'll tell you, part of it was I'm comparing myself to Hillary. And we know Hillary, and we look at her record. Her record has been a disaster. And I am running against Hillary. It's not like I'm running against the rest of the world.
HILLARY CLINTON:
I'm going to keep focused on Donald Trump. Because I will be the nominee. In the course of this campaign, we are going to demonstrate he has no ideas. There’s no evidence he has any ideas about making America great as he advertises. He seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great.
CHUCK TODD:
If you win reelection this year are you going to pledge to serve a full six year term?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
So look, I am not running for president of the United States. I am running for the United States Senate. 2018. Massachusetts. Whoohoo.
R. W. APPLE:
Why is it too early to announce, to decide?
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
Well, you're going to have to ask my wife, who's here in the audience.
TIM RUSSERT:
You told Roll Call, the capital newspaper, you're thinking about running for president in 2000.
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
No, I'm not thinking about running. Absolutely not.
TIM RUSSERT:
Are you going to run for president?
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
I haven't made that decision.
TIM RUSSERT:
But you're thinking about it.
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
Yes.
TIM RUSSERT:
Are you running for president?
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
I am running for president.
DAVID GREGORY:
You don't want to become president? You won't run?
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Well, I didn't say that.
CHUCK TODD:
Is your goal to be the presumptive front runner –
FMR. VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Yes.
CHUCK TODD:
– at the end of March?
FMR. VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Yes.
VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
The president has been very clear that he intends to run again. And if he does, I will be running with him.
CHUCK TODD:
Does Donald Trump's 2024 plans impact your 2024 plans?
NIKKI HALEY:
I have said that if President Trump runs, I will not run.
CHUCK TODD.
What would it take to get you to run for president?
REP. LIZ CHENEY:
Look, I – I am going to be very focused on all of the things that we've been talking about. And I care deeply, as I know you do, as millions of people do, about this nation, and about the blessing that we have as a constitutional republic.
CHUCK TODD:
The fact that you may run, are you sending that message without saying it?
FMR. VICE PRES. MIKE PENCE:
Well, I'll keep you posted on whether I'm going to run or not. But I do think we'll have better choices.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, a look at the important role this show has played in covering the struggle for civil rights.
[START TAPE]
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I believe firmly in nonviolence. I still believe that it is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Throughout the years, countless icons of the ever-evolving fight for civil rights and social change have appeared on Meet the Press. In 1966, the broadcast devoted a 90-minute special to the topic, bringing together the leaders of organizations including the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose president was none other than Dr. Martin Luther King.
And through the last 75 years, this program has featured leaders in the women's movement, Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo movement, and the fight for equal pay, just to name a few.
[START TAPE]
EDWIN NEWMAN:
Today in this special hour and a half program, Meet the Press focuses on the country's number one domestic problem: civil rights.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
It is very important to see the difference between nonviolent demonstrations and riots. It may be true that in a demonstration people react with violence toward nonviolent demonstrators, but you don't blame the demonstrators. This would be like blaming the robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery. Ultimately, society must condemn the robber and not the robbed. It must protect the robbed, and this is where we are in these demonstrations, and I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet.
FLOYD McKISSICK:
As far as we’re concerned, as I said before, we believe in nonviolence, providing nobody hits us. When somebody hits us, we believe in self defense.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
There is a difference between self defense and nonviolence though.
FLOYD McKISSICK:
Well, self defense and nonviolence are not incompatible.
CARL ROWAN:
Dr. King, you have heard what Mr. McKissick said. Are you in disagreement or not?
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I believe firmly in nonviolence. I still believe that it is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity. I think a turn to violence on the part of the Negro at this time would be both impractical and immoral.
JOHN STEELE:
Mrs. Roosevelt, do you think we’re moving fast enough and strong enough to desegregate our schools?
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT:
I do not think we want violence. I think we want understanding. I think we want education. I think we want to move, but we can’t stand still. We must move, but we must move with wisdom.
REV. JESSE JACKSON:
The code word for racism in this campaign has been the bus. It’s not the bus, it’s us. I think that the fundamental issue is not political or legal; it’s a moral question. Will white American leadership have the moral integrity and fortitude to stand by its own Constitutional decisions? It’s really a question of race. We are willing, if we want to allow people to kill together, to use any form of transportation, bus or ship or air, but when it comes to the question of our living and learning together, we still do not have enough moral strength in the White House to make the essentially moral decision to support a Constitutional decision.
REP. JOHN LEWIS:
We were kneeling. We were knocked down. They start beating us with night sticks, tramping us with horses, releasing the tear gas. I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a night stick. I lost consciousness. Fifty years later, I don't recall how I made it back across that bridge to the little church that we had left from. Apparently, a group literally carried me back to the church.
CHUCK TODD:
It'd be perfectly understandable if you were bitter – bitter today, bitter a week later from when it happened, bitter 20 years. Were you bitter, ever, after all this?
REP. JOHN LEWIS:
I was not bitter then. I'm not bitter now.
REP. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM:
Never before in this country, ever since the inception of the republic, have you had a woman seriously running for the presidency. I was breaking a tradition, a tradition in which only white males have been the gentlemen in this country that have guided the ship of state, so you don’t expect people, Black, white, men or women to suddenly overcome a tradition that has been steeped ever since the inception of this republic. I understand that I have broken the ice.
GLORIA STEINEM:
The adversary, which is a word I prefer to enemy, are those individuals who have usurped control of our lives, and who in general turn out to be that three percent of the population which is white, male, over 30 and college-educated. And that is the pool from which we have taken our leadership in fact, which I think goes a long way to explaining the poverty of the leadership.
SHANA ALEXANDER:
Are you saying that the white male, educated person is the enemy of the women's movement, or the adversary, I beg your pardon?
GLORIA STEINEM:
Well, from a statistical point of view, that’s accurate.
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another all are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction beyond that.
MEGAN RAPINOE:
Our team has managed to make people proud again, to capture people's interest, to make them want to do something. I think people are asking the question, "How can we rally around this team?" And in that really, what the team stands for, whether it's equal pay or racial equality or LGBTQ rights. I think we've just managed to give people hope. And with that, now we need to do the next step, which is to actually take the progress step.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, we've learned more sometimes on this show by talking to important figures outside the world of politics.
[START TAPE]
MICHAEL JORDAN:
I think the game has been here a lot longer than Allen Iverson or Michael Jordan, Grant Hill or Charles Barkley. I think what sometimes is forgotten is some of the sweat and some of the honest work way, way long ago that's been, you know, laid down for us to come here.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Over the years, pastors and poets, astronauts and actors have joined Meet the Press to reflect on the country and changing times and to provide their own unique perspectives on our politics.
[START TAPE]
RICHARD CLURMAN:
I wonder if you could tell us how you feel today about coming on this program.
REV. BILLY GRAHAM:
I feel just about the same, Mr. Clurman, as I did then. It’s not easy to meet the press.
REV. JESSE JACKSON:
This is the birthday of Jesus the Christ, an at-risk baby. Wise men went to the at-risk baby. The government, in effect, obligated Mary and Joseph to pay taxes. They did not have the right to vote, she had the baby outdoors in a stable in the wintertime. Wise men embrace at-risk babies and unwise men abandon them. I challenge us to be wise.
RICK WARREN:
My whole goal is -- as a pastor, my goal is to, to encourage, to support. I never take sides. I have friends who are Republicans and I have friends who are Democrats, and I'm for my friends. People ask me, "Are you left wing or right wing?" and it's pretty well known I say, "I'm for the whole bird."
