[Bolduan:] Just 25 days until the Obama presidency heads to the history books. The president sat down for a lengthy interview with his former senior adviser and CNN's senior political commentator, David Axelrod. They talked about the 2016 election and Obama had very interesting and probably surprising assessment. Listen.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] In the wake of the election and Trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow it really was a fantasy. What I would argue is that the culture actually did shift, that the majority does buy into the notion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse. I am confident in this vision, because I'm confident that if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could have mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it.
[Bolduan:] There's that. Let's discuss. Let's bring in our panel, Joseph Borelli, New York City councilman who supported Donald Trump throughout the campaign; and Danielle McLaughlin, a Democratic strategist and attorney. Guys, great to see you. Danielle, when you hear President Obama saying that his hope-and- change vision, if I had run again and articulated this vision, I would have been able to get a majority of the American people to rally behind it. Is he right?
[Danielle Mclaughlin, Democratic Strateigst & Attorney:] One thing we need to be clear about, I don't think it was a dig on Hillary Clinton. I think what Obama was talking about was something that we didn't do as Democrats and that was tie our vision of a one America, I think civil rights which joe might call identity politics but we call civil rights, tied that to an economic investigation Americans could believe in. Civil rights are economic rights fundamentally. I think hope is something we all as humans can aspire to and agree on. I think the vision that Trump put forth making America great again, I think people who didn't vote for him wondered what part of America's history he was referring to, because for women, for minorities, for a lot of Americans, this is the time where we have had the most freedoms, the most access to justice, the most economic power, and I think that was the comparison Obama might have been making.
[Bolduan:] I appreciate the comparison that you think he was making but how could it not be on some level a criticism of Hillary Clinton? He did compliment Hillary in how she handled and how she ran her campaign but she was the one running the campaign so he clearly thought she should have run on a different vision.
[Mclaughlin:] Right. Clearly, she didn't win and there were three key states where she didn't win. I think there's been a lot of talk within Democratic circles and generally, we should have done a better job with quote unquote, "regular Americans," that message didn't get through and that's what we need to think about going to 20 and, of course, to 2018.
[Joseph Borelli, Cnn Political Commentator:] The president said a lot of things in that interview. Some of them are very accurate and some are not. I think he was correct in taking a dig at Hillary Clinton and
[Bolduan:] You did see it as a dig?
[Borelli:] I did see it as somewhat of a dig. Face the facts, she was a very fundamentally imperfect candidate who lacked any type of messaging that appealed to middle class voters. Barack Obama was a great campaigner, a better campaigner than Hillary Clinton. I think it borderlined on cockiness and arrogance to say that had he been the candidate he would have been able to articulate it better and win. Let's not forget, a big part of this election was also a referendum on his eight years in office and whether the country wants to continue going down that path. So it's both a dig and cockiness on his part.
[Bolduan:] I do remember, and we all do, quite well, that President Obama was on the campaign trail almost as much as he could. He was on the campaign, the first lady was on the campaign for Hillary Clinton, so it was not that he was running again but he sure was running, trying to run on his name for her.
[Mclaughlin:] No question. No question. We saw the crowds, we saw that people spoke to him and he spoke to them. You think about his approval rating, he's about 54percent, on average, and the incoming president is about 44percent. So strategically, Democrats made mistakes, no question about it. The fact Clinton had been in the public eye for 30 years, there was this amount of baggage that seemed to trouble her, obviously.
[Bolduan:] She couldn't overcome it.
[Mclaughlin:] No, she couldn't overcome it and, of course, we had embarrassing leaks and other things that, frankly, no Republican had to deal with. I'm not making excuses but there are certainly parts of this election that definitely disadvantaged her as a candidate.
[Bolduan:] I want to play more of this interview. It was a 50-minute interview he sat down with David Axelrod. These are only some of the select highlights. It is a fascinating conversation. If you have time to listen to it in full. Here's what the president said about his future, his post-presidency. Listen to this.
[Obama:] I have to be quiet for a while. And I don't mean politically. I mean internally. I have to still myself. Now, that doesn't mean that if a year from now or a year and a half from now or two years from now, there is an issue of such moment, such import, that isn't just a debate about a particular tax bill or, you know, a particular policy, but goes to some foundational issues about our democracy, that I might not weigh in.
[Bolduan:] I find this take fascinating. He is still going to be in Washington, because their daughter will be graduating from high school, so he's sticking around. What does that kind of involvement look like a year plus from now? Does that concern you?
[Borelli:] It shouldn't be concerning to anyone but him. I think he's the one who is most worried about what his legacy looks like both from the fact that any time during his eight years when he wasn't able to get legislation passed he issued executive orders, some 250 or so. And you are going to see Donald Trump dismantle a lot of the things he touted. Also, you have to realize he was not a great president for the Democratic Party and that's part of his legacy as well. Look across the country, you see the Democrats control the state Houses and governorships of only six states now. They have half the number of total governors they had. They lost so many state legislative seats around the country that this has been billed as something that the president has failed to do, failed to unite Democrats across the country.
[Bolduan:] He's talking about his legacy. That is not surprising, of course. Presidents in their
[Borelli:] And he's young. A very young man.
[Bolduan:] They focus on their legacy. Someone else focused on President Obama's is Newt Gingrich. Danielle, obviously, a leading Trump supporter and advisor in the transition. He said this about Obama's legacy over the weekend on FOX News.
[Newt Gingrinch, , Former Speaker Of The House:] I think President Obama is beginning to figure out his legacy is like one of those dolls that, as the air comes out of it, shrinks and shrinks. He's in a desperate frenzy. What he's actually doing is he's setting up a series of things to distract Trump, which will make his liberal allies feel good about Democrats and hate Republicans when Trump rolls them all back.
[Bolduan:] A deflating doll and in a desperate frenzy to save his legacy. Do you think Obama's legacy is at risk here?
[Mclaughlin:] There's no question what Donald Trump is coming in to do is in many ways antithetical to what President Obama tried to do the last eight years. There's no question doing things he wants to preserve. We looking at banning drilling in Antarctica, we're looking at these other, some of these other immigration. He's in a big rule-making phase to protect what he can. I don't think there's any president who leaves the White House for the last time who isn't concerned about what his successor is going to do and I think Obama is no different. He's young, as you say, joe. I think he'll be out there. And frankly, Democrats need him. Democrats need him to pull people together, to go out into all of America and to explain to the electorate why Democratic values and why our solutions to the problems we all face are the ones that will benefit all Americans.
[Bolduan:] Some of the lessons Barack Obama talked about in his interview, Democrats need to get back out there. He even talked about in city councils, school boards.
[Borelli:] Obamacare was pinned on the town dog catcher candidate in some states.
[Bolduan:] Great to see you, guys. Thank you so much.
[Mclaughlin:] Thank you.
[Borelli:] Happy Boxing Day.
[Bolduan:] Happy Boxing Day, as we would like to say, on this fine day. Programming note, catch CNN's special report, "The Legacy of Barack Obama," tonight at 9:00 eastern. Still ahead for us, Russia now on the hunt for any clue as to what brought down a military jet. Officials are ruling out terrorism, but then, what brought down this jet with 92 people onboard? Details ahead.