A.T. BAKER:
Do you feel, Mr. Frost, that the colleges are perhaps neglecting the liberal arts and favoring science and --
ROBERT FROST:
No, I think the young people go where they’re drawn; and there was a time when I thought science was drawing them all off from poetry, and you know my jealousy, and, and then I’ve heard lately that they aren’t getting any scientists. I don’t know where the young people have all gone, I’m going to make an inquiry. I think they’re gone to sociology.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
You were once quoted as saying, these were your words, “This could help my kids too. I want them to be better off than I was as a young man.” Now if your fondest expectations were realized and we did get to the moon, what benefits do you think we may bring to future -- to help future generations?
COL. JOHN GLENN, JR.:
I think man’s participation in this guarantees one thing, if we can see things, perceive them, analyze them, relate them back to our experiences here, this is the main thing that man brings to the program. He can see things, new things that now are completely unforeseen or unknown.
ROY NEAL:
Dr. Sagan, do you think men should go to Mars?
CARL SAGAN:
Well, it depends on what the objective is. If the objective is scientific exploration, and we are talking about the immediate future, I think that intelligent machines, sort of descendants of Viking, are the way to go.
ADM. RICHARD TRULY:
The mission to Mars would be a tremendous national goal to set. It's not set yet. I personally think 100 years from now when we're talking about this, we will look back and we will have been to Mars.
JANE FONDA:
I am a citizen activist. I think it is in the highest tradition of our country for private citizens to speak out, not just as individuals but as members of organizations that can have some power. Obviously, as someone who is famous, I have a particular responsibility, and I want to try to use it properly.
CHUCK TODD:
We caught -- our camera caught you having a conversation with the protesters last night. What did you say to them?
GEORGE CLOONEY:
Well that was the funniest thing. I went over to try to talk to him and he said I was some corporate shill which, if you know me, that's one of the funnier things you could say about me. And then he just said, you know, "You sucked as Batman." And I was like, "Well, you kind of, you kind of got me on that one." And then I walked away and that was basically it.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
You once wrote that a poem should begin in delight and end in wisdom.
ROBERT FROST:
Yes. The way --
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Do you think many of our poets write that way?
ROBERT FROST: -- many things, love affairs are just the same, you know.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
For generations the moon has been an inspiration to poets and songwriters and has played an important role in romance. How do you feel about going down in history as men who helped prove that the moon is made up of nothing but dirt, dust and rock?
COL. FRANK BORMAN:
That is only from the short range. At a distance it is still made up of love, kisses and happiness.
COL. JAMES McDIVITT:
It will always be romantic.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Sports has also made a frequent appearance on the show, whether it's in a locker room with Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, and the NBA commissioner or on the field of Yankee Stadium with Rob Manfred in his first broadcast network interview as Major League Baseball Commissioner. Over the years, we've taken an in-depth look at the problem of concussions in football. We've talked with sports figures who are pushing the pace of social change about what it's like being seen as a role model by many and why it took so long for Washington, D.C. to have its own Major League Baseball team. And we've heard from everyone from Yogi Berra, to Michael Jordan, to Jackie Robinson, who appeared on this show all the way back in April of 1957.
[START TAPE]
JACKIE ROBINSON:
Patience is fine. I think if we go back and check our record the Negro has proven beyond a doubt that we have been more than patient in seeking our rights as American citizens. “Be patient.” I was told as a kid. I keep hearing that today, Let's be patient. Let's take our time. Things will come. It seems to me, the Civil War has been over about 93 years. If that isn't patience, I don't know what is.
CHUCK TODD:
You and Muhammad Ali were, were attached at the hip at those tumultuous times. And in many ways, supported each other during times when you'd be attacked by the media, you'd be attacked by political leaders.
JIM BROWN:
That’s absolutely true. But the greatest thing about Muhammad Ali is that he represented himself as a great American. Because Americans will stand up for freedom, equality and justice.
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL:
My father raised me from a young boy to just play hard, play hard, have fun, have fun, win, win, win, almost to be perfect, even though there is no perfect player, perfect person, perfect game. And, you know, you practice how you play. If you practice a certain way, then you'll play a certain way. So I just try to, you know, practice hard.
CHARLES BARKLEY:
Athletes are secondary role models. Your parents are your primary role models. They--there's not many Grant Hills or Michael Jordans out there. Every kid wants to be, but they're not going to be. That's unrealistic. They have a better chance of being what their mother or father are. And that's reality. I mean, we try to make people think they can be famous and everything, but, hey, these guys have special God-given abilities. They should listen to their parents and get a good education.
MICHAEL JORDAN:
I think the game has been here a lot longer than Allen Iverson or Michael Jordan, Grant Hill or Charles Barkley. I think what sometimes is forgotten is some of the sweat and some of the honest work way, way long ago that's been, you know, laid down for us to come here and earn the type of money or get the respect of the fans, of the media, whatever. And I never want to forget that. And I think that's the respect that I ask that every athlete, every player, pay back to the game. It's not to me, it's not to Charles, it's to the game of basketball.
TIM RUSSERT:
Grant Hill, what would happen to the NBA without Michael Jordan?
GRANT HILL:
Well it would give the rest of us a chance to win.
TIM RUSSERT: All politics is local.
CHUCK TODD:
Should the NFL permanently be taking care of your health care? You think that --
LEONARD MARSHALL:
I think they should. You know, you told me about everything else. But you didn't tell me about the risk associated with traumatic brain injury.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you think they knew then?
LEONARD MARSHALL:
They had to know something.
CHUCK TODD:
If there's one message you would like Americans to understand about Islam, what would it be?
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR:
That Islam is a religion of peace. Islam does not tolerate wanton murder. People have to understand that there are good Muslims that are on the side of what we understand to be the rule of law and just common sense and decency.
CHUCK TODD:
What do you tell a Trump supporter who loves watching you? And is like, "I wish she'd go to the White House?”
MEGAN RAPINOE:
Yeah, I think that I would, you know, try to share our message. Do you, you know, believe that all people are created equal? Do you believe that equal pay should be mandated? Do you believe that everyone should have healthcare? Do you believe that we should treat everyone with respect? I think those are the basics of what we're talking about.
TIM RUSSERT:
Cal Ripken, ever think about politics?
CAL RIPKEN:
No.
TIM RUSSERT:
Never? You go to the park, you see little signs, "Cal for president."
CAL RIPKEN:
Oh, there's a, there’s a certain fascination with it, but, God, it's hard enough just being a baseball player.
TIM RUSSERT:
You were a great baseball player, all-star 15 times, Most Valuable Player three times, and yet you are probably best known in America for your Yogi-isms. You have eight entries into Bartlett’s book of quotations, more than Voltaire. Let me go through a few of them on the screen and get your understanding. First, “How can you think and hit at the same time?”
YOGI BERRA:
I don’t think you can. You’ve got too much to worry about with the pitcher out there -- think and hit at the same time.
TIM RUSSERT:
Let me show you another one. “You can observe a lot by watching.”
YOGI BERRA:
That’s true, it’s right, it is. You could observe a lot by watching.
TIM RUSSERT:
All right, how about this one, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
YOGI BERRA:
Well we’ve got a street back home -- that we have one. That’s why I said take it.
HANK AARON:
After I hit the home run, I think I kind of got down on my knees and prayed that it was -- I was glad it was over with.
TIM RUSSERT:
It was an interesting time for you because much of the country cheering you on, but some of the country saying, "Oh, no, no, don't have a black man break Babe Ruth's record." You still have an attic full of hate letters that you got.
HANK AARON:
I certainly do, and I've been criticized for that, too. But I'm going to keep them because I think that people need to be reminded that was not that far removed. You know, it was just yesterday, a few years ago when that happened to me.
GARRICK UTLEY:
Doesn't the nation's capital deserve a major league team again?
FAY VINCENT:
Well, once again, that's a very nice question. It's one I choose not to answer. The National League committee is looking hard at sites. It would be wrong to comment on sites, though I should say the passion and support of a number of those cities is running very high.
BUD SELIG:
There are no plans right now to move a club, and we don't have any further expansion plans, but that doesn't mean that at some point -- that's a terrific area, but whether or not they'll get a team or when they'll get a team hasn't been determined.
CHUCK TODD:
Is a pitch clock coming?
ROB MANFRED:
You know, some people said, "Put a clock in baseball? Why would you want to do that?"
TIM RUSSERT:
Yogi, we are out of time. I think this program is just about over.
YOGI BERRA:
Well it ain’t over until it’s over.
BOB COSTAS:
And you know what, a man who can take a cue!
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, even on this serious Sunday program, we still know how to laugh at ourselves and keep it all in perspective.
[START TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
You know, the only reason I asked that question is because I expected an answer just like that. Anyway, former --
FMR. SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER:
You're a s***. You're a s***.
CHUCK TODD:
I assume I'm getting that as a compliment. I'll take that as a backhanded compliment.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. For obvious reasons, journalists have played a key role on Meet the Press. And there are two who have appeared more than anyone else in the 75 years: David Broder of The Washington Post holds the record with 401 total appearances, and May Craig, the Washington correspondent for the Portland Press-Herald, appeared 243 times. Before we go, it's been a lot of fun on this show for years, and we wanted to show you a few of those fun moments.
[START TAPE]
STEPHEN COLBERT:
I don't want to be president. I want to run for president. There's a difference. I'm running in South Carolina.
TIM RUSSERT:
You'd like to lose?
STEPHEN COLBERT:
Hm, I'd like to lose twice. I'd like to lose as both a Republican and a Democrat.
TIM RUSSERT:
And what statement would that make?
STEPHEN COLBERT:
I think that statement would make that I was able to get on the ballot in South Carolina. And if I can do it, so can you.
DAVID GREGORY:
Seth Meyers, welcome to Meet the Press.
SETH MEYERS:
It's great to be here. I'm so excited to be on Meet the Press without having to run for office.
DAVID GREGORY:
Right.
SETH MEYERS:
It's so much easier this way.
DAVID GREGORY:
But if you do want to declare something, you know, feel free to do that.
SETH MEYERS:
I might. I think mostly I'm just going to run from previous statements and hit some talking points.
DAVID GREGORY:
Good.
SETH MEYERS:
I've been watching a lot of Meet the Press to prepare for this.
TIM RUSSERT:
Give me your percentage prediction: Kerry/Bush/Nader.
JAMES CARVILLE:
I think that Kerry’s going to get 52%. Democrats –
TIM RUSSERT:
And Bush?
JAMES CARVILLE:
Forty-seven.
TIM RUSSERT:
And one for Nader.
JAMES CARVILLE:
One for Nader.
TIM RUSSERT:
Fifty-two, 47, one. Mr. Carville?
JAMES CARVILLE:
Well, Mr. Russert, everybody knows that I have dyslexia and what I really meant to say — I just transposed the numbers wrong. You know, that's all it was.
TIM RUSSERT:
I see.
JAMES CARVILLE:
You know what I say, "I got egg on my face."
MARY MATALIN:
Oh, my God.
TIM RUSSERT:
I don't believe this.
JAMES CARVILLE:
I've got egg on my face.
MARY MATALIN:
Oh.
JAMES CARVILLE:
It was a bad prediction.
TIM RUSSERT:
Should I be relieved you didn't bring your shotgun in today?
VICE PRES. DICK CHENEY:
I wouldn't worry about it. You're not in season.
TIM RUSSERT:
Mr. Vice President, I hope I never am.
TIM RUSSERT:
Before you go, Mr. Secretary, last time you were on one month ago, I received thousands of letters and telegrams about this scene. Let's just watch it for a second.
COLIN POWELL:
Tim, don't swing the camera away from me again.
TIM RUSSERT:
Finally, Mr. Secretary, in February of 2003, you placed your enormous personal credibility before the United Nations and laid out a case against Saddam Hussein citing—
COLIN POWELL:
Not off—
STAFFER:
No. They can't use it. They're editing it. They (unintelligible).
COLIN POWELL:
He's still asking me questions. Tim.
STAFFER:
He was not—
COLIN POWELL:
Tim, I'm sorry, I lost you.
TIM RUSSERT:
You answered the question. And because of that we are eternally grateful. We'd like to present you the first annual Colin Powell Palm Tree Award for answering questions under adverse circumstances. You'll forever be in the annals of Meet the Press. We thank you again for joining us today.
COLIN POWELL:
Well, Tim, thank you very much. I honor this.
CHUCK TODD:
Would you ever run for office again?
FMR. SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER:
I'd rather set myself on fire than to run for office again.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, the only reason I asked that question is because I expected an answer just like that. Anyway, former –
FMR. SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER:
You're a (expletive). You're a (expletive).
CHUCK TODD:
I assume I'm getting that as a compliment. I'll take that as a backhanded compliment.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN:
I hate the press. I hate you, especially. But the fact is, we need you. We need a free press.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
To dig into more moments from the Meet the Press and our archives, scan the code on your screen or visit NBCNews.com/mtp75. The website is home to 75 of the biggest moments in Meet the Press history. Check them out and see if you agree with our picks. That's all for today. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Thanks for watching. We'll be back next week — and next year — because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
CHUCK TODD:
This Sunday:
MARTHA ROUNTREE:
Are you ready to Meet the Press?
CHUCK TODD:
We celebrate 75 years of Meet the Press.
SEN. JOHN F. KENNEDY:
I hope no one would vote for me, either for me or because of my religion.
CHUCK TODD:
Where every occupant of the Oval Office has appeared since the Kennedy administration.
FMR. PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
The Watergate matter should have been handled properly.
CHUCK TODD:
Where former presidents and future presidents have made news.
TIM RUSSERT:
So, you want to be president?
GOV. BILL CLINTON:
I do.
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights.
DONALD TRUMP:
In four years, you’re going to be interviewing me, and you’re going to say, “What a great job you’ve done, President Trump.”
CHUCK TODD:
Where the next day’s headlines appear first.
PRES. JIMMY CARTER:
I would not support the sending of an American team to the Olympics.
CHUCK TODD:
Where leaders from around the world answer tough questions.
FIDEL CASTRO:
Democracy is my ideal.
GOLDA MEIR:
A weak Israel can be thrown into the sea.
CHUCK TODD:
Where civil rights leaders have shared their struggles.
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT:
We must move, but we must move with wisdom.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet.
REP. SHIRLEY CHISOLM:
I understand that I have broken the ice.
REP. JOHN LEWIS:
I was not bitter then. I’m not bitter now.
CHUCK TODD:
And where everyone is held accountable.
JAMES CARVILLE:
You know what I say, “I got egg on my face.”
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome to Sunday…
REV. BILLY GRAHAM:
It’s not easy to Meet the Press.
CHUCK TODD:
…and a special 75th anniversary edition of Meet the Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is a special edition of Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.
CHUCK TODD:
Good Sunday morning. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. So at 8 PM on November 6 1947, moderator Martha Rountree debuted a press conference of the air, right here on NBC. 1947 was the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the same year Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. For 75 years, through 12 moderators and more than 3500 broadcasts, the program that President John F. Kennedy once called the 51st state, has made news and held newsmakers accountable, interviewing American presidents, world leaders, political candidates, civil rights icons, scientists, sports figures, and entertainers. This morning, we’re going to look back on the 75 year history of the longest-running show on television, and we’re going to look forward as well, as our democracy is challenged, and our mission of clarity and accountability is more important than ever. Here’s Marvin Kalb.
[START TAPE]
MARVIN KALB:
Our democracy is a very precious national asset that is most healthy, most admirable when there is an open and vigorous exchange between the press on the one side, and the politician and policymaker on the other. That's what this program has been all about.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD: 13 presidents have answered questions on Meet the Press: Herbert Hoover and then every president since Kennedy. Senator John McCain was our most frequent guest with 73 appearances. Senators Bob Dole, President Joe Biden, Newt Gingrich, and Chuck Schumer round out the top five. Dr. Martin Luther King appeared here five times during the '60s, for the final time in August 1967, less than eight months before he would be assassinated.
[START TAPE]
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I refuse to give up. I refuse to despair in this moment. I refuse to allow myself to fall into the dark chambers of pessimism, because I think in any social revolution, the one thing that keeps it going is hope.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
The broadcast has covered national debates over the last seven decades, from the Cold War and the rise of communism, to fights for equality and progress, to debates on taking the country to war, be it Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Ukraine.
[START TAPE]
JOHN KERRY:
There is no reason, and no excuse, and no justification for the loss of one more American life there or for the loss of more Vietnamese. This war can be ended, and it should be ended now.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Cameras can be the best disinfectant, and the program has also never shied away from controversy, interviewing Louis Farrakhan, David Duke, Joseph McCarthy, and Fidel Castro, among others. The only way to keep a democracy thriving is to expose ourselves to the uncomfortable as well as the comfortable. "Alternative facts," a phrase coined by former president Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway in the early days of the Trump administration, became a touchpoint in an era when facts suddenly came under attack.
[START TAPE]
KELLYANNE CONWAY:
You're saying it's a falsehood, and Sean Spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts to that, but the point remains--
CHUCK TODD:
Wait a minute. Alternative facts? Alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Another president, Richard Nixon, reflected back on his mistakes in office right here in 1988, one of eight presidents who have appeared during or after their years in the Oval Office.
[START TAPE]
TOM BROKAW: In the autumn of your years as you are reflective about your own life experiences, personal and as a politician, what criticism do you have of your own behavior or style or things that you’ve done?
PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
As president?
TOM BROKAW:
As president or as a human being.
PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
Well we don’t have much time to cover the human being. Let’s start with the president. First, naturally, the Watergate matter should have been handled properly. I should have concentrated on - apart from the fact it was wrong, it was stupid. And generally I'm called many things, but not often am I called stupid.
PRES. GERALD FORD:
The country has gone through, in the last year, year and a half, some very difficult times. We went through the problems of Watergate. We have been suffering from a very serious economic recession, although we are coming out of it very steadily. We have had a traumatic experience in Southeast Asia. All of these, and perhaps some other problems, raised some doubt in the American people as to whether their government, their form of government, was capable of meeting these kinds of challenges. This doubt, I think, has been considerably reversed, and I think that is extremely encouraging. They know that honesty and candor has been restored in government.
BILL MONROE:
Mr. President, assuming the Soviets do not pull out of Afghanistan any time soon, do you favor the U.S participating in the Moscow Olympics, and, if not, what are the alternatives?
PRES. JIMMY CARTER:
No. Neither do I nor the American people would support the sending of an American team to Moscow with Soviet invasion troops in Afghanistan. I have sent a message today to the United States Olympic Committee spelling out my own position, that unless the Soviets withdraw their troops within a month from Afghanistan that the Olympic games be moved from Moscow to an alternate site or multiple sites or postponed or canceled.
TIM RUSSERT:
Do you think we've done a good job? Have we been fair to you?
PRES. BILL CLINTON:
On balance, yes. I think--first of all, I don't think there's ever been a president of either party and any philosophy that didn't think that he should have gotten a better press. So that just goes with territory. I think there have been rather dramatic changes in press coverage over the last 20 years, particularly in the Washington press, which bears some examination and evaluation by those of you who are in the press. But I don't think that the president gets anywhere by making any comments on the press.
TIM RUSSERT:
Do you believe if you had gone to the Congress and said he should be removed because he's a threat to his people but I'm not sure he has weapons of mass destruction, Congress would authorize war?
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:
I went to Congress with the same intelligence‑‑Congress saw the same intelligence I had, and they looked at exactly what I looked at, and they made an informed judgment based upon the information that I had. The same information, by the way, that my predecessor had. And all of us, you know, made this judgment that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed.
TIM RUSSERT:
In light of not finding the weapons of mass destruction, do you believe the war in Iraq is a war of choice or a war of necessity?
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:
I think that's an interesting question. Please elaborate on that a little bit. A war of choice or a war of necessity? It's a war of necessity. We-- in my judgment, we had no choice when we look at the intelligence I looked at that says the man was a threat.
DAVID GREGORY:
President Bush, what did you learn in your government's response to the tsunami, to the disaster response to Katrina? What lessons did you learn that this administration should bear in mind?
FMR. PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:
First of all, it takes time to get the supplies in place, but that, that shouldn't deter them. In other words, there, there's an expectation amongst people that things are going to happen
quickly, and, and sometimes it's hard to make things happen quickly.
DAVID GREGORY:
Why does it take a disaster of this scale and magnitude away from the United States to create this kind of bipartisanship?
FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON:
Well, I think that when something like this happens inside the United States we act in the same way. I, I think that it reminds us of our common humanity. It reminds us of needs that go beyond fleeting disagreements. Whatever our policy disputes are don't seem to matter much when people are dying….
CHUCK TODD:
You have got to go to Syria in some form or another. You've ruled out boots on the ground. And I'm curious, have you only ruled them out simply for domestic political reasons? Or is there another reason you've ruled out American boots on the ground? Because your own-- your own guys have said, "You can't defeat ISIS with air strikes alone."
PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
They’re absolutely right about that. But you also cannot, over the long term or even the medium term, deal with this problem by having the United States serially occupy various countries all around the Middle East. We don't have the resources. It puts enormous strains on our military. And at some point, we leave. And then things blow up again. So we--
CHUCK TODD:
Like what happened in Iraq.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
--so-- so we've gotta have a more sustainable strategy, which means the boots on the ground have to be Iraqi.
CHUCK TODD:
What about boots--
PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
And-- and in Syria, the boots on the ground have to be Syrian.
CHUCK TODD:
You were always hard on Obama. You thought he wasn't enough of a cheerleader.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
He was not a cheerleader.
CHUCK TODD:
If you could have one do over as president, what would it be?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, it would be personnel.
CHUCK TODD:
Who is it?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
79 foreign heads of state have appeared on the broadcast, 65 while in office, from British prime minister Harold Wilson, who joined in 1965 for the first live transcontinental satellite interview to Indira Gandhi, who appeared on Meet the Press seven times before her assassination in 1984. In April 1959, Fidel Castro appeared on Meet the Press for his first visit to the United States since the Cuban Revolution, and he declared that he was not a communist.
[START TAPE]
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
I want to know where your heart lies in the struggle between communism and democracy.
FIDEL CASTRO:
Democracy is my ideal, really. But many people used to call democracy some things that are not democracy. I am not Communist. I am not agreed with communism.
INDIRA GANDHI:
I am deeply committed to democracy not merely because it is a good idea but for the country of India’s vast size and great diversity. I think democracy that is a people’s participation, is the only way to make a country.
HAROLD WILSON:
It has always been our policy that Communist China should be in the United Nations, and if the issue comes up at the United Nations, we shall support the entry of Communist China into the United Nations. I will say quite plainly why: We have never in our country and this goes for Governments of all political colors said that you only have those people in the United Nations or that you only recognize them diplomatically, if you like them. Heaven knows, I don't expect miracles if she comes into the United Nations, but you know there has been a lot of evidence through the refusal to bring China into the United Nations that it has driven China more into the arms of Russia than would have been the case.
VLADIMIR PUTIN:
I am convinced that the Communist idea is no more than a beautiful, but perhaps quite harmful fairy tale for people. It is beautiful, attractive. And if millions of people are, you know, taken in by this ideology, you certainly cannot ignore it. But for us, for the country, which for 70 years lived under the standards of this ideology, it is clear that, not ideologically but economically, we have reached an impasse, and it is clear that a state cannot exist on that basis.
CHUCK TODD:
What do you need right now to fort this strategy of essentially getting to the winter and creating a stalemate?
DENYS SHMYHAL:
I always say to win this war we need three main things: weaponry, finances and sanctions. Weaponry: let us protect ourselves and to go into [UNINTEL] to make this counteroffensive, very successful counter offensives with support of our partners. We also ask our partners to recognize Russia as a terrorist country, because all what they are doing in Ukraine, so it's just genocide. This is, like, terrorist act.
TIM RUSSERT:
Where is Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader?
HAMID KARZAI:
We don't know. He's hiding. Now, how can someone that's hiding be called a force? He is hiding. We are looking for him.
TIM RUSSERT:
Where is Osama bin Laden?
HAMID KARZAI:
He's hiding, too, and we are looking for him, too.
TIM RUSSERT:
Are they hiding in plain sight?
HAMID KARZAI:
They are hiding perhaps in the mountains. They are hiding perhaps in the border territories, between of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Maybe they are hiding somewhere else. We don't know. We are looking for them on daily basis, and no fugitive can run forever.
BILL MONROE:
Many Americans consider the PLO primarily a terrorist organization. Is that not justified at least to an extent?
YASSER ARAFAT:
George Washington had been named once upon a time by the British Empire. He is a terrorist. The Vietnamese recently, you used to call them terrorist too. The Algerians. But all the freedom fighters used to have this name before their independence.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
There is an impression in this country that peace in the Middle East is further away than it has been at almost any time in the long history of this conflict. Do you see any progress at all towards peace?
GOLDA MEIR:
That there is less hope for peace now than there ever was before, I do not agree to. Because I maintain that a strong Israel is not only the best guarantee for peace but is the best incentive for peace, because there is no sense making peace with a weak Israel. A weak Israel can be thrown into the sea.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU:
The real problem in the Middle East is not the democracy of Israel that has shown restraint and responsibility, but it's countries like Iran that pursue nuclear weapons with the explicit goal first of annihilating us, but also ultimately of conquering the Middle East and threatening you. That's why they're developing ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles that are meant for one purpose only: to carry nuclear payloads to a theater near you. They're not intended for us. They already have missiles that reach us. They're developing ICBMs to reach the United States. Don't give them these weapons.
CHUCK TODD: This deal did not demand any other behavior changes in Iran outside of their nuclear weapons program. Why not include all that?
DAVID CAMERON:
Well, this deal was about the nuclear issue. And I think the right way to conclude the deal was to make it about the nuclear issue. But, you know, we shouldn't be naïve or starry eyed in any way about the regime that we're dealing with. And I'm certainly not. I spoke to President Rouhani yesterday and said that we want to see a change in the approach that Iran takes to issues like Syria and Yemen, and to terrorism in the region. And we want the change in behavior that should follow from that change. So, we're not starry eyed at all. And I'd reassure our Gulf allies about that. But actually taking the nuclear weapon issue off the table, that is a success for America and Britain and our allies. And we should be clear about that.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK: Why do you think the British monarchy is so strong, despite the fact that so many monarchies in Europe have died?
PRINCE PHILIP:
I think the British are more liberal in their outlook. Most of the monarchies in Europe were really destroyed by their greatest and most ardent supporters. It was the most reactionary people who somehow or other tried to hold onto something without letting it develop into change.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Have you ever thought to yourself: maybe it might be nice to be king? Or have you thought: I am glad I am not king.
PRINCE PHILIP:
Oh, yes; I am glad I am not.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, a look at why announcing a run for higher office has played such an important role on this broadcast.
[START TAPE]
TIM RUSSERT:
So, you will not run for President or Vice President in 2008?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA:
I will not.
TIM RUSSERT:
It's fair to say you're thinking about running for president in 2008?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA:
It's fair, yes.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Hundreds of hopefuls for higher office have appeared on the program over the years to dodge, and duck, and sometimes eventually answer the question, "Will you or won't you run for president of the United States?" The Meet the Press candidate interview has been a staple from Adlai Stevenson, who said, "I do not seek, I will not seek the Democratic nomination for the presidency," and was the Democratic nominee two months later, after saying that, to Shirley Chisholm, who spoke about her groundbreaking 1972 bid right on this program, to the more than three dozen active presidential candidates that I've interviewed as moderator of this broadcast. And it has launched candidacies. Long before he ran for office, Ralph Nader's appearance in 1966 generated so much mail for this broadcast that the post office finally called Meet the Press and offered to deliver Nader's mail directly to him. In 1960, just a month after his speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, our first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, appeared here to answer questions about whether, in the United States, there should be a religious test for office.
[START TAPE]
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY:
I hope no one would vote for me, either for me, or because of my religion. I have said that consistently and I mean it because it is an important election. There are very serious issues, which divide us, and I don’t think this is one of them, my religion or Mr. Nixon’s religion. After all, I thought that matter was all settled in the Constitution when it said provided for separation of church and state, and it provided that there should be no religious test for office. So I would hope we could move on.
VERMONT ROYSTER:
There will be a large and vocal minority who will be very critical of you, who are very critical of you now. How would you go about reconciling these if you are President of the United States?
FMR. VICE PRES. RICHARD NIXON:
The problem will not be easy because we are confronted with the generation gap; we are confronted also with a racial gap. I believe I am a pretty good listener.
SEN. EUGENE McCARTHY: My objective is to bring about a change of national policy, both with reference to the war and also with reference to national priorities.
SEN. ROBERT F. KENNEDY:
By talking as I will about what I think can be done positively as far as the future is concerned, what can be done in the 1970's, what this country needs to stand for and the idealism and the feeling of unselfishness, which I think exists in our country, it seems to me that I can make a contribution, and that is what I intend to do.
SEN. GEORGE McGOVERN:
At the age of 49, feeling as I do about this war, I could not conscientiously support it. I am not recommending that course for anyone else, but I regard this war as the most barbaric and inhumane act that our country has ever committed.
REP. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM:
First of all, gentlemen, you have to really recognize I am doing something in this country that has never really been done before. It is a question of inculcation, reorientation and education. Never before in this country, ever since the inception of the republic, have you had a woman seriously running for the presidency.
GOV. RONALD REAGAN:
I suppose every man has many moments in which he says, “If I had the position and the authority to do certain things, this is what I would do.”
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Does that mean that you would like to be President?
GOV. RONALD REAGAN:
That means that you are asking me about a decision that, if you have me on this show say, about a year from now, maybe we will be closer to getting an answer.
GOV. JIMMY CARTER:
I will be there when the last vote is counted, and I expect to win.
ELEANOR CLIFT:
Considering the size of the deficits, it seems to me you were right in 1980 in calling candidate Reagan's policies "voodoo economics." How do you feel about using that phrase?
VICE PRES. GEORGE H.W. BUSH:
I hoped you wouldn't mention that.
MR. RUSSERT:
You'll be 73 when you become president.
SEN. BOB DOLE:
Right.
TIM RUSSERT:
77 after your first term.
SEN. BOB DOLE:
Right.
TIM RUSSERT:
Would you consider making a pledge to the American people you'll serve just one term?
SEN. BOB DOLE:
No.
CHRIS WALLACE:
If you look at your voting record, your opponents say, you look more like Ted Kennedy than Sam Nunn. Aren't you a liberal?
SEN. AL GORE:
No, I'm not. And those labels don't mean what they once did.
TIM RUSSERT:
So you want to be president?
GOV. BILL CLINTON:
I do.
REV. JESSE JACKSON:
I have not made the final decision. I'm giving it serious consideration. I'm not determined to enter the race but I have determined to set the pace, to set the priorities, and I can say to you because of our numbers, our loyalty and our public policy issues, there should be a black on that ticket.
GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH:
One of the things about a President Bush is I'll be surrounded by good, strong, capable, smart people who understand the mission of the United States is to lead the world to peace.
FMR. GOV. HOWARD DEAN: We ran the best grassroots campaign that I’ve seen in my lifetime. They ran a better one. Why? Because we sent 14,000 people into Ohio from elsewhere. They had 14,000 from Ohio talking to their neighbors and that’s how you win in rural states and rural America.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE:
Tim, I don't want to run for president of the United States.
TIM RUSSERT:
I will not run?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE:
I do not intend to run for – no, I will not run for president of the United States. How's that?
TIM RUSSERT:
Period?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE:
I don't know how many different ways to say no in this town.
TIM RUSSERT:
It's fair to say you're thinking about running for president in 2008?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA:
It's fair, yes.
RALPH NADER:
Dissent is the mother of ascent. And in that context, I have decided to run for president.
SEN JOHN McCAIN:
Do Sarah Palin and I disagree on a specific issue? Yes, because we're both mavericks. But we share the same goal of cleaning up Washington.
DAVID GREGORY:
The question is whether – are you the – the moderate from Massachusetts who championed Universal Health Care, who at one time was for abortion rights or are you the – the candidate who said he was a severe conservative? What will you be as a president?
FMR. GOV. MITT ROMNEY:
I’m as conservative as the constitution.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to read something that was paraphrased to you, it says, “‘It is essential,’ Sanders said, ‘to have someone in the 2016 presidential campaign who is willing to take on Wall Street, address the collapse of the middle class, tackle the spread of poverty, and fiercely oppose cuts to social security and Medicare.’” Is it safe to say if you thought Hillary Clinton were doing that, you wouldn’t be considering this?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, A: I don’t know that Hillary Clinton is running. B: I don’t know what she’s running on.
CHUCK TODD:
Can you imagine running in the same Republican primary as Jeb Bush?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO:
If I make that decision that that's the right place for me to serve at this moment in my life, I'll run for president. And that's what my decision will be built on. But, you know, I have tremendous respect for Jeb Bush.
CHUCK TODD:
I sort of was amused about, this is a little excerpt from your Playboy interview in 1990. The questioner asks, ‘What is all of this’ – meaning talking about your yacht, the bronze tower, the casino, what does it mean to you – and you replied, ‘props for the show.’ And then he said, ‘what show is that?’ And you replied, “The show is Trump and it has sold out performances everywhere.”
DONALD TRUMP:
And it has been for a long time.
CHUCK TODD:
Are we all a part of a show? I mean –
DONALD TRUMP:
No –
CHUCK TODD:
– there is, you know that some of the criticism that we feel like we’re all part of a reality show?
DONALD TRUMP:
No this is not a reality show. This is the real deal.
CHUCK TODD:
One of the phrases you used, "I alone can fix it." And to some people, that sounded almost too strong-mannish for them. Do you understand that criticism and what do you make of it?
DONALD TRUMP:
I'll tell you, part of it was I'm comparing myself to Hillary. And we know Hillary, and we look at her record. Her record has been a disaster. And I am running against Hillary. It's not like I'm running against the rest of the world.
HILLARY CLINTON:
I'm going to keep focused on Donald Trump. Because I will be the nominee. In the course of this campaign, we are going to demonstrate he has no ideas. There’s no evidence he has any ideas about making America great as he advertises. He seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great.
CHUCK TODD:
If you win reelection this year are you going to pledge to serve a full six year term?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
So look, I am not running for president of the United States. I am running for the United States Senate. 2018. Massachusetts. Whoohoo.
R. W. APPLE:
Why is it too early to announce, to decide?
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
Well, you're going to have to ask my wife, who's here in the audience.
TIM RUSSERT:
You told Roll Call, the capital newspaper, you're thinking about running for president in 2000.
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
No, I'm not thinking about running. Absolutely not.
TIM RUSSERT:
Are you going to run for president?
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
I haven't made that decision.
TIM RUSSERT:
But you're thinking about it.
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
Yes.
TIM RUSSERT:
Are you running for president?
SEN. JOE BIDEN:
I am running for president.
DAVID GREGORY:
You don't want to become president? You won't run?
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Well, I didn't say that.
CHUCK TODD:
Is your goal to be the presumptive front runner –
FMR. VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Yes.
CHUCK TODD:
– at the end of March?
FMR. VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
Yes.
VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
The president has been very clear that he intends to run again. And if he does, I will be running with him.
CHUCK TODD:
Does Donald Trump's 2024 plans impact your 2024 plans?
NIKKI HALEY:
I have said that if President Trump runs, I will not run.
CHUCK TODD.
What would it take to get you to run for president?
REP. LIZ CHENEY:
Look, I – I am going to be very focused on all of the things that we've been talking about. And I care deeply, as I know you do, as millions of people do, about this nation, and about the blessing that we have as a constitutional republic.
CHUCK TODD:
The fact that you may run, are you sending that message without saying it?
FMR. VICE PRES. MIKE PENCE:
Well, I'll keep you posted on whether I'm going to run or not. But I do think we'll have better choices.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, a look at the important role this show has played in covering the struggle for civil rights.
[START TAPE]
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I believe firmly in nonviolence. I still believe that it is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Throughout the years, countless icons of the ever-evolving fight for civil rights and social change have appeared on Meet the Press. In 1966, the broadcast devoted a 90-minute special to the topic, bringing together the leaders of organizations including the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose president was none other than Dr. Martin Luther King.
And through the last 75 years, this program has featured leaders in the women's movement, Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo movement, and the fight for equal pay, just to name a few.
[START TAPE]
EDWIN NEWMAN:
Today in this special hour and a half program, Meet the Press focuses on the country's number one domestic problem: civil rights.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
It is very important to see the difference between nonviolent demonstrations and riots. It may be true that in a demonstration people react with violence toward nonviolent demonstrators, but you don't blame the demonstrators. This would be like blaming the robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery. Ultimately, society must condemn the robber and not the robbed. It must protect the robbed, and this is where we are in these demonstrations, and I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet.
FLOYD McKISSICK:
As far as we’re concerned, as I said before, we believe in nonviolence, providing nobody hits us. When somebody hits us, we believe in self defense.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
There is a difference between self defense and nonviolence though.
FLOYD McKISSICK:
Well, self defense and nonviolence are not incompatible.
CARL ROWAN:
Dr. King, you have heard what Mr. McKissick said. Are you in disagreement or not?
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I believe firmly in nonviolence. I still believe that it is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity. I think a turn to violence on the part of the Negro at this time would be both impractical and immoral.
JOHN STEELE:
Mrs. Roosevelt, do you think we’re moving fast enough and strong enough to desegregate our schools?
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT:
I do not think we want violence. I think we want understanding. I think we want education. I think we want to move, but we can’t stand still. We must move, but we must move with wisdom.
REV. JESSE JACKSON:
The code word for racism in this campaign has been the bus. It’s not the bus, it’s us. I think that the fundamental issue is not political or legal; it’s a moral question. Will white American leadership have the moral integrity and fortitude to stand by its own Constitutional decisions? It’s really a question of race. We are willing, if we want to allow people to kill together, to use any form of transportation, bus or ship or air, but when it comes to the question of our living and learning together, we still do not have enough moral strength in the White House to make the essentially moral decision to support a Constitutional decision.
REP. JOHN LEWIS:
We were kneeling. We were knocked down. They start beating us with night sticks, tramping us with horses, releasing the tear gas. I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a night stick. I lost consciousness. Fifty years later, I don't recall how I made it back across that bridge to the little church that we had left from. Apparently, a group literally carried me back to the church.
CHUCK TODD:
It'd be perfectly understandable if you were bitter – bitter today, bitter a week later from when it happened, bitter 20 years. Were you bitter, ever, after all this?
REP. JOHN LEWIS:
I was not bitter then. I'm not bitter now.
REP. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM:
Never before in this country, ever since the inception of the republic, have you had a woman seriously running for the presidency. I was breaking a tradition, a tradition in which only white males have been the gentlemen in this country that have guided the ship of state, so you don’t expect people, Black, white, men or women to suddenly overcome a tradition that has been steeped ever since the inception of this republic. I understand that I have broken the ice.
GLORIA STEINEM:
The adversary, which is a word I prefer to enemy, are those individuals who have usurped control of our lives, and who in general turn out to be that three percent of the population which is white, male, over 30 and college-educated. And that is the pool from which we have taken our leadership in fact, which I think goes a long way to explaining the poverty of the leadership.
SHANA ALEXANDER:
Are you saying that the white male, educated person is the enemy of the women's movement, or the adversary, I beg your pardon?
GLORIA STEINEM:
Well, from a statistical point of view, that’s accurate.
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN:
I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another all are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction beyond that.
MEGAN RAPINOE:
Our team has managed to make people proud again, to capture people's interest, to make them want to do something. I think people are asking the question, "How can we rally around this team?" And in that really, what the team stands for, whether it's equal pay or racial equality or LGBTQ rights. I think we've just managed to give people hope. And with that, now we need to do the next step, which is to actually take the progress step.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, we've learned more sometimes on this show by talking to important figures outside the world of politics.
[START TAPE]
MICHAEL JORDAN:
I think the game has been here a lot longer than Allen Iverson or Michael Jordan, Grant Hill or Charles Barkley. I think what sometimes is forgotten is some of the sweat and some of the honest work way, way long ago that's been, you know, laid down for us to come here.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Over the years, pastors and poets, astronauts and actors have joined Meet the Press to reflect on the country and changing times and to provide their own unique perspectives on our politics.
[START TAPE]
RICHARD CLURMAN:
I wonder if you could tell us how you feel today about coming on this program.
REV. BILLY GRAHAM:
I feel just about the same, Mr. Clurman, as I did then. It’s not easy to meet the press.
REV. JESSE JACKSON:
This is the birthday of Jesus the Christ, an at-risk baby. Wise men went to the at-risk baby. The government, in effect, obligated Mary and Joseph to pay taxes. They did not have the right to vote, she had the baby outdoors in a stable in the wintertime. Wise men embrace at-risk babies and unwise men abandon them. I challenge us to be wise.
RICK WARREN:
My whole goal is -- as a pastor, my goal is to, to encourage, to support. I never take sides. I have friends who are Republicans and I have friends who are Democrats, and I'm for my friends. People ask me, "Are you left wing or right wing?" and it's pretty well known I say, "I'm for the whole bird."
A.T. BAKER:
Do you feel, Mr. Frost, that the colleges are perhaps neglecting the liberal arts and favoring science and --
ROBERT FROST:
No, I think the young people go where they’re drawn; and there was a time when I thought science was drawing them all off from poetry, and you know my jealousy, and, and then I’ve heard lately that they aren’t getting any scientists. I don’t know where the young people have all gone, I’m going to make an inquiry. I think they’re gone to sociology.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
You were once quoted as saying, these were your words, “This could help my kids too. I want them to be better off than I was as a young man.” Now if your fondest expectations were realized and we did get to the moon, what benefits do you think we may bring to future -- to help future generations?
COL. JOHN GLENN, JR.:
I think man’s participation in this guarantees one thing, if we can see things, perceive them, analyze them, relate them back to our experiences here, this is the main thing that man brings to the program. He can see things, new things that now are completely unforeseen or unknown.
ROY NEAL:
Dr. Sagan, do you think men should go to Mars?
CARL SAGAN:
Well, it depends on what the objective is. If the objective is scientific exploration, and we are talking about the immediate future, I think that intelligent machines, sort of descendants of Viking, are the way to go.
ADM. RICHARD TRULY:
The mission to Mars would be a tremendous national goal to set. It's not set yet. I personally think 100 years from now when we're talking about this, we will look back and we will have been to Mars.
JANE FONDA:
I am a citizen activist. I think it is in the highest tradition of our country for private citizens to speak out, not just as individuals but as members of organizations that can have some power. Obviously, as someone who is famous, I have a particular responsibility, and I want to try to use it properly.
CHUCK TODD:
We caught -- our camera caught you having a conversation with the protesters last night. What did you say to them?
GEORGE CLOONEY:
Well that was the funniest thing. I went over to try to talk to him and he said I was some corporate shill which, if you know me, that's one of the funnier things you could say about me. And then he just said, you know, "You sucked as Batman." And I was like, "Well, you kind of, you kind of got me on that one." And then I walked away and that was basically it.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
You once wrote that a poem should begin in delight and end in wisdom.
ROBERT FROST:
Yes. The way --
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Do you think many of our poets write that way?
ROBERT FROST: -- many things, love affairs are just the same, you know.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
For generations the moon has been an inspiration to poets and songwriters and has played an important role in romance. How do you feel about going down in history as men who helped prove that the moon is made up of nothing but dirt, dust and rock?
COL. FRANK BORMAN:
That is only from the short range. At a distance it is still made up of love, kisses and happiness.
COL. JAMES McDIVITT:
It will always be romantic.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Sports has also made a frequent appearance on the show, whether it's in a locker room with Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, and the NBA commissioner or on the field of Yankee Stadium with Rob Manfred in his first broadcast network interview as Major League Baseball Commissioner. Over the years, we've taken an in-depth look at the problem of concussions in football. We've talked with sports figures who are pushing the pace of social change about what it's like being seen as a role model by many and why it took so long for Washington, D.C. to have its own Major League Baseball team. And we've heard from everyone from Yogi Berra, to Michael Jordan, to Jackie Robinson, who appeared on this show all the way back in April of 1957.
[START TAPE]
JACKIE ROBINSON:
Patience is fine. I think if we go back and check our record the Negro has proven beyond a doubt that we have been more than patient in seeking our rights as American citizens. “Be patient.” I was told as a kid. I keep hearing that today, Let's be patient. Let's take our time. Things will come. It seems to me, the Civil War has been over about 93 years. If that isn't patience, I don't know what is.
CHUCK TODD:
You and Muhammad Ali were, were attached at the hip at those tumultuous times. And in many ways, supported each other during times when you'd be attacked by the media, you'd be attacked by political leaders.
JIM BROWN:
That’s absolutely true. But the greatest thing about Muhammad Ali is that he represented himself as a great American. Because Americans will stand up for freedom, equality and justice.
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL:
My father raised me from a young boy to just play hard, play hard, have fun, have fun, win, win, win, almost to be perfect, even though there is no perfect player, perfect person, perfect game. And, you know, you practice how you play. If you practice a certain way, then you'll play a certain way. So I just try to, you know, practice hard.
CHARLES BARKLEY:
Athletes are secondary role models. Your parents are your primary role models. They--there's not many Grant Hills or Michael Jordans out there. Every kid wants to be, but they're not going to be. That's unrealistic. They have a better chance of being what their mother or father are. And that's reality. I mean, we try to make people think they can be famous and everything, but, hey, these guys have special God-given abilities. They should listen to their parents and get a good education.
MICHAEL JORDAN:
I think the game has been here a lot longer than Allen Iverson or Michael Jordan, Grant Hill or Charles Barkley. I think what sometimes is forgotten is some of the sweat and some of the honest work way, way long ago that's been, you know, laid down for us to come here and earn the type of money or get the respect of the fans, of the media, whatever. And I never want to forget that. And I think that's the respect that I ask that every athlete, every player, pay back to the game. It's not to me, it's not to Charles, it's to the game of basketball.
TIM RUSSERT:
Grant Hill, what would happen to the NBA without Michael Jordan?
GRANT HILL:
Well it would give the rest of us a chance to win.
TIM RUSSERT: All politics is local.
CHUCK TODD:
Should the NFL permanently be taking care of your health care? You think that --
LEONARD MARSHALL:
I think they should. You know, you told me about everything else. But you didn't tell me about the risk associated with traumatic brain injury.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you think they knew then?
LEONARD MARSHALL:
They had to know something.
CHUCK TODD:
If there's one message you would like Americans to understand about Islam, what would it be?
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR:
That Islam is a religion of peace. Islam does not tolerate wanton murder. People have to understand that there are good Muslims that are on the side of what we understand to be the rule of law and just common sense and decency.
CHUCK TODD:
What do you tell a Trump supporter who loves watching you? And is like, "I wish she'd go to the White House?”
MEGAN RAPINOE:
Yeah, I think that I would, you know, try to share our message. Do you, you know, believe that all people are created equal? Do you believe that equal pay should be mandated? Do you believe that everyone should have healthcare? Do you believe that we should treat everyone with respect? I think those are the basics of what we're talking about.
TIM RUSSERT:
Cal Ripken, ever think about politics?
CAL RIPKEN:
No.
TIM RUSSERT:
Never? You go to the park, you see little signs, "Cal for president."
CAL RIPKEN:
Oh, there's a, there’s a certain fascination with it, but, God, it's hard enough just being a baseball player.
TIM RUSSERT:
You were a great baseball player, all-star 15 times, Most Valuable Player three times, and yet you are probably best known in America for your Yogi-isms. You have eight entries into Bartlett’s book of quotations, more than Voltaire. Let me go through a few of them on the screen and get your understanding. First, “How can you think and hit at the same time?”
YOGI BERRA:
I don’t think you can. You’ve got too much to worry about with the pitcher out there -- think and hit at the same time.
TIM RUSSERT:
Let me show you another one. “You can observe a lot by watching.”
YOGI BERRA:
That’s true, it’s right, it is. You could observe a lot by watching.
TIM RUSSERT:
All right, how about this one, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
YOGI BERRA:
Well we’ve got a street back home -- that we have one. That’s why I said take it.
HANK AARON:
After I hit the home run, I think I kind of got down on my knees and prayed that it was -- I was glad it was over with.
TIM RUSSERT:
It was an interesting time for you because much of the country cheering you on, but some of the country saying, "Oh, no, no, don't have a black man break Babe Ruth's record." You still have an attic full of hate letters that you got.
HANK AARON:
I certainly do, and I've been criticized for that, too. But I'm going to keep them because I think that people need to be reminded that was not that far removed. You know, it was just yesterday, a few years ago when that happened to me.
GARRICK UTLEY:
Doesn't the nation's capital deserve a major league team again?
FAY VINCENT:
Well, once again, that's a very nice question. It's one I choose not to answer. The National League committee is looking hard at sites. It would be wrong to comment on sites, though I should say the passion and support of a number of those cities is running very high.
BUD SELIG:
There are no plans right now to move a club, and we don't have any further expansion plans, but that doesn't mean that at some point -- that's a terrific area, but whether or not they'll get a team or when they'll get a team hasn't been determined.
CHUCK TODD:
Is a pitch clock coming?
ROB MANFRED:
You know, some people said, "Put a clock in baseball? Why would you want to do that?"
TIM RUSSERT:
Yogi, we are out of time. I think this program is just about over.
YOGI BERRA:
Well it ain’t over until it’s over.
BOB COSTAS:
And you know what, a man who can take a cue!
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, even on this serious Sunday program, we still know how to laugh at ourselves and keep it all in perspective.
[START TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
You know, the only reason I asked that question is because I expected an answer just like that. Anyway, former --
FMR. SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER:
You're a s***. You're a s***.
CHUCK TODD:
I assume I'm getting that as a compliment. I'll take that as a backhanded compliment.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. For obvious reasons, journalists have played a key role on Meet the Press. And there are two who have appeared more than anyone else in the 75 years: David Broder of The Washington Post holds the record with 401 total appearances, and May Craig, the Washington correspondent for the Portland Press-Herald, appeared 243 times. Before we go, it's been a lot of fun on this show for years, and we wanted to show you a few of those fun moments.
[START TAPE]
STEPHEN COLBERT:
I don't want to be president. I want to run for president. There's a difference. I'm running in South Carolina.
TIM RUSSERT:
You'd like to lose?
STEPHEN COLBERT:
Hm, I'd like to lose twice. I'd like to lose as both a Republican and a Democrat.
TIM RUSSERT:
And what statement would that make?
STEPHEN COLBERT:
I think that statement would make that I was able to get on the ballot in South Carolina. And if I can do it, so can you.
DAVID GREGORY:
Seth Meyers, welcome to Meet the Press.
SETH MEYERS:
It's great to be here. I'm so excited to be on Meet the Press without having to run for office.
DAVID GREGORY:
Right.
SETH MEYERS:
It's so much easier this way.
DAVID GREGORY:
But if you do want to declare something, you know, feel free to do that.
SETH MEYERS:
I might. I think mostly I'm just going to run from previous statements and hit some talking points.
DAVID GREGORY:
Good.
SETH MEYERS:
I've been watching a lot of Meet the Press to prepare for this.
TIM RUSSERT:
Give me your percentage prediction: Kerry/Bush/Nader.
JAMES CARVILLE:
I think that Kerry’s going to get 52%. Democrats –
TIM RUSSERT:
And Bush?
JAMES CARVILLE:
Forty-seven.
TIM RUSSERT:
And one for Nader.
JAMES CARVILLE:
One for Nader.
TIM RUSSERT:
Fifty-two, 47, one. Mr. Carville?
JAMES CARVILLE:
Well, Mr. Russert, everybody knows that I have dyslexia and what I really meant to say — I just transposed the numbers wrong. You know, that's all it was.
TIM RUSSERT:
I see.
JAMES CARVILLE:
You know what I say, "I got egg on my face."
MARY MATALIN:
Oh, my God.
TIM RUSSERT:
I don't believe this.
JAMES CARVILLE:
I've got egg on my face.
MARY MATALIN:
Oh.
JAMES CARVILLE:
It was a bad prediction.
TIM RUSSERT:
Should I be relieved you didn't bring your shotgun in today?
VICE PRES. DICK CHENEY:
I wouldn't worry about it. You're not in season.
TIM RUSSERT:
Mr. Vice President, I hope I never am.
TIM RUSSERT:
Before you go, Mr. Secretary, last time you were on one month ago, I received thousands of letters and telegrams about this scene. Let's just watch it for a second.
COLIN POWELL:
Tim, don't swing the camera away from me again.
TIM RUSSERT:
Finally, Mr. Secretary, in February of 2003, you placed your enormous personal credibility before the United Nations and laid out a case against Saddam Hussein citing—
COLIN POWELL:
Not off—
STAFFER:
No. They can't use it. They're editing it. They (unintelligible).
COLIN POWELL:
He's still asking me questions. Tim.
STAFFER:
He was not—
COLIN POWELL:
Tim, I'm sorry, I lost you.
TIM RUSSERT:
You answered the question. And because of that we are eternally grateful. We'd like to present you the first annual Colin Powell Palm Tree Award for answering questions under adverse circumstances. You'll forever be in the annals of Meet the Press. We thank you again for joining us today.
COLIN POWELL:
Well, Tim, thank you very much. I honor this.
CHUCK TODD:
Would you ever run for office again?
FMR. SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER:
I'd rather set myself on fire than to run for office again.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, the only reason I asked that question is because I expected an answer just like that. Anyway, former –
FMR. SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER:
You're a (expletive). You're a (expletive).
CHUCK TODD:
I assume I'm getting that as a compliment. I'll take that as a backhanded compliment.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN:
I hate the press. I hate you, especially. But the fact is, we need you. We need a free press.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
To dig into more moments from the Meet the Press and our archives, scan the code on your screen or visit NBCNews.com/mtp75. The website is home to 75 of the biggest moments in Meet the Press history. Check them out and see if you agree with our picks. That's all for today. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Thanks for watching. We'll be back next week — and next year — because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
